Emmanuel Ofosue Yeboah, an orphan with a severely deformed right leg, who earns $2 per day shining shoes, writes a letter to the Challenged Athletes Foundation asking for a bicycle so that he can bike across Ghana to demonstrate that disabled people do not have to be beggars, that they can make a valuable contribution to society. After his successful ride across the country and a trip to California where he receives a prosthesis for his leg, Emmanuel returns to Ghana to build a national disabled sports team, distribute wheelchairs to the disabled, set up a scholarship program to send kids to school, and lead a political movement to advance the rights of the disabled. “I want to spread a message about how to change perceptions and the only way is to lead by example.” 2005, 80 minutes.

Brother Wayne Teasdale and others encourage the Dalai Lama to invite forty innovative thinkers to Dharmsala to discuss and solve the world’s problems. The participants are on a pilgrimage to meet the Dalai Lama and to transform the world, but as their egos emerge, they vie for his attention and rebel against the structure of the process. Will they decide to defend Tibet by boycotting Chinese products, will they make a plan to rescue the world’s disenfranchised people, or will they decide to address their own Tibets? “There’s a world you can transform in a nanosecond: yourself,” says quantum physicist Fred Alan Wolf. 2009, 82 minutes.

Sabriye Tenberken, blind since age 12, invites Erik Weihenmayer, the first blind person to scale Mt. Everest, to lead six blind Tibetan teenagers on a climbing expedition in order to transform their views of themselves and views about blindness in Tibet. In their culture, people believe that blindness results from demonic possession or crimes committed in a past life. Conflict ensues as they approach their goal, a 23,000 ft. peak, and it appears that some of the teens will not be able to make it to the top. Should they have a victory and a celebration for all or a victory for some? “Their challenge is adventure,” Sabriye says of Erik and the climbing experts, “Our challenge is to get the children to see that they are equal.” 2006, 104 minutes.

Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce, an exceptional speaker and strategist, was for many years virtually the sole voice for abolition of slavery against 300 other members of the British Parliament in the 18th Century. During the time of this story, we see him fighting for abolition by building relationships, staging dramatic confrontations, and strategically using political power. This historical drama, based on a true story and directed by Michael Apted (Coal Miner’s Daughter), also features John Newton, Wilberforce’s minister, the former captain of a slave ship who repented of his sins and wrote the hymn, Amazing Grace. During his lifetime, Wilberforce launched more than 65 social initiatives addressing issues such as child labor protection, animal welfare, and the national gallery of art.  “God has set before me two great tasks: abolition of the slave trade and reformation of society.” 2007, 118 minutes.