We Could Be Heroes

Over 65 years ago, when Costa Rica became the largest nation in the world to disband their military, they redirected national resources towards public education and universal health care, fostering a wide middle class and a society committed to inclusion. Since then, Costa Rica has earned the number one spot in the Happy Planet Index, a ranking of countries based on measures of environmental protection and the happiness and health of its citizens.

"Defiant Lives" traces the origins of the world-wide disability rights movement. It tells the stories of the individuals who bravely put their lives on the line to create a better world where everyone is valued and can participate. Featuring interviews and rarely seen archival footage, the film reveals how these activists fought to live outside of institutions, challenged the stigmas and negative image of disability portrayed by the media, demanded access to public transportation, and battled to reframe disability rights as a social responsibility relevant to us all.

Herman Wallace spent 41 years in a 6-by-9-foot cell in Louisiana, making him the the longest-serving prisoner in solitary confinement in the United States. Imprisoned in 1967 for a robbery he admits, he was subsequently sentenced to life for a killing he vehemently denied. Herman was released in 2013 and died of liver cancer within days. "Herman's House" is a moving account of the remarkable expression his struggle found in an unusual project proposed by artist Jackie Sumell.

Three residents in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas find their lives upended by plans to build a US-Mexico border wall. Meanwhile a butterfly, la mariposa, fights its own daily battle for survival in a landscape where 95 percent of its habitat is gone, and the rest lies directly in the path of the wall.

Before the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games, Azzedine Nouiri, the world champion in seated shot put, inspires his childhood friend Youssef to take on the challenge of qualifying for the Games despite their lack of means and formal training. They struggle to conquer the extraordinary in order to have the same rights and opportunities as ordinary men at home, in Morocco.

South Africa's Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela, attempts to bring justice to ordinary people. After successfully challenging President Zuma for illegal use of state funds, she has to investigate - in the face of protests, death threats and legal challenges - the alleged systematic takeover of the government by a private family in cahoots with the President.