American INSIGHT’s nonpartisan Free Speech Film Festival celebrates the passionate innovations of independent filmmakers, and champions the ideas, perspectives and voices that prove vital to the future of Free Speech, Human Rights, and the Rule of Law.
Free Speech Filmtm
Award Winners
Iceland, On the Trail of Democracy
2024
The Icelandic revolution, also known as the “Pots and Pans Revolution”, occurred in October 2008 in Iceland. It was rooted in the context of the subprime financial crisis when, in less than a month, the country’s three main banks declared bankruptcy. From this protest emerged an unprecedented process: the drafting of a new Constitution based on participatory democracy, which utilized methods such as random selection, online participation, citizen debates, elections, and more.
It is this citizen initiative that Alix, Ali, and Steve wanted to highlight. To understand the process, they set out to meet the main players of the revolution and the Icelandic citizens at the heart of this approach, who brought an entire country together around a common project, investing themselves in improving their democracy.
Ellos Gritan Libertad (They Scream Freedom)
2023
After many long years of food shortages, dilapidated buildings, increasing wealth gaps, and strictly suppressed political unrest, Cuba has reached a boiling point. Thousands have taken to the streets in an unprecedented eruption of protest, crying out for their basic human right to freedom.
Ellos Gritan Libertad is a wake-up call for the world, dispelling the grand illusions spun by the Cuban government with the voices of the Cuban people themselves. Voices that have been silenced for too long, that now cry ‘Patria y Vida!’ (Homeland and Life). This humanitarian film seeks to convey the experience of the Cuban people through their own personal stories and through the arts; from poetry to music.
Jazz in China
2022
“Jazz in China: The Documentary” chronicles the 100-year story of how jazz—a democratic form of music through improvisation—exists and thrives in China—a country with a long tradition of adherence to central authority.
Footsteps on the Wind
2021
Footsteps in the Wind is an animated short film to Sting’s song “Inshallah.” Based on the harsh and intense reality of refugees around the world, this film is a narrative journey told through the eyes of children who never give up on their dreams.
Boxed
2020
A documentary by Wanjiru Njendu based on the true story of an enslaved man who mailed himself to freedom in Philadelphia in 1849.
Suppressed: The Fight to Vote
2019
Suppressed: The Fight to Vote, the documentary by Robert Greenwald weaves together personal stories from voters across the state of Georgia to paint an undeniable picture of voter suppression in the 2018 midterm election.
Team ENOUGH
2018
A movement of mobilization, Team ENOUGH encourages young people to change the gun violence landscape in America by engaging them in conversation and action.
Free Speech Fear Free
2017
Free Speech Fear Free examines the lurking threat of surveillance while asking the question, “What is the meaning of free speech, and how does it affect us as individuals and as human beings.”
I Will Not Be Silenced
2016
Chronicling a journalist’s seven-year battle for justice and capturing the stories of women finding their own strength to fight back, I Will Not Be Silenced exposes and challenges the system which strived to keep Kenyan women powerless.
Honor Diaries
2015
Engaging the global community in a dialogue about gender equality, Honor Diaries breaks the silence on ‘honor violence’ against women and girls.
Crossroads: Labor Pains of a New Worldview
2013
Exploring the depths of the current human condition, Crossroads: Labor Pains of a New Worldview urges viewers to challenge their own assumptions about who we are and why we do the things we do.
Free China: The Courage to Believe
2012
Sharing a story of courage and freedom, Free China: The Courage to Believe exposes profound abuses of religious and human rights in China and other repressive regimes throughout the world.