By David D'Arcy

When The Power of Nightmares was first broadcast on the BBC late last year, it drew record audiences in the UK for a political documentary. The three-part series has since been a hit on the festival circuit in the US and is screening at Cannes this year. David D'Arcy talks to filmmaker Adam Curtis about the doc and about how neoconservative notions of reality are rattling the world.

By Sara Schieron

Blue Vinyl, a surprisingly comical look at "life with the backdrop of industry," goes to the hubs of vinyl manufacturing to show the dangerous effects of the pollutant, and in the process identifies it as a danger to humanity on a larger scale. Co-director Judith Helfand talks with Sara Schieron about the film and its recent impact on environmental activism.