Film Nights

Northeast Neighbors for

Peace & Jusicte

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Northeast Neighbors for Peace and Justice Video/Potlucks every Friday Gather about 8:00, movie starts about 8:30, bring food or drink to share if you can.

Flor y Canto Centro
Comunitario & Bookstore
3706 N. Figueroa

in Highland Park
near the corners of Marmion Way and Ave. 37
3 blocks from the Gold Line Heritage Square Station
(323)276-8350
(sorry about the formatting below, Teco will fix it soon!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

April 8
The Real Thing: Coca, Democracy and Rebellion in Bolivia (2004, 92 minutes)
The American-led War on Drugs has had grave impacts on the Bolivian farmers who produce the coca leaf,­ the main ingredient in cocaine. The Real Thing: Coca, Democracy and Rebellion in Bolivia reveals how the US government, instead of cracking down on the users, distributors, and producers of cocaine, has targeted the coca plant itself.
Coca has been used for traditional and medicinal purposes since the Inca empire. Choosing to eradicate the coca plant, a strategy which consists of the military pulling each plant out of the ground by hand, is like deciding to prohibit corn because it is possible to make an alcoholic beverage from it, explains one campesino. The film's argument is that it is not a War on Drugs, but an extension of the neo-colonial American dream of bringing “modernity” to their southern neighbours. As Noam Chomsky puts it: “[These governments] are successfully carrying out their objectives, but their objectives have nothing to do with drugs.”
The coca farmers, fed up with the U.S. influence over Bolivian politicians, have mobilized through the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS). But because these communities have rejected the plant’s eradication and the imposition of alternative development programs, they have been labelled and treated as terrorists. They tell their story in The Real Thing, and give us a deeper understanding of the conflict and what is at stake.


April 1
Tony Kienitz "The Year I Ate My Yard"
We've got something different for April Fools Day - Come hear "Master Vegetablarian" Tony Kienitz speak and answer your questions about organic gardening. He has lived in Southern California for nearly 516 moons and has been gardening professionally for 120 of those lunar cycles. Tony's company, Vegetare, designs, sows and tends edible landscapes across the Southland, down in the valleys, along the rambling foothills, from the mountains to the sea. In his thoughtful and funny new book THE YEAR I ATE MY YARD he challenges our notions of what a vegetable garden should provide. Instead of growing freakishly giant, unblemished and insipid crops using factory-made fertilizers and nasty poisons, Kienitz offers practical advice and guidelines for creating gardens that cooperate with natural systems. He shows that by changing the way you look at a vegetable garden you will change the way the plants respond. Most importantly, Kienitz stresses that a vegetable garden, or for that matter, any garden, only needs love for it to thrive - and he provides thoughts on how we can bestow that love.

Friday, March 11
Oil on Ice (2004, 57 minutes)
This documentary is an intimate portrayal of the native Gwich’in Indians taking on powerful global energy interests to prevent invasive oil operations threatening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s fragile caribou calving grounds on which the Native people’s subsistence has always depended. The Gwich’in call the preserve “the place where life begins.” The film vividly brings home how our energy decisions—both individually and as a society — critically impact the future of our global economy, wildlife, and the environment as well as the survival of an extraordinary traditional culture.
This screening is part of a nationwide weekend of screenings being organized by the Sierra Club to activate support for protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and reducing America’s dangerous dependence on oil.


Friday, March 18
Stream Spirit Rising: Daylighting the North Branch (2005, 12 min.) with special guests
 
One year ago Northeast Trees sponsored a series of art and education events about the buried streams of the Arroyo Seco watershed and their potential for restoration. Local filmmaker David Gottlieb documented the series, providing a window into the history of the neighborhoods, as well as outlining some solutions. In Highland Park, the North Branch creek used to connect springs, hills and meadows to the Arroyo Seco, providing a home for fish, amphibians, birds, and small mammals, as well as places for children to play. Today the stream is a storm drain. But a small stretch of the North Branch could be brought back to life.
“In many ways these streams are a metaphor for the way we have ‘buried’ our connection with nature”, says Jessica Hall of Northeast Trees. “Daylighting these streams restores not only the streams natural ecological processes, but in many urban neighborhoods it can restore a sense of place and the natural importance of water even in the most urban settings.” Jessica will give us an update and answer questions about what the next steps are.
In keeping with the creative flavor of Stream Spirit Rising we will also have local poet Aire Celeste Norell as a guest, reading environmental poetry.  She calls herself "a compassionate warrior for peace toward all living things", and recently edited the anthology Cracked Pavement & Plastic Trees: Our Gifts To Future Generations.


Friday, March 4
This Is What Free Trade Looks Like (2004, 64 minutes) with special guest filmmaker
"This Is What Free Trade Looks Like: NAFTA fraud in méxico, the failure of the WTO, and the case for global revolt" takes a Global South perspective on Free Trade in order to contextualize the increasingly fierce resistance movements emerging around the world today. The most authoritative experience of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) is no doubt the Mexican one, since México has already endured 10 years of the most advanced Free Trade Agreement in operation, NAFTA. The film examines México's experience with NAFTA as a basis for understanding the impacts of other free trade agreements such as the WTO and the FTAA. Interviews with experts and activists are interwoven with entertaining images of the protest events in Cancún, México at the 5th WTO ministerial in September 2003. From the Activist Media Project Los Angeles
www.activistmediaproject.net


February 4
Permaculture Night - 3 films and a slide presentation to Inspire Urban Farmers
 
The slide presentation is by the good folks at Path to Freedom, a local urban homestead. Their objective is to live as harmoniously and sustainably as possible in the midst of the city.  They incorporate many back-to-basic practices, permaculture methods,  and appropriate technologies, including biodiesel. They enjoy sharing their knowledge and helping others develop along their journey.
 
Beyond Organic: The Vision of Fairview Gardens (2000, 33 minutes)
Fairview Gardens is an urban farm located in Goleta, California, right in the middle of some of the most expensive real estate in the U.S. Managed for the past two decades by visionary farmer/photographer/author, Michael Ableman, this 12-acre organic farm has become a model of sustainable food production and community involvement, as well as an inspiration for thousands of people all over the world.  
Beyond Organic tells the story of this amazing farm and its long battle to survive in the face of rapid suburban development. Narrated by Meryl Streep.

Global Gardener: Permaculture with Bill Mollison (1996, 28 minutes)
Bill Mollison is a practical visionary. For nearly two decades he has traveled the globe spreading the word about permaculture, the method of sustainable agriculture that he devised. Permaculture weaves together microclimate, annual and perennial plants, animals, soils, water management and human needs into intricately connected productive communities. Mollison has proved that even in the most difficult conditions permaculture empowers people to turn wastelands into food forests. We will watch a short segment of this 2 hour program, one that features urban solutions in
New York City and Harare, Zimbabwe.
 
