Experiencing Interruptions?

Canaries in a Cold War

Singer-songwriter and human rights activist James H. White sets out for Washington, DC to write a song in protest of the Beijing Winter Olympics. After hearing the gut-wrenching story of three sisters who were tortured in China, he flies across the Atlantic to uncover an even larger, more sinister threat darkened by decades of media silence.

  • Mathias Magnason
    Director
    Defiance in the Kingdom of Fake News
  • James H White
    Writer
  • Mathias Magnason
    Writer
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    50 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    January 31, 2022
  • Production Budget:
    50,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom, United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital, Archive Footage
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Mathias Magnason

Mathias has loved storytelling his entire life. At the age of 5, he was obsessed with Robert Ludlum’s Bourne series. At age 18, his uncle—an award-winning cinematographer—offered him an internship. On the sets of movies and drama TV, Mathias entered the world of visual storytelling. For five years, Mathias assisted in various roles, from producing to directing, editing, lighting and sound design. He fell in love with the magic, spirit and tenacity of the industry.

Motivated to create films that would impact the world, Mathias went on his own. The United Nations hired Mathias for his directorial debut, where he shot a documentary about a cultural exchange between two schools in Sweden and Malawi, southern Africa. Working with the African children was so rewarding, they inspired Mathias to continue down the road of making humanitarian-focused documentaries.

In his second film—“Article 23”—Mathias produced a 20-minute documentary that told the story of Falun Gong, the persecuted spiritual group in China. At a time when no one else would touch the subject, Mathias was able to get it aired on broadcast TV in Sweden.

In 2010, Mathias moved to the US and founded Magnason Film to continue making impactful documentaries and to produce videos for commercial clients. Since its inception, Magnason Film’s videos and films have earned over 30 film festival awards and garnered millions of views across social media.

Tireless in his desire to improve his filmmaking craft, Mathias has been studying acting at the Michael Chekhov School of Acting since 2018. He initially began his acting study to improve his communication with actors, but Mathias has found a second love, having as much fun in front of the camera as behind it.

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Director Statement

It was one of those defining moments in life when what you think about the world is totally turned upside down. We had started this project as a simple documentary about the human rights abuses unfolding in China in the shadow of the Olympics.

But from the very first interview, it was clear that there was something much larger, more important, and all-encompassing beneath the surface. And so we started digging, and realized pretty quickly this went way beyond the human rights of one group, way beyond the rule of law... this touched upon something that shook virtually all of our humanity.