Director: Frank Piasecki

We love our cell phones, but the production of phones has a dark, bloody side. The minerals used to produce cell phones are coming from mines in the Eastern DR Congo. The Western World is buying these so-called conflict minerals and thereby finances a civil war that has been the bloodiest conflict since World War II: During the last 15 years the conflict has cost the lives of more than 5 million people and 300.000 women have been raped. The war will continue as long as armed groups can finance their warfare by selling minerals.

If you ask the phone companies where their suppliers get minerals from, none of them can guarantee that they aren’t buying conflict minerals from the Congo. Director Frank Poulsen travels to DR Congo to see the illegal mine industry with his own eyes. He gets access to Congo’s largest tin-mine, which is being controlled by different armed groups, and where children work for days in narrow mine tunnels to dig out the minerals that end up in our phones. www.bloodinthemobile.org

82 min.

• Cinema for Peace Award for Justice, Berlin, 2011

Director: Pierre Mignault and Hélène Magny

Film directors clandestinely enter one of Burma’s most dangerous zones, penetrating to the heart of the Karen Nation, where civil war has been waging for 60 years. We travel to the country’s interior to meet peasants, as well as clandestine networks of armed resistance living in exile in Thailand, where determined political and human rights activists are working to combat one of the world’s most bloody military dictatorships.

Breaking the Silence demonstrates the strength of the Burmese people’s resistance against one of the world’s worst dictatorships. We travel to the country’s interior to meet peasants, as well as clandestine networks of armed resistance living in exile in Thailand, where determined political and human rights activists are working to combat one of the world’s most bloody military dictatorships. www.informactionfilms.com

75 min.

Director: Arne Birkenstock

The destiny of 16-years-old Chandani from Sri Lanka is closely bound to a little injured elephant, who has been taken in the elephant orphan hospital of the Pinnawela National Park. If she succeeds in feeding the animal, her father - the main mahout of the elephant hospital and known as elephant whisperer throughout the whole country – will teach her to be the first female mahout in Sri Lanka. If she fails and the animal dies, she will have to bury her dream, not being able to fulfill the mahout tradition of her family. www.tradewind-pictures.de

87 min.

• Best documentary, 27th Chicago International Children's Film Festival
• Outstanding Children's Film, German Film awards, 2011

Director: Shelley Saywell

On December 10, 2007, a 16-year-old Toronto schoolgirl, Aqsa, was strangled to death; her father and brother are charged with murder. Three weeks later, teenage sisters were shot to death in Dallas; their father is wanted for murder. Six months later, a 19-year-old college student was stabbed by her brother; he was convicted and is now in jail in New York. Friends and family of the murdered girls paint a chilling portrait of the forces that led to their deaths, and Toronto schoolgirls talk about their lives of constant fear. While Muslim women organize to help girls at risk and the imam at a Toronto mosque teaches that violence has no basis in Islam, some men continue to justify these crimes through patriarchal beliefs about family honour. Award-winning director Shelley Saywell brings her consummate documentary skills and passion for human rights to challenge the traditions that lie behind the heartbreaking tragedies committed against young girls caught between two cultures in North America. www.bisharifilms.com

90 min.

• Best Canadian Feature, Hot Docs, Toronto 2010

Director: Rohan Fernando

In an unspoiled corner of southern Belize, cacao farmer Eladio Pop works his plantation in the tradition of his Mayan ancestors—as a steward of the land. A tender and poetic tale, director Rohan Fernando’s lush cinematic journey captures the life of the Pop family as they struggle to preserve their values in a world that is dramatically changing. When the promise of land ownership suddenly replaces a communal approach to cultivating this beautiful land, which is naturally rich with cacao trees, new ideals of capitalism are introduced. Soon, greed ensues and the time-honoured methods of farming, proven sustainable over centuries, are under threat. With profound insight, Eladio Pop understands what is at stake—even while his family becomes as divided as his once united, strong community. The Chocolate Farmer challenges our deeply held assumptions of progress. Film Trailer

52 min.

Director: John Paskievich and John Whiteway

Gordon Bell High School in Winnipeg is comprised of rich and poor, aboriginals, Afghans, Arabs, Africans, refugees for war-torn countries, immigrants, and a recent influx of Burmese students. Marc Kuly, a teacher, set out to bring students together. In an effort to build bridges of friendship and belonging across cultures and histories, Marc initiated an after-school storytelling project whereby the immigrant students would share stories with their Canadian peers. By turns poignant, uplifting, angry and humourous, The Storytelling Class is a remarkable testament to the resilience of the human heart and it’s infinite capacity for forgiveness and redemption. www.mcnabbconnolly.ca

60 min.

• Canada Award, Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, 26th Annual Gemini Awards, 2011

Director: George Langworthy

Honeybees have been disappearing across the planet. Colony Collapse Disorder has brought beekeepers to crisis in an industry responsible for pollinating crops that make up one out of every three bites of food on our tables.

The film follows David Hackenberg and Dave Mendes as they strive to keep their bees healthy, fulfill pollination contracts and struggle to plead their case on Capital Hill. Filmed across the US, in Europe, Australia and Asia, the alarming disappearance of honeybees and the greater meaning it holds about the relationship between mankind and our earth is examined.

90 min.