City Farmers (1998, 32 minutes)
The story of a community garden in New York City. The gardeners themselves narrate the film, giving a heartwarming and sometimes painful accounting of the struggle to keep their gardens alive. They tell of life on both sides of the garden fence: from their fight against drug dealers and gangs to the successes of the gardens as food suppliers to families and Senior Centers. As they tend their rows, some of these caretakers are reminded of their childhood days on farms in the South, while others, who have known only pavement under their feet, have found new directions for their futures.
 
Next two weeks - schedule change - no film on 2/11 or 2/18
 
Resuming films on Feb. 25 with
The Future of Food (2004, 91 minutes)
There is a revolution happening in the farm fields and on the dinner tables of America—a revolution that is transforming the very nature of the food we eat. The Future of Food offers an in-depth investigation into the disturbing truth behind the unlabeled, patented, genetically engineered foods that have quietly filled grocery store shelves for the past decade. From the prairies of Saskatchewan, Canada, to the fields of Oaxaca, Mexico, this film gives a voice to farmers whose lives and livelihoods have been negatively impacted by this new technology. 
 
Director Deborah Koons Garcia (widow of Jerry) tells us genetically engineered crops have undermined cultivation methods that have been refined over thousands of years.  Exploring a gamut of issues from so-called suicide seeds to lax food-safety enforcement laws, and from the controversy over patented genes to infected cornfields, the film is a comprehensive and chilling call to arms against GMOs. It played a roles in the passage of Measure H, which banned the use of GMO farming within Mendocino County, California last March.


January 7, 2005
Another World is Possible  (2002, 24 minutes)
Exciting and visionary politics are about to be ignited at the 2005 World Social Forum, from January 26 to 31 in Porto Alegre, Brazil. This will be the 5th incarnation of the important international event. In 2002, also in Porto Alegre, public officials, representatives of non-governmental organizations, indigenous nations, farmers, and labor gathered for the 2nd World Social Forum. It was covered extensively by the media in other parts of the world, but was virtually ignored by the US press. The film "Another World is Possible" presents a sampling of the issues and events at this enormous and creative gathering. Amongst the speakers featured are Naomi Klein, Vandana Shiva, Kevin Danaher, Wolfgang Sachs, and Rigoberta Menchu. This documentary impression of the gathering gives hope to US activists that, despite the media blackout, the movement for social justice is alive and well around the world.

January 14
Captain Milkshake (1970, 100 min.)
with possible special guest: director Richard Crawford
Filmed in 1969, this is an anti-Vietnam War film about a marine-on-leave falling in love with an anti-war militant. Things get complicated with conservative relatives, irate hippies and an ill-fated Mexican drug run, all set to the trippy vintage sounds of Quicksilver Messenger Service, Country Joe & The Fish, The Steve Miller Band, and Kaleidoscope. Filmed in San Diego, the movie includes scenes of Crystal Pier, Balboa Park, Vacation Village, La Jolla Cove, and Pacific Beach, 35 years ago. The "authentic 60's flashback" was banned by the U.S. military at the time of it's release. Join us for a fun story of free love, cheap grass, psychedelic rock 'n roll and anti-war protests at Berkeley. Wear your love beads.

January 21
In the Light of Reverence (2001, 73 minutes)
A stunning portrait of land-use conflicts over Native American sacred sites on public and private land around the West. A project of Earth Island Institute revealing how a
cross the USA, Native Americans are struggling to protect their sacred places. Religious freedom, so valued in America, is not guaranteed to those who practice land-based religion. Every year, more sacred sites - the land-based equivalent of the world's great cathedrals - are being destroyed. Strip mining and development cause much of the destruction. But rock climbers, tourists, and New Age religious practitioners are part of the problem, too. The biggest problem is ignorance.In the Light of Reverence tells the story of three indigenous communities and the land they struggle to protect: the Lakota of the Great Plains, the Hopi of the Four Corners area, and the Wintu of northern California.
 
January 28 - no film
 
February 4
Permaculture Night - 3 films to Inspire Urban Farmers
 
Beyond Organic: The Vision of Fairview Gardens (2000, 33 minutes)
Fairview Gardens is an urban farm located in Goleta, California, right in the middle of some of the most expensive real estate in the U.S. Managed for the past two decades by visionary farmer/photographer/author, Michael Ableman, this 12-acre organic farm has become a model of sustainable food production and community involvement, as well as an inspiration for thousands of people all over the world.  
 
Beyond Organic tells the story of this amazing farm and its long battle to survive in the face of rapid suburban development. It explores the efforts of Ableman and his staff to diversify the farm, open it to educational tours for thousands of people -- especially schoolchildren -- and defend it against angry neighbors, hostile public officials and developers eager to re-zone the land for condominiums. It draws a sharp contrast between community supported agriculture and conventional chemical farming, and it calls on organic farmers to remember basic principles, including fair labor practices, as their farms grow in size and power. It is a dramatic story with a happy ending. Other neighbors -- and eventually the entire Santa Barbara community -- rallied around Fairview Gardens and raised $800,000 to preserve it as a land trust, and as a source of inspiration, for future generations. Narrated by Meryl Streep.

Global Gardener: Permaculture with Bill Mollison (1996, 28 minutes)
Bill Mollison is a practical visionary. For nearly two decades he has traveled the globe spreading the word about permaculture, the method of sustainable agriculture that he devised. Permaculture weaves together microclimate, annual and perennial plants, animals, soils, water management and human needs into intricately connected productive communities. Mollison has proved that even in the most difficult conditions permaculture empowers people to turn wastelands into food forests. We will watch a segment of this 2 hour program that features urban solutions in
New York City and Harare, Zimbabwe.
 
City Farmers (1998, 32 minutes)
The gardeners themselves narrate the film, giving a heartwarming and sometimes painful accounting of the struggle to keep their gardens alive. They tell of life on both sides of the garden fence: from their fight against drug dealers and gangs to the successes of the gardens as food suppliers to families and Senior Centers. As they tend their rows, some of
these caretakers are reminded of their childhood days on farms in the South, while others, who have known only pavement under their feet, have found new directions for their futures.

February 11
The Future of Food (2004, 91 minutes)
There is a revolution happening in the farm fields and on the dinner tables of America—a revolution that is transforming the very nature of the food we eat. The Future of Food offers an in-depth investigation into the disturbing truth behind the unlabeled, patented, genetically engineered foods that have quietly filled grocery store shelves for the past decade. From the prairies of Saskatchewan, Canada, to the fields of Oaxaca, Mexico, this film gives a voice to farmers whose lives and livelihoods have been negatively impacted by this new technology. 
 
