In the Pit (2006)

Director:
Juan Carlos Rulfo

IMDB

Synopsis:
The hardships of a Mexico City construction crew struggling to complete a second deck atop the massive Periférico Freeway are explored in director Juan Carlos Rulfo's studied look at the modern work ethic. As countless drivers zoom past the enormous worksite day after day, the anonymous workers toil away in a relentless drive to finish construction on the massive freeway addition by the scheduled completion date of December 2005. Despite the long hours and sometimes harsh working conditions, workers such as "Shorty" and "EL Grande" look past the sub-standard safety conditions to focus on the task at hand. Though both men know that when the project is finally completed they will likely receive little to no recognition for their monumental feat, the differing attitudes that they take towards their jobs offers a compelling look at the divisive opinions that many Mexicans hold in regards to both themselves and their country.

The Redemption of General Butt Naked (2011)

Directors:
Daniele Anastasion, Eric Strauss

IMDB

Synopsis:
Between 1989 and 2003, the African nation of Liberia was caught up in civil war, and one of the most feared insurgent leaders during the war was Joshua Milton Blahyi. A tribal priest in his younger days, Blahyi became a warlord known as "General Butt Naked" for his habit of going into battle nude except for boots and a rifle or sword, convinced his naked body would give him a cloak of invincibility while striking fear into his enemies. Leading an army largely consisting of kidnapped child soldiers, Blahyi claims to have be responsible for the death of 20,000 men, women and children, and says he practiced devil worship and committed human and animal sacrifices before taking the battlefield. With Liberia still struggling with the scars of war, Blahyi has renounced his violent past and returned to the pulpit, preaching the word of God and attempting to atone for his monstrous deeds. But while some support Blahyi's new crusade, others question the sincerity of his new guise as a man of peace. Filmmaker Eric Strauss studies the past and present of a man of tremendous contrasts in the documentary The Redemption of General Butt Naked, which was an official selection at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.

The Great Happiness Space: Tale of an Osaka Love Thief (2006)

Director:
Jake Clennell

IMDB

Synopsis:
With his nonfiction film The Great Happiness Space: Tale of an Osaka Love Thief, neophyte documentarist Jake Clennell probes the contemporary phenomenon of Japanese "host bars" - or upper-crust clubs where wealthy female clients buy the affections of handsome, twentysomething male escorts. As an illustration of this concept, Clennell devotes the entire running time of the film to an exploration of Café Rakkyo, the most lucrative such club in Osaka Japan. The visit yields dispiriting glimpses of self-perpetuated delusions - such as the female client who insists that she can keep spending increasingly exorbitant amounts of money until she "buys" the lifelong love of her favorite host, and the male entertainers who succeed at their job by forcing themselves to take full advantage of a woman's innocence, gullibility and naïveté. Clennell also underscores, with great poignancy, the extreme emotional turmoil taken by this profession on both employees and patrons. Clennell's greatest observed irony is simply the fact that most of the women are, themselves, prostitutes. In the grand tradition of cinema direct Clennell relegates himself to pure observation, carefully refraining from intrusive value judgements or intervention of any kind, and allowing viewers to draw their own conclusions about the participants' onscreen lifestyles.