Directing
David Borenstein
David Borenstein is an American documentary filmmaker. Borenstein lives and works in Copenhagen. Borenstein began his career in radio broadcasting and directed his first feature film, Dream Empire, in 2016. He spent ten years in China working on the film, shooting documentaries about the fringes of Chinese society. For this work, he received several nominations and won the Golden Alexander for Be…
Known For
Mr. Nobody Against Putin · 2025Mr. Nobody Against Putin
★ 7.32025
MovieDocumentary
As Russia launches its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, primary schools across Russia’s hinterlands are transformed into recruitment stages for the war. Facing the ethical dilemma of working in a system defined by propaganda and violence, a brave teacher goes undercover to film what’s really happening in his own school.
The Great Electric Airplane Race · 2022The Great Electric Airplane Race
★ 8.02022
MovieDocumentaryTV Movie
Love Factory: The Price of Being a Social Media Star · 2021Love Factory: The Price of Being a Social Media Star
2021
MovieDocumentary
Livestreaming your life to a devoted audience is big business. What happens when the cameras are off?
The Real Thing · 2018The Real Thing
★ 7.62018
MovieDocumentaryTV Movie
A smaller scale Eiffel Tower and the Champs-Elysées can be found just outside Shanghai; a copy of St. Peter’s in Rome can be found in Yamoussoukro, in the Ivory Coast: a journey over three continents to see the architecture of imitation, the uncanny world of the fake.
Can't Feel Nothing · 2024Can't Feel Nothing
★ 8.02024
MovieDocumentary
A man lies in bed illuminated by the blue-white light of his mobile phone. He doom scrolls past cute pets, outraged opinion pieces and haunting images from the world's hotspots – and he feels absolutely nothing. With curiousity and humour, director David Borenstein travels the world to investigate how bad things really are. Who is pulling the strings when the internet makes us angry, sad, horny or just plain indifferent? And is there any way back? From the American internet troll, a burnt-out superstar in the Asian influencer industry, a cynical fake-news factory in Eastern Europe, Russian state propagandists and an online dominatrix, this is an alarming contemporary diagnosis, with a bold attempt to also look at solutions.
Dream Empire · 2016Dream Empire
★ 6.32016
MovieDocumentary
Yana's foreigner rental agency helps Chinese real estate developers turn ghost towns into temporary 'globalized booming cities' to lure in potential buyers. But when the real estate market starts to collapse, she is forced to sell her company and reassess everything she ever believed in.
Race for the Vaccine · 2021Race for the Vaccine
★ 7.82021
MovieDocumentary
As news of the coronavirus broke around the globe, a small group of scientists jumped into action to tackle one of the greatest medical challenges of our time: to create a vaccine against a virus no one had ever seen before, and to do so in record time, during a deadly, global pandemic.
The Hand That Feeds · 2014The Hand That Feeds
★ 4.72014
MovieDocumentary
Behind the scenes of a popular deli on New York's Upper East Side, undocumented immigrant workers face sublegal wages, dangerous machinery, and abusive managers. Mild-mannered sandwich maker Mahoma López has never been interested in politics, but in Jan. 2012, he convinces a small group of his co-workers to fight back. Risking deportation and the loss of livelihood, the workers team up with a diverse crew of innovative young organizers and take the unusual step of forming an independent union, launching themselves on a journey that will test the limits of their resolve. In one rollercoaster year, they must overcome a shocking betrayal and a two month lockout. Lawyers will battle in backroom negotiations, Occupy Wall Street protesters will take over the restaurant, and a picket line will divide the neighborhood. If they can win a contract, it will set a historic precedent for low-wage workers across the country. But whatever happens, Mahoma and his compañeros won't be exploited again.
Filmography
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