Director Deborah Koons Garcia (widow of Jerry) tells us genetically engineered crops have undermined cultivation methods that have been refined over thousands of years.  Exploring a gamut of issues from so-called suicide seeds to lax food-safety enforcement laws, and from the controversy over patented genes to infected cornfields, the film is a comprehensive and chilling call to arms against GMOs. It played a roles in the passage of Measure H, which banned the use of GMO farming within Mendocino County, California last March.
 
February 18
4 Little Girls (1997, 102 minutes)
September 15, 1963 - a bomb tears through the basement of a black Baptist Church and takes the lives of four young girls. This racially motivated crime brings Birmingham, Alabama to the forefront of the civil rights movement. It was the incident that awakened liberal America to the true depth of the hatred and resistance to integration. Still, more than a decade passed before a notorious white supremacist, Robert "Dynamite Bob" Chambliss, was convicted of the crime. His alleged co-conspirators were never charged. Features archival film footage, home photographs and comments by surviving family members. Directed by Spike Lee, this was his first documentary.
 
February 25 - no film


December 3rd
Arlington West (2004, 56 min) with special guests filmmakers Sally Marr and Peter Dudar

This moving documentary by two longtime Los Angeles activists is made up of sixty-four interviews with soldiers and Marines en route to and returning from the war in Iraq, plus interviews with military families. Their stories are shared against the powerful backdrop of the temporary cemetery in the sand known as Arlington West, which is erected every Sunday by the Veterans For Peace on the beach in Santa Barbara, Santa Monica, Oceanside and other locations.They place a flag draped coffin, and over 1000 wooden crosses on the beach, one for each US soldier killed in Iraq. Thousands of people have visited the memorials since their inception over a year ago.

December 10th
A night of critical analysis of the media and public opinion:
Edward Said: On Orientalism (1998, 40 min)

The late Edward Said's book Orientalism has been profoundly influential in a range of disciplines since its 1978 publication. Said argues that the western understanding of the Middle East as a place full of villians and terrorists ruled by Islamic fundamentalism produces a deeply distorted image of the diversity and complexity of Arab peoples. In this engaging and lavishly illustrated interview he talks about the context within which the book was conceived, its main themes, and how its original thesis relates to the current understanding of "the Orient" as represented in the mass media.

and

Constructing Public Opinion: How Politicians and the Media Misrepresent the Public (2001, 32 min.)
In this film Professor Justin Lewis provides an innovative lens through which to view the relationship between politics, media and the public. He demonstrates how public opinon polls are used by the media to not just reflect what Americans think, but to actually construct public opinion itself. Exploding the myth that most Americans are moderate or conservative, Constructing Public Opinion shows the way in which political elites help to promote the military/industrial complex and how the media sustains belief in an electoral system with a built-in bias against the interests of ordinary people.

December 17th
Unconstitutional (2004, 60 min.)
"We created Unconstitutional to show Americans the extent to which our civil liberties and our freedoms have been trampled upon by our government since 9/11," said producer Robert Greenwald (Uncovered, Unprecedented, OutFoxed).  "The more Americans understand what is at stake, and what has already been lost, the more determined we become to protect our rights." Unconstitutional explores how the Patriot Act has taken away checks on law enforcement and continues to endanger the civil liberties of all Americans. The Patriot Act, which was passed just 45 days after September 11 with virtually no debate, is being met with a significant grassroots groundswell from across the political spectrum. Resolutions opposing the Patriot Act have passed in approximately 340 communities in 41 states, including four statewide resolutions. These communities represent over 53 million people who believe that the Patriot Act goes too far. By focusing on the personal stories of real people, Unconstitutional aims to reveal how paranoia, fear and racial profiling have led to gross infringements on freedom and democracy without strengthening national security.
 
December 24 and 31 -- No Films, see you in 2005!

The "Take Back Democracy Film Festival"

Five Fridays in October at Flor y Canto

October 1
"What America Needs: From Sea to Shining Sea"  (2002, 93 minutes)
Directed and Produced by Mark Wojahn
Traveling by train from N.Y.C. to Los Angeles post 9/11, a documentary filmmaker asks more than 500 people from different communities across America "What Do You Think America Needs?"  The sincerity and thoughtfulness with which people responded makes this film a thought-provoking look at who Americans are and what they instinctively know. Collectively, their answers relate an unexpected story of hope.

October 8
"Trouble in Paradise" (2003, 73 minutes)
Directed and Produced by Laurel Greenberg
This documentary presents the real-life drama of Election 2000 and 2002 within the chaotic landscape of Florida politics. It follows a diverse group of Floridians who, compelled by a sense of civic responsibility after the debacle of 2000, become centrally involved in political issues. They volunteer on campaigns, run for office and sue the state, all while revisiting the unanswered questions of the historic election which changed their lives.

October 15
"Shocking and Awful: A Grassroots response to the War in Iraq" (2004, 30 min.each)
Produced by Deep Dish TV Network
This series is compiled from independent footage shot from many locations in the U.S. and around the world: "Erasing Memory" The cultural destruction of Iraq and "Channels of War" The Media is the Military

October 22
"Point of Attack" (2004, 46 minutes)
Directed and Produced by Kathleen Foster
This documentary chronicles the post 9/11 racial profiling, large scale round-ups, detentions and mass deportations of Arab, Muslim and South Asian men as part of the 'War on Terrorism'. The film frames the plight of these immigrant communities within the broader context of the U.S. government's 'other war' against civil liberties being waged via the USA Patriot Act.
AND
 "Independent Media In A Time of War"  (2003, 29 minutes) Produced by Hudson Mohawk Independent Media Center
Part scathing critique, part call to action, this documentary argues that dialogue is vital to a healthy democracy. Independent media has a crucial responsibility to go where the silence is, according to narrator Amy Goodman, host of Pacifica Radio's "Democracy Now".  She makes a compelling argument that the news media failed to represent the true face of war, and criticizes the phenomenon of "embedded reporters", which resulted in a pro-military bias in the U.S. media, stifling the voices of independent reporters in Iraq.

October 29
"Before You Don’t Vote…" (2003, 24 min)
Directed and Produced by Larry Litt and Eleanor Heartney
Interviews with over 50 voters in New York and Palm Beach who discuss politics, current affairs and the importance of voting in the U.S.  From widely diverse backgrounds, they comment on our democracy's past, present and future and offer realistic advice about why we should participate even though politics and politicians are not what we want them to be.
AND
 "A Night Of Ferocious Joy " (2004, 60 min) w/ special guest filmmaker David Zeiger
On May 12, 2002, before an audience of 1,800 people in the legendary Palace theater in Los Angeles, a disparate group of hip hop, latin funk, spoken word and visual artists created the first anti-war concert in the new millennium called ArtSpeaks! Not in Our Name. This concert film captures the energy and feel of what happened that night. Featuring: Ozomatli, The Coup, Blackalicious, Dilated Peoples, Mystic, Saul Williams, The Pan Afrikan People's Arkestra, Jerry Quickley, and Hassan Hakmoun.
 
