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Participant Media
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Participant Media (formerly known as Participant Productions) is an American film-and television-production company which finances and produces socially relevant films and documentaries. The company has been described as being politically active. Its films are typically based on current events and topical subjects and presented in such a way to inspire viewers to advocate for social change. The studio has produced or co-produced a number of award-winning fiction films and documentaries. By the end of its second year in business, its films had been nominated for 11 Academy Awards. By the end of the 2011 awards season, its films had been nominated for Oscars 22 times, and won eight. Its 2012 films received another 12 Oscar nominations.
Best films
(2018)
(2017)
(2012)
(2011)
(2015)
(2011)Filmography of Participant Media (72 films)
Production
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, 2h2Directed by John Madden
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, Comedy
Actors Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Dev Patel, Maggie Smith, Richard Gere, Penelope Wilton
Muriel Donnelly and Sonny Kapoor travel to San Diego, California to propose a plan to hotel magnate Ty Burley for buying and opening a second hotel in India as a companion to the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. They are told that a company inspector will anonymously visit India to evaluate the project.
Beasts of No Nation (2015)
, 2h16Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga
Origin USA
Genres Drama, War
Themes Films set in Africa
Actors Idris Elba, Ama K. Abebrese, Abraham Attah, David Dontoh
With war approaching their small West African village, the mother, sister, and baby brother of the principal character, Agu, a preadolescent boy, leave for the capital, but Agu and his father, older brother, and grandfather stay behind. All the men in the family are shot dead by the army except Agu, who flees to the bush. He is soon found there by a battalion of the rebel Native Defense Force, which first threatens to kill him, but coerces him to join them as a child soldier.
Bridge of Spies (2015)
, 2h17Directed by Steven Spielberg
Origin USA
Genres Drama, War, Thriller, Spy
Themes Spy films, Politique, Transport films, Aviation films, Political films, Disaster films, Films about aviation accidents or incidents
Actors Tom Hanks, Amy Ryan, Alan Alda, Eve Hewson, Billy Magnussen, Kevin Spacey
In 1957 Brooklyn, New York, Rudolf Abel retrieves a secret message from a park bench and reads it just before FBI agents burst into his rented room. He prevents discovery of the message, but other evidence in the room leads to his arrest and prosecution as a Soviet spy.
Our Brand Is Crisis (2015)
, 1h47Directed by David Gordon Green, Peter Straughan
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Biography, Comedy, Comedy-drama
Themes Political films
Actors George Clooney, Sandra Bullock, Scoot McNairy, Billy Bob Thornton, Anthony Mackie, Ann Dowd
In 2002, Bolivian politician Pedro Castillo (a fictionalized version of Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada) hires American James Carville's political consulting firm, Greenberg Carville Shrum, to help him win the 2002 Bolivian presidential election. GCS brings in Jane Bodine (Sandra Bullock) to manage the campaign in Bolivia. Battling her arch nemesis, the opposition's political consultant Pat Candy (Billy Bob Thornton), Bodine successfully uses American political campaign strategies to lead Castillo to victory against Victor Rivera (a fictionalized version of socialist candidate Evo Morales).
Merchants of Doubt (2014)
, 1h36Directed by Robert Kenner
Origin USA
Genres Documentary
Themes Environmental films, Disaster films
Un documentaire sur ces soi-disants experts embauchés par les grandes entreprises et dont le but est de semer le doute sur des sujets tels que le réchauffement de la planète et la toxicité des produits chimiques.
Cesar Chavez (2014)
, 1h41Directed by Diego Luna
Origin Mexique
Genres Drama, Biography
Themes Films about the labor movement, Political films
Actors Rosario Dawson, America Ferrera, Michael Peña, Gabriel Mann, Yancey Arias, Wes Bentley
The film follows Chávez's efforts to organize 50,000 farm workers in California, some of whom were braceros—temporary workers from Mexico permitted to live and work in the United States in agriculture, and required to return to Mexico if they stopped working. Working conditions are very poor for the braceros, who also suffer from racism and brutality at the hands of the employers and local Californians. To help the workers, César Chávez (Michael Peña) forms a labor union known as the United Farm Workers (UFW). Chávez's efforts opposed, sometimes violently, by the owners of the large industrial farms where the braceros work. The film touches on several major nonviolent campaigns by the UFW: the Delano grape strike, the Salad Bowl strike, and the 1975 Modesto march.
The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014)
, 2hDirected by Lasse Hallström
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Comedy-drama
Themes Cooking films
Actors Helen Mirren, Manish Dayal, Om Puri, Juhi Chawla, Charlotte Le Bon, Clément Sibony
The Kadam family ran a restaurant in Mumbai. The second-oldest son, Hassan (Manish Dayal), was being groomed to replace his mother (Juhi Chawla) as the restaurant's main cook. However, a mob attacks and firebombs the restaurant over an election dispute. Papa Kadam (Om Puri) and his family evacuate the guests, but Mama is killed. Seeking asylum in Europe, the family first settles in London, where their residence proves ill-suited for a restaurant. They depart for mainland Europe.
