252. Made in Thailand (1999)

Country: Thaiiland
Directed by Eve-Laure Moros and Linzy Emery

A simple but compact and informative documentary about one of the worst industrial fire accidents ever (in reality a murder as the workers were not allowed to evacuate the building in time and they got locked inside) in Kader toy factory of Nakorn Pathom, in May of 1993, that cost the lives of more than 200 young female workers and it injured seriously another 500. Although far from ambitious or deep, the film is well made, in the sense that doesn't focus to the emotion and to heartbreaking drama but use it in order to present the general inhuman conditions for the workers in Thailand, their every day struggles, the impunity of the bosses and corporations who exploit brutaly the cheap labor at will (nobody got in jail for this crime, instead the owners got an extremelly high conpensation from the insurance company), the efforts of the workers to form unions in order to protect themselves. Although many years passed and it seems as Thailand moved from the extreme poverty, the film is relevent today as not many things in reality changed: just the poor immigrants from the neighboring countries are most often the victims of this extreme exploitation rather than the locals

You can watch the full movie here: https://youtu.be/FyhHwK9Vtxg

251. Grass labyrinth (1979)

Country: Japan
Directed by Shuji Terayama

As often happens with Terayama films, while you are watching 'Grass labyrinth' you cant decide if it's just a pretendious artsy junk or a master work of a genious. When a scene is really ...trashy then the next one comes up somehow so beautiful that you forget the previous one. For sure 'Grass labyrinth" is a bizzare, poetical film that, you like it or no, it's very captivative so you dont want to stop watching it. You get lost to this weird unique Terayama world consisted of nightmares, memories, time spirals, sex and existential anxiety

You can watch the full movie here: https://youtu.be/91VN172ejOE

250. Sandy lives (1999)

Country: Vietnam
Directed by Nguyen Thanh Van

One of the good moments of the modern Vietnamese cinema, although old fashioned in style ( if you would guess you would say that it belongs to early 80's ), 'Sandy lives' delivers an autentic documentary-like touch when at the same time it's a melodrama that uses every possible dramatic trick, but not the cheap ones, to get you emotionally involved. 'Sandy lives', more than anything else, is a touching movie, full of compassion for all its characters, not any judgement, as all of them suffered a lot, as the side victimes of the traumatizing Vietnamese history

249. Third Person Singular Number (2009)

Country: Bangladesh
Directed by Mostofa Sarwar Farooki

It seems that quite rarelly anything interesting comes out of the Bangladeshi movie industry, however this film stands out not only because of the interesting plot and the - not always solid - editing that balances between comedy and drama, art and commercialism, but mostly because with a brave feminist view addresses many issues that the oppressed women of the country face every day. A rebelious film, with a great political significant and a lot of masterfully done moments, Third Person Singular Number doesnt reach its full potential but still delivers something unique

You can watch the whole movie here: https://youtu.be/FM6UQy0t1Js

248. To Singapore, with love (2013)

Country: Singapore
Directed by Tan Pin Pin

A controversial documentary, banned in Singapore, where Singaporian communists, leftists and activists, political exiles for decades without the right to return, talk about their lives far from the motherland, their friends and relatives, giving at the same time an account of one of the darkest sides of Singapore's reality, the political oppression by the ruling party. The film is full of nostalgia and emotions from the people in exile but far from to be a personal based melodrama. What matters here is the presantation of a chapter of the country's history that shaped the lives of all these people for ever. Very well made

You can watch the full movie here: https://youtu.be/XyDUN11wPxM

247. Pyaasa (1957)

Country: India
Directed by Guru Dutt

Musical, commercial cinema, Bombay produced cinema ( that later it named as Bollywood) at its best. Pyaasa is a classic that more than 60 years later impresses with its intensity, its dignity as melodrama that doesnt try to exploit the tears, the sharp criticism to a society where the money talks loudly and the poor are suffering, its humanism and its related easily with the world as is today. With a fascinating plot and a style that keeps a great balance between an artistic and a simple, popular-like approach, Pyaasa can touch deeply any kind of audience. Such a beautiful film

246. I am 20 (1967)

Country: India
Director: S.N.S Sastry

A short documentary, created by the governtment-run producing house Films Division, where a few young people who were born exactly the day of the Independence of India get asked about their dreams, hopes and fears but mostly about their views on India. So "I am 20" is not in reality about them, is rather a film about a country who does its first steps as indepentent state and already fails badly. In just 19 minutes most of social issues of the country are exposed: the face of the country looks often ugly but these young fresh faces of the interviewed youngsters give hope. However we know already that, 50 years later, this hope got crushed. Rediscovering the film the Indian viewers of today , it said that they got shocked: the India of today faces exactly the same issues, not even one step of progress has be done

You can watch the film here: https://youtu.be/fA8h74ZW8Ok