I'm taking suggestions for a good comic relief film for November 5th (3 days after you know what)


September 24th

No Film Night

 

September 17th
Just One Step (1987, 90 minutes) with special guest filmmaker James Knight


Eighteen years ago, a group of 500 people walked across the US on the Great Peace March for Global Nuclear Disarmament. "Just One Step" documents this extraordinary journey. It is a film about commitment, passion, counter-cultural and mainstream America. People from all walks of life - many of whom had never marched for anything before - gathered in a historic effort to affect the politics of a nation. The film chronicles not only the logistical, emotional, and spiritual trials of the marchers - living in tents, walking through all terrains and weather - but also their interaction with thousands of Americans in rural and urban communities along the way. Today the threat of nuclear destruction still looms over us, but when this film was made few people dreamed that Nelson Mandela would become president of South Africa, that the Berlin Wall would come down, that the Soviet Union would break up, or that America would invade Iraq. The Great Peace March is an important and relevant lesson in what's possible.

September 10
Special Event:
PEACE & DIGNITY VIDEO PLATICAS
*on*spirituality*culture*traditions*globalization*with video*discussion*poetry*photographs*

This will be a rare chance to learn about the ancient indigenous
prophecy, culture, and traditions carried out by spiritual runners from all over the Americas in the Peace & Dignity Intercontinental Runs. These spiritual runs generate prayers to heal the Nations, and to honor the Ancestors, Elders, Children, Leaders, Future Generation, and those who are in the Spirit  World. Other goals are to inform the world of the desire for a peaceful co-existence with all peoples and to make people aware of the sacredness and delicate balance of nature.

Past runners and organizers will be at Flor y Canto to discuss the run's purpose and their own experiences. A short video documentary will be shown. Donations encouraged to benefit the current run now in Mexico on route to Panama.
http://www.peaceanddignityjourneys.com

August 27th & September 3rd


No films (Critical Mass and Labor Day)

August 20th


in honor of the upcoming Burning Man Festival
Gifting It (2002, 74 minutes)


This film documents the gift economy culture that lives at the heart of Burning Man, the 17-year-old celebration of art and creativity that draws 30,000 people to the Nevada desert for the week leading up to Labor Day. This thriving experimental community creates itself anew each year through radical self-reliance and self-expression. There are several other documentaries about Burning Man, and they tend to focus on the naked people, the wild art, the giant burning Man. Well, there's some of that here too, but as most who've been there can attest, the main reason the event is so compelling is the openness, the connection with others, and the gift economy. Soak up a little virtual playa dust!

August 13th


A Night of Shorts


Stay tuned for more info. If you can recommend a short political film, contact Jennifer at truffula_tuft@hotmail.com

August 6th

Outfoxed (2004, 77 minutes)

www.outfoxed.org

An in-depth look at Fox News and the dangers of ever-enlarging corporations taking control of the public's right to know. "Outfoxed" examines how media empires, led by Rupert Murdoch's Fox News, have been running a "race to the bottom" in television news. The film explores Murdoch's burgeoning kingdom and the impact on society when a broad swath of media is controlled by one person. Media experts, including Walter Cronkite, Jeff Cohen (FAIR) Bob McChesney (Free Press), Chellie Pingree (Common Cause), Jeff Chester (Center for Digital Democracy) and David Brock (Media Matters) provide context and guidance for the story of Fox News and its effect on society.


This documentary also reveals the secrets of Former Fox news producers, reporters, bookers and writers who expose what it's like to work for Fox News. These former Fox employees talk about how they were forced to push a "right-wing" point of view or risk their jobs. Some have even chosen to remain anonymous in order to protect their current livelihoods. As one employee said "There's no sense of integrity as far as having a line that can't be crossed." Director/Producer Robert Greenwald is the director of Uncovered and the Executive Producer of the UN series - Unprecedented, Uncovered and the soon to be released Unconstitutional.


July 30th
No film tonight (Critical Mass, see June 28)

July 23rd

Juvies (2004, 66 minutes) with special guests


Four years ago, high school student Duc Ta was arrested for driving a car from which a gun was shot. Although no one was injured, and Duc was not a member of a gang, had no priors, and was 16 years old, he received a sentence of 35 years to life. Juvies is a riveting look at a world most of us will never see: the world of juvenile offenders who are serving incomprehensibly long prison sentences for crimes they either did not commit or were only marginally involved in. For two years, filmmaker Leslie Neale taught a video production class at Los Angeles Central Juvenile Hall to 12 juveniles who were being tried as adults. Juvies is the product of that class. The film builds a powerful argument, questioning what in our American culture has caused us to demonize our youth and allow the collapse of the juvenile justice system, which has turned its back on its initial mission to protect young people and now sends over 200,000 kids through the adult system each year.

July 16th

Culturejam: Hijacking Commercial Culture (2001, 55 minutes)


Jammers, cultural commentators, a billboard advertiser and a constitutional lawyer take us on a wild roller coaster ride through the back streets of our mental environment. Stopping over in San Francisco, New York's Times Square, and Toronto, we catch the cultural jamming in action with Batman-inspired Jack Napier of the Billboard Liberation Front, Disney arch-enemy Reverend Billy from the Church of Stop Shopping and Media Tigress Carly Stasko. Culturejam asks: Is Culture Jamming civil disobedience? Senseless vandalism? The only form of self defense left?

July 9th


Gaza Strip (2002, 74 minutes)


A look at the Israeli-Palestinian situation in the occupied territory, this documentary gives a voice to a population largely ignored by the mainstream media. Shot almost entirely in a cinema vérité style and presented without narration, the film focuses on ordinary Palestinians rather than politicians and pundits. "Gaza Strip" is an extraordinary and painful journey into the lives of Palestinians struggling with the day-to-day trials of the Israeli occupation. In January of 2001, filmmaker Longley traveled to the occupied territory. His plan was to stay for two weeks to collect preliminary material for a documentary film on the Intifada. It was during his stay that Ariel Sharon was elected as Israeli Prime Minister. As violence erupted around him, Longley threw away his return ticket and filmed for the next three months, acquiring 75 hours of footage. "Gaza Strip" follows a range of people and events, including the first major armed incursion into "Area A" by IDF forces. More observation than political argument, it offers a rare look inside the stark realities of life under Israeli military occupation.

July 2nd
No film tonight
Go out and celebrate what's left of our freedom!