A Most Violent Year (2014)
, 2h3Directed by J. C. Chandor
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Action, Crime
Actors Oscar Isaac, Jessica Chastain, David Oyelowo, Albert Brooks, Ashley Williams, Alessandro Nivola
Abel Morales (Oscar Isaac) is the owner of Standard Heating Oil Co, an up-and-coming company. The company has been plagued by the hijacking of several trucks, each carrying thousands of dollars in heating oil. One young driver, Julian (Elyes Gabel), is severely beaten when his oil truck is hijacked by two unknown assailants. Abel's wife, Anna Morales (Jessica Chastain), beseeches Abel to fight violence with violence, but Abel refuses. Morales and his company are under investigation by Assistant District Attorney Lawrence (David Oyelowo), who seems determined to expose price fixing, tax evasion, and various other illegalities committed by Morales and his competitors in the heating oil business.
Citizenfour (2014)
, 1h54Directed by Laura Poitras
Origin USA
Genres Documentary
Themes Documentary films about historical events, Documentary films about politics, Political films
Actors Laura Poitras
In January 2013, Laura Poitras, an American documentary film director/producer who had been working for several years on a film about monitoring programs in the US that were the result of the September 11 attacks, receives an encrypted e-mail from a stranger who called himself, "Citizen Four." In it, he offers her inside information about illegal wiretapping practices of the US National Security Agency (NSA) and other intelligence agencies. In June 2013, accompanied by investigative journalist Glenn Greenwald and The Guardian intelligence reporter Ewen MacAskill, she travels to Hong Kong with her camera for the first meeting with the stranger, who reveals himself as Edward Snowden.
, 2h21Directed by Justin Chadwick
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, Biography, Historical
Themes Films set in Africa, Films about racism, Political films
Actors Idris Elba, Naomie Harris, Jamie Bartlett, Riaad Moosa, Terry Pheto, Thapelo Mokoena
Based on South African President Nelson Mandela's autobiography of the same name, which chronicles his early life, coming of age, education and 27 years in prison before becoming President and working to rebuild the country's once segregated society. Idris Elba stars as Nelson Mandela, Naomie Harris stars as Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, with Justin Chadwick directing.
Made in America (2013)
, 1h30Directed by Ron Howard
Origin USA
Genres Documentary, Musical
Themes Films about music and musicians, Documentary films about music and musicians, Documentaire sur une personnalité, Concert, Musical films
Actors Jay-Z, Rita Ora, Kanye West, Jill Scott, Tyler, The Creator, Janelle Monáe
Le rappeur Jay-Z organise chaque année le Budweiser Made in America Festival à Philadelphie. Ce film montre des extraits des divers artistes qui s'y sont produits.
The Fifth Estate (2013)
, 2h8Directed by Bill Condon
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Biography
Themes Films about writers, Films about journalists, Politique, Transport films, Political films, Road movies, Chase films
Actors Benedict Cumberbatch, Dan Stevens, Daniel Brühl, Alicia Vikander, Anthony Mackie, Carice van Houten
The story opens in 2010, with the release of the Afghan War Logs. It then flashes back to 2007, where journalist Daniel Domscheit-Berg meets Australian computer hacker Julian Assange for the first time, at the Chaos Communication Congress in Berlin. Daniel's interest in online activism has led him to Assange, with whom he has corresponded by email. They begin working together on WikiLeaks, a website devoted to releasing information being withheld from the public while retaining anonymity for its sources. Their first major target is a private Swiss bank, Julius Baer, whose Cayman Islands branch has been engaged in illegal activities. Despite Baer's filing of a lawsuit and obtaining an injunction, the judge dissolves the injunction, allowing Julian and Daniel to reclaim the domain name. As their confidence increases, the two push forward in publishing information over the next three years, including secrets on Scientology, revealing Sarah Palin's email account, and the membership list of the British National Party.
Snitch (2013)
, 1h52Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Action
Themes Medical-themed films, Films about music and musicians, Prison films, Films about drugs, Hip hop films, Films about capital punishment, Gangster films
Actors Dwayne Johnson, Barry Pepper, Jon Bernthal, Harold Perrineau, Jr., Susan Sarandon, Michael K.Williams
John Matthews (Dwayne Johnson), owner of a construction company, receives a call from his ex-wife Sylvie Collins (Melina Kanakaredes). His estranged son Jason (Rafi Gavron) is being charged with distribution of narcotics; while Jason is not actually a dealer, his friend set him up in a sting operation to reduce his own sentence after being caught. Jason's charges carry a minimum of 10 years in prison. John feels responsible because he was not there for his son, and becomes desperate as he realizes that Jason may be killed before he finishes his prison sentence.
No (2012)
, 1h57Directed by Pablo Larraín
Origin Mexique
Genres Drama, Historical
Themes Seafaring films, Politique, Théâtre, Transport films, Political films, Films about Latin American military dictatorships, Films based on plays
Actors Gael García Bernal, Antonia Zegers, Néstor Cantillana, Luis Gnecco, Richard Dreyfuss, Alfredo Castro
After fifteen years of military dictatorship but facing considerable international pressure, the public of Chile is asked by the government to vote in the national plebiscite of 1988 on whether General Augusto Pinochet should stay in power for another eight years or whether there should be an open democratic presidential election the next year.
A Place at the Table (2012)
, 1h24Origin USA
Genres Documentary
Themes Documentaire sur une personnalité
Actors Jeff Bridges
As of 2012, about 50 million Americans were food insecure. This was approximately 1 in 6 of the overall population, with the proportion of children facing food insecurity even higher at about 1 in 4. One in every two children receive federal food assistance. The film sees directors Kristi Jacobson and Lori Silverbush examine the issue of hunger in America, largely through the stories of three people suffering from food insecurity: