French documentarian Gerard Ungerman has reported on the subjects of war, drugs, the sex industry, human rights and violations of human rights, environment and ecological decay and hope for growth and green technology.

Ungerman, along with Audrey Brohy, have assembled, through their company Free-Will Productions, an impressive collection of documentaries (in English), which they wrote, produced, directed and shot themselves. And they did so with almost no budget, relying solely on donations and sales.

Having traveled to Afghanistan, Iraq, Columbia, Peru, the United States and the Arctic, Ungerman has tackled some of the most important issues of the last 15 years, and he has done so with insight and fairness.

His films are not conspiracy theories. Ungerman reports like a hard-boiled detective, with conviction and courage that challenges the best and the worst in humanity. He digs deep with an objective principle that both rejects and accepts objective journalism, that is, as Ungerman discovers new facts he cannot help but become more than sympathetic towards victims of avarice and greed – both human and environmental.

“Well, I realized that I do not report for the sake of reporting,” Ungerman said. “I travel the world. I observe situations. I form opinions like anybody else; and then I feel compelled to broadcast both my observations and my opinions.”

His films move from up-to-date interviews – with people such as Zbigniew Brzezinski, Noam Chomsky, Pentagon and military persons such as Karen Kwiatkowski, Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, UNSCOM team leader Scott Ridder, Guerrilla leaders, leaders of para-military units, human rights organizers, etc. – to historical film footage and narratives. Ungerman does not attempt to ask leading questions of his interviewees; he merely lets the story unfold. Throughout his film career, Ungerman could not help but be influenced himself, along with his viewers.

Ungerman grew up in Paris and in the countryside of France. As an adolescent, he dreamt of becoming a warrior, attending military school, and eventually becoming a 2nd Lieutenant in the French military, serving in a mechanized infantry battalion (Gulf Charlie, Tank Armored Battalion). Ungerman had hopes of possibly joining the secret service and developing his military skills for the betterment of Western civilization. However, his plans were thwarted as he came to understand that his role in the military was not serving humanity for the greater good.

After 15 years of research and getting out on the front lines, Ungerman has evolved into a man who tirelessly spends his time attempting to raise awareness and find ecological solutions that impose the least amount of damage to our environment. He is reminiscent of the newscaster Howard Beale in Sidney Lumet’s “Network,” shouting and broadcasting, “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore.”

“Respectfulness has been the common thread throughout my work,” Ungerman said. “Whether looking at Peruvian people caught in a cross fire of political violence or looking at an Iraqi population taken hostages and dying as a result of international wheeling and dealing they couldn’t care less about, whether talking about young women who are led to believe it is OK to do just about anything to make money because making lots of money is the normal thing to do, whether looking at Colombian campessinos that are cornered by unfair international competition into growing coca or poppies as the only way to provide for their families, or observing populations with access to high energy technologies, who are led to believe it is OK to adopt consumer behaviors that will eventually transform a once lush planet into a new Mars, what we are really talking about is a lack of respect for life, including our very own.”

If your taste for documentaries is both educational and responsible to issues that pertain to human rights and evolution for a better world than Ungerman’s films may be for you.

To order Gerard Ungerman’s documentaries see http://www.freewillprod.com/.

Free-Will Production films:

“Peru: Between the Hammer & the Anvil” (1996). Narrated by Marc Seran. AFI-Sony Visions of the US 1996 2nd Best Documentary.

“Confessions of a New York Call Girl” (1998).

“Hidden Wars of Desert Storm” (2000). Narrated by John Hurt. Winner of 2000 Cine Eco in Portugal. Winner of Best International Documentary at 2001 NY Independent Film and Video Festival.

“Plan Columbia: Cashing-In on the Drug Failure” (2003). Narrated by Ed Asner.

“The Oil Factor: Behind the War on Terror” (2004). Narrated by Ed Asner.

“Belonging: A Scientific & Spiritual Journey Into Humanity’s Footprint on the Earth” (2008). Narrated by Dustin Hoffman. Winner of 2008 Artivist Film Festival in Los Angeles.