June 25th


No film tonight


We were so inspired by April's Bike night film about Critical Mass that we've joined them! You can too, meet at Sunset and Parkman in Silverlake at 6:30pm, the last Friday of every month. http://www.cicle.org.cm/criticalmass.html

June 18th, In honor of Gay Pride month


After Stonewall (2000, 90 minutes)


On June 27, 1969, in what is considered the birth of the modern gay civil rights movement, the patrons of the Stonewall Bar in New York City spontaneously united and fought back against chronic police harassment. "After Stonewall: from the Riots to the Millennium" chronicles the gay and lesbian experience since the Stonewall riots. From the emergence of the 70's Gay Liberation Movement and Womyn's music festivals to the onslaught of AIDS, the vibrant Gay Games movement and Ellen DeGeneres' highly publicized coming out performance, the documentary captures the struggles, defeats and triumphs of a proud, though still stigmatized, community. Filmmakers interviewed more than 200 people, including author Armistead Maupin; early activists Frank Kameny, Jewelle Gomez and Barbara Gittings; Representative Barney Frank; novelist Dorothy Allison; presidential advisor David Mixner; drag entertainer Charles Ching; best-selling author Rita Mae Brown; gay community leader Elizabeth Birch; and gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered individuals from all walks of life.

June 11th


The Fog of War (2003, 95 minutes)


This is the story of America as seen through the eyes of the former Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara. One of the most controversial figures in world politics, he takes us on an insider's view of the 20th Century. From the firebombing of Tokyo in 1945 to the brink of nuclear catastrophe during the Cuban missile crisis to the devastating effects of the Vietnam War, "The Fog of War" examines the psychology and reasoning of the government decision-makers who send men to war. As American forces occupy Iraq, "The Fog of War" is essential viewing for anyone who wants to understand how the American government justifies the use of military force. Combining archival footage, recreations, newly declassified White House recordings, and a score by Philip Glass, the film is a disquieting, powerful essay on war, rationality, and human nature. Winner of the Academy Award for Best Documentary.

June 4


KPFA On the Air (2000, 60 minutes
)


A lively documentary providing food for thought about the potential for alternative visions of media and their relationships to community. KPFA, sister Pacifica station to our own KPFK, began broadcasting in April 1949, and soon became a beacon of open-ended discourse in the McCarthy period of the 1950s. Included among its guests were Langston Hughes, Dylan Thomas, Allen Ginsberg and Linus Pauling, along with Caspar Weinberger, Edward Teller, the father of the H-Bomb, and the John Birch Society. The video documents the growth of KPFA from the brainstorm of some WWII pacifists to a rare and dynamic voice for cultural and political pluralism through the 1950s, and as a voice for the social movements of the 1960s. It provides diverse perspectives on the complexities of building a multi-cultural media community. Alice Walker narrates viewers through this lively documentary on the history of this pioneer of listener-sponsored radio.

May 28 No Film Night! Gone to Critical Mass bike ride http://www.cicle.org/cm/criticalmass.html

May 21


Let My Country Awake (2003, 50 minutes), with special guests


This film chronicles American opposition to the 2003 war on Iraq. Filmed in San Francisco, New York, Washington and Los Angeles, it features congressional representatives, political activists, celebrities and concerned citizens. The film reveals dramatic predictions for the consequences being felt now in 2004, as a result of the Bush Administration's rush to war. The film was created to give a face to the millions of concerned citizens whose voices were drowned out by network news coverage of military strategies and fear-based propaganda. It is a film of hope, celebrating the beauty of citizens uniting and taking action.

May 14

The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of The American Dream (78 minutes, 2004)


Since World War II North Americans have invested much of their newfound wealth in suburbia. It has promised a sense of space, affordability, family life and upward mobility. As the population of suburban sprawl has exploded in the past 50 years, so too the suburban way of life has become embedded in the American consciousness. But as we enter the 21st century, serious questions are beginning to emerge about the sustainability of this way of life. With brutal honesty and a touch of irony, The End of Suburbia explores the American Way of Life and its prospects as the planet approaches a critical era, as global demand for fossil fuels begins to outstrip supply. World Oil Peak and the inevitable decline of fossil fuels are upon us now, some scientists and policy makers argue in this documentary. The consequences of inaction in the face of this global crisis are enormous. What does Oil Peak mean for North America? As energy prices skyrocket in the coming years, how will the populations of suburbia react to the collapse of their dream? Are today's suburbs destined to become the slums of tomorrow? And what can be done NOW, individually and collectively, to avoid The End of Suburbia?

May 7


The Friendship Village (51 minutes, 2003)


The Friendship Village is a documentary film about an international group of veterans who are building a village in Vietnam for children with Agent Orange-related deformities. Built on a former rice paddy near Hanoi, the Vietnam Village of Friendship stands not only as a symbol of peace and reconciliation, but as a testament to the potential for all people to come to terms with the past, heal the wounds of war, and create a better world. Following the story of the village's founder, American veteran George Mizo, The Friendship Village takes us through his experiences of war's horror to the personal transformation that led to the birth of this remarkable village. Working alongside the Vietnamese general responsible for killing his entire platoon in 1968, George and other veterans from the US, Vietnam, France, Germany, Japan, Great Britain and Australia are attempting to mitigate the ongoing effects of the toxic herbicide sprayed during the war. Their efforts are a powerful example of how average people can still make a profound difference in our increasingly globalized world. As such, the Vietnam Friendship Village has the potential to change not only the lives of the children who live in it and the men who build it, but all who come to understand its vision.

April 30 2004

Bike Night! with "Return of the Scorcher" and "We ARE Traffic!"

This Friday 4/30 at Flor y Canto is BIKE NIGHT! We celebrate bike power and alternative transportation choices with 2 films about bike culture and politics. Some LA Critical Mass riders will be joining us after their ride.

Return of the Scorcher (30 minutes, 1992)


This documentary looks at bike culture and bike lifestyles around the world with beautiful and inspiring scenes of bike use filmed in China, The Netherlands, Denmark, and the U.S. In the 1890's, before automobiles ruled the roads, bicyclists were referred to as "Scorchers" because of their blazing speed. A century later, in a world filled with car-related environmental and social problems, Return of the Scorcher discovers an inspired and evolving bicycling renaissance.

Film by Ted White.
We ARE Traffic! (50 minutes, 1999)

This Ted White film chronicles the history and development of the "Critical Mass" bicycle movement, one of the most spirited and dynamic social/political movements of the apathetic 90's. In over 100 cities in 14 different countries, Critical Mass has now become a monthly ritual of reclaiming the streets by bicycle activists riding en masse. With traffic congestion, pollution, and road rage on the rise, growing numbers around the world are advocating for transportation alternatives, and Critical Mass is at the cutting edge of this mindset. We Are Traffic! tracks this leaderless, grassroots movement from its beginnings in San Francisco in 1992 to its spread across the globe. With a radical direct-action approach the participants of Critical Mass are celebrating the bicycle and in turn taking on perhaps the century's most sacred cow: the automobile.

