Political Animals celebrates the legendary civil rights victories of four trailblazing California state politicians: Carole Migden, Sheila Keuhl, Jackie Goldberg, and Christine Kehoe. Fierce and unrelenting, these courageous women toppled a partisan majority and emerged victors to pass historic legislation for social justice and LGBT+ equality. It was a hard fight – filled with vehemently heated debates and hateful insults hurled by opponents. Today, the message behind Political Animals is more important than ever as the current political theatre unfurls around the globe. These inspiring biographies further reveal the critical importance for public resistance at the local level to pressure lawmakers to enanct difficult change. Political Animals is a clear call to action for a new era of greater democratic participation. We invite you to follow in the footsteps of these historic leaders and become the next pioneering political animal!

"Come, come! I'm sick to death of this particular self. I want another." Taking Virginia Woolf’s novel Orlando: A Biography as its starting point, academic virtuoso turned filmmaker Paul B. Preciado has fashioned the documentary, ORLANDO: MY POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY, as a personal essay, historical analysis, and social manifesto which premiered and took home four prizes at the 2023 Berlin Film Festival. For almost a century, Woolf’s eponymous hero/heroine has inspired readers for their gender fluidity across physical and spiritual metamorphoses over a 300-year lifetime. Preciado casts a diverse cross-section of more than twenty trans and non-binary individuals in the role of Orlando as they perform interpretations of scenes from the novel, weaving into Woolf’s narrative their own stories of identity and transition. Not content to simply update a seminal work, Preciado interrogates the relevance of Orlando in the continuing struggle against anti-trans ideologies and in the fight for global trans rights.

Waking the Sleeping Giant tells the story of the attempt to build a 21st century progressive movement in the United States against the backdrop of the 2016 election. From the presidential campaign trail with Bernie Sanders to a local race in rural West Virginia, from a mass sit-in on the U.S. Capitol steps to the struggle for racial justice in Los Angeles, it makes sense of this moment in American politics, probing widespread discontent, Donald Trump’s dramatic victory, and the challenges ahead.

Two days after presenting a damning report blaming the atrocities of the civil war on the Guatemalan military, Guatemalan human rights activist Bishop Juan Gerardi was murdered, stunning a country ravaged by decades of political violence. Based on Francisco Goldman’s book and executive produced by Oscar(R) winners George Clooney and Grant Heslov, this film tells the story of the 1998 killing and the subsequent investigation by the church that uncovered a web of conspiracy and murder, entangling the upper echelons of the government.

Bookended by Inauguration Day 2021 and March 2022's State of the Union, Year One: A Political Odyssey gives a front-seat account of President Biden's turbulent first year in office. Directed by Emmy®-winning filmmaker John Maggio (HBO's A Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks) and executive produced by journalist David Sanger (HBO's A Perfect Weapon), this eye-opening documentary follows the Biden administration as it navigates a maelstrom of challenges, including efforts to immunize the nation amid an ever-morphing pandemic, continued divisiveness following January 6th, the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, the rise of autocratic regimes across the globe, and increasingly adversarial relations with Russia and China. Exploring developing situations as they unfold, the film grants unprecedented access to current events in a fascinating portrait of history as it happens.