Inside this conventionally structured biopic resides an extraordinary story of an extraordinary man. William Wilberforce was the parliamentary spokesman for a group of radicalised young Evangelists (and Quakers), who despised the money politics and corruption of late 18th Century UK politics and who fought for many reformist policies, the most notable of which was the one this film annotates, the abolition of slavery, a process that took years of political skulduggery and the slow passage of find out more...

A monumental history of the Cuban Revolution; from the initial meeting in Mexico between Che and Fidel Castro, through the landing by boat of a few desperadoes, the years of the guerrilla campaign, the gradual build-up from a rag-tag band to a fully fledged revolutionary army, the political alliances and decisions to be made, and the eventual victorious battles over the demotivated Batista led government army. find out more...

The second part of Steven Soderbergh's epic tale is about the efforts of the iconic revoluionary to repeat the success of the Cuban liberation struggle in the impoverished state of Bolivia. find out more...

Bobby Sands was the IRA member who led the 1981 Long Kesh hunger strike as part of a campaign to achieve the status of political prisoners and not that of criminals. The first section of film deals with daily prison life, the 'dirty' protest and the violence, the second is a long discussion on the meaning of life with a sympathetic priest and the third depicts the last weeks and death of a man voluntarily dying of starvation. find out more...

Far more a portrait than a biopic this stunning film dissects the later years of Giulio Andreotti, a key player in Italian politics from the 70s through till today (he still sits in the Italian Senate (2009)), implicating him as the central instigator behind 'The Strategy of Tension', a policy that involved the murders of hundreds of innocent people, and blaming 'the left/Red Brigades' so as to allow the growth of an authoritarian state. Sorrentino fingers Andreotti for many political assassinat find out more...

This is a very good deconstruction of the political polemicist Michael Moore, a man who's made a lot of money out of feeding liberals entertainment and whose cupboard rattles with skeletons. The film goes into a number of details of gross inaccuracies, and betrayals of the people he pertains to support, in order to further his career. In particular we learn about lies told in 'Roger and Me', eg about the supposed apathy of the locals and about being unable to talk to Roger. We hear about the len find out more...

Great doco about the early days of NY hip hop and life on the projects. One of the best features of this film is that it examines the political trajectory of Nas' career through his lyrics as well as the environment and familial situation that gave rise to his stardom. Must see for fans of his music. And anyone interested in the political side of rap music.

find out more...

In 1998 Marco Pantani, the most flamboyant and popular cyclist of his era, won both the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia, a titanic feat of physical and mental endurance that no rider has repeated since. He was a hero to millions, the saviour of professional cycling following the doping scandals which threatened to destroy the sport. However, less than six years later, aged just 34, he died alone, in a cheap Italian hotel room.

This film is not just about cycling but an emotional expl find out more...

The film is based on the life of John Reed, the Communist, journalist, and writer who chronicled the Russian Revolution in his book Ten Days that Shook the World. The film works both as a history of the American left and as an epic romance, between Reed and Louise Bryant, an important feminist and radical journalist in her own right. After involvement with labour and political disputes in the US, they go to Russia in time for the 1917 October Revolution and, inspired, return to the US, hoping to find out more...

It's the early 50s in Argentina and two middle class medical students decide to make a journey across their largely unknown continent. While on this eight month travel one of the men begins his own journey from privileged ignorance to iconic revolutionary, the birth of Che Guevara has begun. The Motorcycle Diaries is a breathtakingly beautiful film, beginning as a whimsical, idiosyncratic and often humorous adventure and gradually expanding into a powerful and deeply moving drama. find out more...