April 16 2004


Zapatista (56 min, 1998)

It is New Years Night 1994, the day the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) comes into effect. To the Mayan communities in the Lacandon Jungle of Southeastern Mexico, NAFTA symbolizes the culmination of over 500 years of exploitation. During the night, 2,000 indigenous soldiers occupy several cities in the state of Chiapas and declare political and economic independence. They call themselves the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN). Darryl Hannah, Edward James Olmos, Mumia Abu-Jamal, and Rage Against the Machine team up with three young film makers to produce ZAPATISTA!, a film from the front lines of the civil war in Mexico. The product of over two years of filming and research, it combines first hand footage with extensive interviews and testimonies from campesinos, rebel leaders, activists and intellectuals working on both sides of the border. Zapatista locates the struggle in a global and historical context, revealing the ways in which Zapatismo grows out of 500 years of indigenous resistance and tracing the connections the Zapatistas have made to movements around the world. The film is a provocative, hip, graphic exposé of an inspiring human struggle.

April 9 2004 one year anniversary of Friday Film Night


Baraka (1992, 93 minutes)

6 continents and 24 countries provide spectacular Todd AO-70mm footage of the balance between nature and man. Baraka is an ancient Sufi word, which can be translated as "a blessing, or as the breath, or essence of life from which the evolutionary process unfolds." For many people Baraka is the definitive film in this style (Ron Fricke also did Koyaanisqatsi) . Breathtaking shots from around the world show the beauty and destruction of nature and man. Coupled with an incredible soundtrack including music from Michael Stern, Dead Can Dance and Monks of the Dip Tse Chok Ling Monastery.
Also coming in April: Zapatista film night and Bicycle Power night! Stay tuned

April 2 2004

Haiti: Killing the Dream (1992)

This documentary, made for PBS in 1992, tells the grave political history of this troubled Caribbean island and offers a vital perspective on the first exile of democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. It lays bare the first Bush administration's duplicity on Haiti. Deja vu.

March 26 2004

The Global Banquet: the Politics of Food (2003, 60 minutes) and Santiago's Story (1999, 16 minutes)


This film begins in rural North Dakota with a farmer who inherited his land -- and love for the soil -- from his father. He tells of his efforts to preserve the ecological integrity of the land and to grow healthy crops through organic farming methods. Testifying to the tragedy of high suicide rates among many small farmers throughout the country, he says the problem cannot be traced to honest competition, locally or internationally. Instead, the cause lies squarely on governmental and global-trade agreements that, in effect, force small farmers, who are regularly blamed for using "traditional" farming methods that do not keep pace with so-called "advances" in biogenetic science, to join the agribusiness monopoly.
The Global Banquet explores the politics that threaten global food security, and demonstrates the destructive aspects of the corporate globalization of food. It shows how a handful of powerful corporations control the world's food system, endangering the livelihoods of small farmers in the U.S. and developing countries. It examines how corporate globalization of food supplies is contributing to mounting hunger worldwide, despite an overabundance of food. Produced by the Maryknoll Sisters, the perspectives of farmers, indigenous people, environmentalists, church groups and students working to change unjust free trade policies are all included in the documentary.

also showing Santiago's Story (1999, 16 minutes)


"Santiago's Story" is a documentary about the dramatic changes Fair Trade has brought to the lives of a coffee farmer and his family in the mountains of Nicaragua. Like most coffee growers, Santiago Rivera and his family have been poor all their lives. Preyed upon by coffee middlemen, or coyotes, Santiago could never earn enough from his harvest to rise up out of poverty. But when Rivera joined a cooperative of small growers who export their coffee to the Fair Trade market, things began to change. The success stories of Fair Trade unfold - a better diet, a new mule, new farm equipment, schooling for his children: these are all now within the Rivera's reach. "Santiago's Story" is the story of over 500,000 small farmers all over the world who have turned to Fair Trade for a decent living wage. The film shows us the tremendous impact we can have in the lives of people like Santiago when we choose to buy Fair Trade coffee.

March 19 2004


Winter Soldier (1971, 90 minutes)

In honor of the one year anniversary of the start of the war on Iraq we will be showing: Winter Soldier (1971, 90 minutes) with special guest Fred Aranow

Winter Solder captures the historic testimonies of more than 200 ex-GIs at the 1971 Detroit Winter Soldier Investigation concerning American atrocities in Vietnam. The film, made about and with the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, was a prize winner at Cannes and Berlin Film Festivals. Not surprisingly, Winter Solder was largely ignored during the Vietnam War by American press and distributors. Made by fifteen independent filmmakers of the Winter film Collective, including Fred Aranow, who will join us for a discussion afterward.

March 5 2004

Holding the Line (2004, 16 min.)

See the brand new video about the current UFCW strike! also showing: One Day Longer (1999, 46 min.) On September 21, 1991 five hundred and fifty hotel and restaurant workers walked off their jobs at the Frontier Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip. For 6 years, 4 months and 10 days they maintained a 24-hour picket line, sometimes in 120 degree heat, and not one worker crossed the line to return to work. "One Day Longer" celebrates the solidarity and courage of the Frontier Strikers who have become a national example of the success that can be achieved when all unions come together and persevere. Las Vegas has subsequently been called the "hottest union town in America." The issues at stake were basic: the casino owner tried to take away their pension and healthcare. Featuring interviews from some of today's top labor leaders, including: John Sweeney, (AFL-CIO), Artie Rodriguez (United Farmworkers), Richard Trumka (AFL-CIO), John Wilhelm (HEREIU), Gerald McEntee (AFSCME), Rev. Jesse Jackson and the late Caesar Chavez (United Farmworkers). Music by Bruce Springsteen, Bill Withers, Sweet Honey and the Rock, Billy Bragg, and WILCO. Director Amie Williams describes the striker's dedication this way "The night we all marched in together is the opening scene of the film, and perhaps the most moving of anything I have ever filmed. It gave me hope as a filmmaker and a person, witnessing what a handful of people can do to affect monumental change in society."

February 27 2004

Following the success of our Bio diesel night, we are featuring two more videos on sustainable living: "Ecological Design: Inventing the Future" (1994, 64 min.) and Dennis Weaver's "EarthShip" (1998, 28 min.)

