VICE.com, change is necessary, but I'll miss who you once were!

These are the best documentaries from VICE. You should watch them in case they vanish like their staff and website will.

Last week, Vice.com announced that its laying off hundreds of staff, dropping its website, and aiming to produce for other outlets. This is the culmination of a series of disastrous turns for a company that was once the most promising and refreshing, but also the result of gritty content appealing less to Gen Z than Gen X.

Once upon a time, Vice was fearlessly honest, As example, they showed the dark side of Ukraine, but, when the war started, they did a 180 degree as if another MSM channel.

I was disappointed at the sellout, and perturbed at James Murdoch (son of Rupert Murdoch) and George Soros’ hedge fund getting involved. Nevertheless, I still found something interesting things to watch.

I will miss ‘The Short List’ which featured great international documentaries that we’d likely not get to see on Netflix etc. I’m also full of respect for their investigative programs which involved brave women such as Hind Hassan, Isobel Yeung, and Paola Ramos.

In case Vice’s Youtube channel also vanishes, I’m recommending these great documentaries for your next binge watch.

SHORT DOCUMENTARIES

Africa:

• South Africa’s Descent into Chaos

• Private Security in South Africa Comes at a Cost

• How to Buy Black Market Guns From Cops

• Stomping Out Rebellion in DR Congo

• The Disturbing Use of Rape in the DRC

• Pirates are Running Wild off West Africa’s Coast

• Inside the Forgotten War in Darfur, Where the Killing Never Stopped

Asia:

• Why Young Children Are Working From Dawn to Dusk

• Pakistan's Deadly Revenge Porn Epidemic

• Meet Japan's 86-Year-Old Silver Porn Star

Europe - Ukraine:

• Out of Control: Ukraine's Rogue Militias (2018)

• Life Inside Putin’s Crimea (2019)

• Ukraine: Canada’s Proxy War (2016)

• Corruption in Ukraine (2016)

• Hunting Separatists in Eastern Ukraine (2014)

• plus How the Mafia Took Control of Italian Food

Middle East:

• Life in the Taliban's Afghanistan

• This Is What Winning Looks Like

• Inside Iran: What Happened to Iran’s Women-led Uprising?

• Inside an Armed Bank Raid in Lebanon

• Children in Yemen Are So Hungry They’re Eating Their Own Hands

Middle East - Israel/Palestine:

• Inside the Battle for Jerusalem

• Israel’s Far-Right Government is a Gift to Settlers

• The Dangerous Rise of Israeli Ultra-Nationalists

• Death of a Palestinian Protester (at Al-Aqsa)

• Palestinian Homes Are Being Demolished in Jerusalem

South America:

• Who Killed Alberto Nisman? - In Search of Truth in Argentina

• Undercover In Guyana: Exposing Chinese Business in South America

• Inside the World's Most Spectacularly Failed Coup

USA:

• Superpower for Hire: Rise of the Private Military

• The Origins of Anonymous

• Chiraq & Nigeria's Oil Pirates in Chicago

DOCUMENTARIES

1. The Bubble: Golf, booze, boomers and guns in a gated community in Florida that should be stamped: Made Only in the USA. A fascinating trip into sociology.

2. The Mayor: A darkly comedic look at what it takes to be Musa Hadid, the beloved Mayor of Ramallah, during the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

3. Showgirls of Pakistan: 100% culture shock, a jarring entry into the dangerous underground world of three dancers in a religious country.

4. Ghosts of Aleppo: Embedded with the Islamic Front in Syria.

5. Faceless: The Daughter, the Believer, the Student and the Artist - 4 characters at the crossroads of protests and deportation in Hong Kong.

6. Unforgivable: A gang hitman commits the ‘crime’ of coming out as gay and falling in love inside a terrible Salvadorean prison.

7. Not Going Quietly: Ady Barkan’s devotion in the face of a debilitating disease, 'Not Going Quietly' exposes the fragile state of U.S. healthcare.

8. Arica: Boliden, the Swedish mining company, poisoned a town in Northern Chile by dumping toxic waste. The survivors seek justice.

9. Pleistocene Park: A Russian scientist introduces a variety of large herbivores into a section of Siberia in attempt to rebuild the ancient subarctic steppe grassland.

10. Donut King: The unlikely story of a Cambodian refugee arriving in America in 1975, and building a multi-million-dollar empire.

Press Gazette does a good job with the history of Vice - ‘From Murdoch money to bankruptcy in a decade’. And I was inspired to make this post after listening to the latest podcast episode of Dispatches from Clown World (only free to listen today, Feb 29).

Vice.com, don't R.I.P. Do what you were best at.