ICELAND, On the Trail of Democracy

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.

2024 Free Speech Film Festival Award Winner

GREENLAND | SERMERSUAQ-the great ice-

Sermersuaq is a powerful documentary that offers an intimate perspective on climate change in the Arctic. It follows the stories of Michael, a hunter from Qaanaaq, the northernmost town of Greenland, and Marc, a scientist on a quest for truth. Different origins, same common purpose: preserving Sermersuaq, Greenland's great ice sheet

INDIA | Offenders

Fearlessly challenging constraints on free expression in India, the documentary calls for the defence of free speech amidst censorship and violence. Against the backdrop of Hindu hegemony, it serves as a tribute to the transformative power of safeguarding fundamental rights.

IRAN | From the Cradle to the Grave

Are we responsible for our destiny? Do we have the ability to change the circumstances of our lives? The students of a Girls High school have lived the answers to these questions.

IRAN | The Borders Never Die

A couple (Kurds of Iraqi Kurdistan) have decided to cross the border because of the war in their land. The woman is pregnant. They have difficult and impassable roads ahead of them.

USA | The Future is Ours

Climate change, school shootings, racial tensions, and devastating wars are just some of the issues Gen Z will soon inherit. "The Future is Ours" is a 35-minute documentary featuring Gen Z journalists from across the country engaged in challenging conversations we all need to hear and have. Many are eligible to vote for the first time in the next election.

2024 Free Speech Award Official Selections

Speak EZ Interview with Chrishenda Dawkins, 03.2024

American INSIGHT's online SPEAK EZ interviews that showcase Free Speech Film TM award-winning directors and globally-known artists, authors and scholars.

Speak EZ Interview with Coralie Van Rietschoten, 05.2023

Speak EZ Interview with Ed Madison, 11.2024

Speak EZ Interview with Ganzorig Vanchig, 05.2024

Speak EZ Interview with Major Gloria Downey, 02.2024

SPEAK EZ interview with Melinda Raebyne, 04.2024

SPEAK EZ interview with Patrizia Bruno, 11.2024

Speak EZ Interview with Raheel Raza, 04.2023

SPEAK EZ interview with Sam French, 04.2024

SPEAK EZ interview with Sebastian Rich, 09.2023

SPEAK EZ interview with Steve Vilhem, 11.2024

Speak EZ Interview with Sunil Kalia, 11.2024

SPEAK EZ interview with Wu-Ching, 07.2023

SPEAK EZ: Kermit Kermit Roosevelt III, 06.2023

SPEAK EZ Interviews

USA | Ellos Gritan Libertad (They Scream Freedom)

2023 Free Speech Film Festival Award Winner

AFGHANISTAN | With This Breath I Fly

MONGOLIA | Trio

USA | My Mother's Voice

USA | We Live

USA | Women of War: Invisible

2023 Free Speech Award Official Selections

USA | Jazz in China

“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.

2022 Free Speech Film Festival Award Winner

FRANCE | Chinese Cancan - Lulu, a Chinese Woman

In China like everywhere, a woman's place in society is linked to politics and tradition. But China's politics and tradition make a unique setting on earth.  It's within this context that Lulu emerges.

TAIWAN | My Grandmother Is an Egg

Using a variety of animation techniques, including egg yolk as paint, filmmaker Wu-Ching Chang creates a stirring tribute to her grandmother who, as a T'ung-yang-hsi, was sold as a young girl to another family and raised as their future daughter-in-law. Forced to perform the household chores and denied an education, this hardworking woman found freedom through financial independence.

USA | Common Grounds?

In an age of hyperpolarization, the UVA Center for Politics documentary "Common Grounds?" examines the political climate on a college campus, at the Grounds of the University of Virginia, founded by Thomas Jefferson. Through interviews with students from across the political spectrum, and a group dialogue between some of these students, the film asks a simple question: "Can tomorrow's generation find common ground?"

USA | Urania Leilus

After witnessing human rights abuses at a detention center for undocumented immigrant children, an idealistic young reporter — already traumatized by what she has seen — is subjected to an onslaught of death threats. Pushed to the brink of a breakdown and petrified to the point where she can no longer do her job, she turns to an old friend for help.

TURKEY | Strength Among Us

The story of four refugee women who stand on their own feet despite their families' pain and difficulty.

2022 Free Speech Film Festival Official Selections

UNITED KINGDOM | Footsteps on the Wind

“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 broaches a narrative told through the eyes of children that never give up on their dreams.

2021 Free Speech Film Festival Award Winner

GERMANY | The Wikipedia Promise

Wikipedia is the largest encyclopedia of all time – by looking at the inner life of Wikipedia, the documentary deals with issues of perspective, representation and Western-centrism.

ISRAEL | In Your Eyes

The film follows the less-known aspects of the lives of four “web stars” – Israeli YouTubers: Moti Taka, one of the busiest singers in Israel today, who visits Ethiopia for the first time with his mother Dalia.

NETHERLANDS | Jano & Shiro, a Brothers' Journey

The brothers Jano and Shiro are inseparable. When war breaks out in Syria, they flee together in search of a better life for themselves and their family.

USA | Days Before the Dawn

Days Before the Dawn is a documentary about the history of dissent in Hong Kong. Britain handed Hong Kong over to China in 1997 without ever consulting the people of Hong Kong. 

USA | Deep Breath

Deep Breath is an Anti-racist, Art-as-Activism Film Project centered around an epic, 8-minute poem by Dr. Nia Nunn. Deep Breath brought diverse dancers together to feel her words, and dance to custom-composed music.

2021 Free Speech Film Festival Official Selections

USA | Boxed

A fictionalized short film based on the true story of the terrifying daring escape of Henry "Box" Brown, an enslaved man who used creativity to escape from slavery in 1849 by mailing himself to freedom.

2020 Free Speech Film Festival Award Winner

<p>American INSIGHT Free Speech Film Festival</p>

Donate to American INSIGHT

Donate

Gift Cards

These are all the passes tied to your account. Now, use our online schedule to reserve tickets. You can access your tickets via {{my_tickets_link|"My Tickets"}} or via the PDFs attached to each ticket order confirmation email. {{buy_pass_link|Looking to buy more passes?}}

These are all your purchased tickets. Open this page on your phone, and at the door tap the "Show Barcode" button and show your screen to the attendant. Prefer paper? Print the PDF attached to the order confirmation email, or click one of the gears below and select "Download tickets PDF". If purchasing multiple tickets, be sure to print or show each unique ticket barcode.

PASSES ARE UNAVAILABLE 

2024 FSFF: All Access Pass

None available

FREE SPEECH AWARD

Hi Filmmaker! Congrats to be part of the Free Speech Film Festival! Please upload your film to Eventive!

American INSIGHT's 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 around the world. 