"Ecological Design" is a film about integrating nature, technology, and humanity. It illuminates the emergence of ecological design, featuring the ideas and prototypes of pioneering designers who have trail-blazed the development of sustainable architecture, cities, energy systems, transport, and industry. Beginning in the 1920s with the work of Buckminster Fuller and moving through the end of the twentieth century, the film follows the evolution of ecological design from the visions of a few independent thinkers to the powerful movement it is becoming. As each designer leads us on a deep exploration of their design process, they reveal their methods, metaphors, inspirations, and commitment to a vision of a desirable future. Their prototypes range from microorganisms to megastructure. As the film interweaves ideas and artifacts, designers and history, it forms a tapestry of vision for the twenty-first century ? and an emerging field of ecological design unfolds. Features Paul Fuller, MacReady. Paolo Soleri, Pliny Fisk, James Wines, Ian McHarg, Hunter and Amory Lovins, John Todd, Michael Corbett and others. Topics include solar architecture, bio shelters, city farming, domed cities, electric cars, solar and soft energy systems and so much more. Produced by Chris Zelov and Phil Cousineau.

"Earthship" tells the story of a specific example of ecological design. Actor Dennis Weaver and his wife Gerry have built a unique and beautiful home tucked into the hills near Ridgway, Colorado. Called an Earthship, this type of house uses recycled materials as a part of the structure and requires very little maintenance. The home, almost 10,000 square feet, includes a root cellar, workshop and three car garage. It was built from over 3000 tires, 100,000 aluminum cans and packed earth. It uses solar mass to conserve heat and solar power, enabling it to hold a constant temperature winter and summer.

 

February 20


Peace is Every Step: Thich Nhat Hanh (52 min)

To celebrate his February 22nd lecture in Irvine (www.esSangha.org/) please join us for an homage to one of the great peace activists of the 20th century, Buddhist monk Thich Naht Hahn. Peace is Every Step presents him intimately and directly. It is the first work to document the full range of his life and work -- his efforts to help heal a world in conflict and provide tools for anyone wishing to lead a meaningful life. We join Thich Nhat Hanh at Plum Village in France; the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.; at retreats with environmentalists, veterans, families, and at public events worldwide. Also featured are the insights of leading activists and writers and rare archival footage of his peace work in Vietnam during the war, for which he was nominated for the Nobel Prize by Martin Luther King. Narrated by Oscar Winner Ben Kingsley, and directed by award-winning filmmaker Gaetano Kazuo Maida.

February 13


Before Night Falls (rated R, 2001, 2 hr 13 min)
Directed By Julian Schnabel

To honor the tragic side of love on Valentine's Day weekend, join us for Before Night Falls, Julian Schnabel's beautiful adaptation of the memoirs of gay Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas. It's not so much a chronicle of his life as it is a diary of images: from his early years in the lush Cuban countryside and his sexual initiation, moving on to his carefree life in Havana finding lovers, basking in the sun, and writing, the combination of which leads to years of imprisonment. As Arenas dryly points out, "The Revolution wasn't for everybody. Arenas left Cuba in 1980 during the Mariel Boatlift and the darkest period is of his final years in New York, before his suicide in 1990.

The acting is superb. The talented Spanish actor Javier Bardem embodies the passion of a man unable to be anyone else. Dual cameos by Johnny Depp as transvestite Bon Bon and a hypocritical military lieutenant prove once again how capable he is, and Sean Penn as a Cuban farmer who gives a young Arenas a lift is a plus. While not a political movie in the usual sense, the Revolution plays a major role in this film of the passionate life of an artist caught in a homophobic tragedy.

February 6


DAM/AGE: A Film with Arundhati Roy (50 minutes 2002)
by Aradhana Seth

DAM/AGE traces writer Arundhati Roy's bold and controversial campaign against the Narmada dam project in India, which will displace up to a million people. She is the author of The God of Small Things, which won the prestigious Booker Prize in 1998. Her most recent book Power Politics challenges the idea that only experts can speak out on such urgent matters as nuclear war, the privatization of India's power supply by Enron and issues like the Narmada dam project.

As the film traces the events that led up to her imprisonment, Roy meditates on her own personal negotiation with her fame, the responsibility it places on her as a writer, a political thinker and a citizen. It shows how Roy chose to use her fame to stand up to powerful interests supported by multinational corporations and the Indian government. For her, the story of the Narmada Valley is not just the story of modern India, but of what is happening in the world today, "Who counts, who doesn't, what matters, what doesn't, what counts as a cost, what doesn't, what counts as collateral damage, what doesn't."

In a clear and accessible manner, the film weaves together a number of issues that lie at the heart of politics today: from the consequences of development and globalization to the urgent need for state accountability and the freedom of speech.

January 30


Fat of the Land: Biodiesel as an Alternative Fuel, with special guest Sabrina Merlo (1996, 56 min.)

Five women, one van, 3,000 miles. This is the hilarious and informative story of five enterprising young women who drive their Chevy diesel van across the United States fueling their vehicle entirely with used vegetable oil procured from fast food restaurants during their trip. They prove there is a sustainable and renewable alternative to petroleum, that can be made locally, even in your own backyard, and run in an unmodified diesel engine. The humorous and the serious merge in this comprehensive introduction to the alternative fuel of bio-diesel. Comments from curious bystanders are interspersed with conversations with scientists in Colorado who are doing extensive research with vegetable oil as a replacement fuel. The women use some great theatrics to engage the public during the trip, alternately wearing bright orange waitress uniforms straight out of the 50's or garage coveralls, both with name patches sewn on, while conducting interviews or lugging out jugs of oil from the back of fast food joints. Scenes where they show how to transform used vegetable oil into bio-diesel are reminiscent of a Saturday night live skit of a Julia Child cooking show! The old auto industry film footage and hip soundtrack alone are reason enough to watch this positive and entertaining documentary. Can left-over grease from French Fries power the cars of the future? See for yourself.

January 23


Plan Columbia (2002, 58 min.)


From the producers of "The Hidden Wars Of Desert Storm" comes another high-quality documentary, this time about the ongoing violence in Columbia. Narrated by Ed Asner, the film will give you the background necessary to understand why the ”war on drugs“ in Columbia is both a failure and a smokescreen for the US government's geopolitical plans there. It includes interviews with Noam Chomsky, the late Senator Paul Wellstone, Columbian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, Representative John Conyers, and Columbians from all walks of life.

January 16


Arsenal of Hypocrisy: The Space Program and the
Military Industrial Complex (2003, 60 min.)

Arsenal of Hypocrisy, released by the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space, features Bruce Gagnon, Noam Chomsky and Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell talking about the dangers of moving the arms race into space. Mitchell, the 6th man to walk on the moon, warns that a war in space would create massive bits of space junk that would create a mine field surrounding the Earth making it virtually impossible to launch anything into the heavens. Mitchell calls space a fragile environment that must be protected. Chomsky reminds the viewer that the U.S. refuses to negotiate a global ban on weapons in space. He also speaks about the role of the media in suppressing this important issue. Produced by filmmaker Randy Atkins, the film uses archival footage and Pentagon documents to clearly outline U.S. plans for the militarization of space.This includes the dangers of the Bush "Nuclear Systems Initiative" that will expand the use of nuclear power in space with Project Prometheus -- the nuclear rocket.

January 9

The Weather Underground (2003, 92 minutes)

''When you feel you have right on your side, you can do some pretty horrific things.'' So says Brian Flanagan in ''The Weather Underground,'' a documentary film featuring former members of the Weathermen, the revolutionary antiwar group that began in 1969The Weathermen, a splinter group of the Students for a Democratic Society, felt the peace movement wasn't going far enough. They were young, violent and glamorous militants determined to overthrow the United States government, believing it had criminally waged war in Vietnam and persecuted groups like the Black Panthers. As a former Weatherman, Ms. Jaffe, puts it: ''We felt that doing nothing in a period of repressive violence was itself a form of violence. That's really the part I think is hardest for people to understand.''

This solid piece of filmmaking lets the former Weathermen, now in their 50's and older, speak into the camera and reveal some of their personal histories as well as what the peace movement meant to them. Reflecting on the impact of their behavior -- the group took responsibility for bombing two dozen public buildings, including the Pentagon -- these former radicals now reconsider their approach.

January 2


Venezuela: a 21st Century Revolution (2003)


Produced by the Global Women's Strike, this documentary tells the story of the popular uprising that, in two days, defeated the coup and saved the Venezuelan revolution, it's government and constitution, with a particular focus on the role of women. It includes interviews with grassroots women and men, moving oratory by Chavez, and information people in the US need to know about what this 21st century revolution is winning and its implications for all of us.

December 26


No screening

December 19


Mad Cowboy (1998)


Howard Lyman, known as the Mad Cowboy, offers "Plain truth from the Cattle Rancher who won't eat meat". He is a fourth-generation family farmer from Montana. His rude awakening came when,soon after his brother died of dioxin poisoning, Howard faced a bout with life-threatening cancer. A death-bed promise caused him to re-prioritize his life's values. After 20 years of operating a feed lot, he sold his ranch and started working for farmers in financial trouble. He was a lobbyist in Washington, and ran for Congress in 1982. He is the former Director of the "Beyond Beef Campaign" & the Humane Society of the United States' "Eating With Conscience" Campaign; past President of both the International Vegetarian Union, and EarthSave International; and is currently President of Voice for a Viable Future. He and Oprah Winfrey won the 1998 "Veggie Libel" suit, precipitated by Lyman's remarks to Oprah's 20 million viewers that "Mad Cow Disease" could make AIDS look like child's play if the American meat industry continued turning cows into cannibals.

Also showing the 13 minute short:


Life Behind Bars: the Sad Truth About Factory Farming


Life Behind Bars is narrated by Mary Tyler Moore and documents the acute animal suffering caused by extreme confinement on mechanized farms. With undercover footage taken by Farm Sanctuary, this compelling video provides a rare first-hand look inside factory farm warehouses and exposes the brutal conditions that agribusiness wants to keep hidden from public view.

December 12


"The Globalisation Tapes" (2003)

Sharman Sinaga's granddaughter looks bored as her grandfather demonstrates for the camera his favored technique of market liberalization: holding union activists upside down in flooded fields. He mimics their gargles as they choke in the mud. He could hold down two or three at a time he boasts; he seems faintly nostalgic in the dim light and the smoke; his only regret, that his arms and knees aren't what they used to be. The orders to hold people upside-down came from the top, he tells us, from Surhato, with support from high on Washington's Capitol Hill.

The Globalisation Tapes were made in collaboration with those a little further down the pile, closer to the mud, closer to the memories of the massacre that cleared the way for Indonesias modernisation. Using their own forbidden history as a case study, the Indonesian filmmakers trace the development of contemporary globalisation from its roots in colonialism to the present. Through chilling first-hand accounts, hilarious improvised interventions, collective debate and archival collage, The Globalisation Tapes exposes the devastating role of militarism and repression in building the "global economy", and explores the relationships between trade, third-world debt, and international institutions like the IMF and the World Trade Organization. The film is a densely lyrical and incisive account of how these institutions shape and enforce the corporate world order (and its systems of chaos).

December 5


"Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the Iraq War" (2003)


A New Documentary About How the Truth Became the First American Casualty in Iraq.

Just released, this controversial and arresting film takes you behind the walls of government, as CIA, Pentagon and foreign service experts speak out, many for the first time, detailing the lies, misstatements and exaggerations that served as the reasons to fight a "preemptive" war that wasn't necessary. The war with Iraq brought about unparalleled resistance, both in the streets and in the chambers of government. This documentary offers an in-depth look at the unsettling distortion of intelligence and the "spin and hype" presented to the American people, the Congress and the press. Fighting wars to bring about regime change is in breach of international law. Yet, throughout the fall of 2002, and into the weeks preceding the war in Iraq, the Bush administration systematically distorted intelligence evidence and misled the public in order to turn opinion favor of "regime change" in Iraq." Executive Producer Robert Greenwald, also produced "Unprecedented," which documented the theft of the 2000 presidency.

 

NOVEMBER 28


The Big One (1997)


On his Midwest book tour for "Downsize This", Michael Moore (Bowling for Columbine) exposes more wrongdoing by greedy big businesses, and callous politicians around America.

NOVEMBER 21


Tree-Sit: the Art of Resistance (2003)


Amidst the redwood rainforest of Humboldt County a ragged band of young activists have taken the art of resistance to new heights. Surrounded by clearcuts while perched in the high canopy of ancient forests for extended periods of time, activists such as Julia Butterfly Hill have used creative, non-violent, direct action and civil disobedience to slow down the chainsaws and bring attention to the destruction of old growth forests. "Tree-Sit:the Art of Resistance" (2003) is a poignant look inside the Earth First! movement. It takes us from the struggle to "Save Headwaters Forest"; the assassination attempt of Judi Bari; the pepper spray torture of young activists; to the establishment of permanent "tree-villages" hundreds of feet up; and culminates in the WTO protests on the tear-gassed filled streets of Seattle.

also showing 11/21, the 12 minute


Veggie Van Voyage (2003)


Joshua Tickell documents an inspirational journey through the windows of his "Veggie Van", the only van to take a 2-year long adventure across the USA fueled by biodiesel made from used French fry oil. We meet tree huggers, scientists, farmers and visionaries along the way.

NOVEMBER 14


Harlan County, USA (1974)


In honor of the striking grocery clerks and bus mechanics, we will be showing the 1974 Oscar-winning documentary "Harlan County USA". This unabashedly partisan film takes us into the harsh lives of Kentucky coal miners and their families during a brutal strike against the Eastover Mining Co. As the strikers strive to remain united through a difficult year, Kopple photographs the picketing, the company's use of state troopers to keep the roads open for scabs, the showdowns between the miners and strikebreakers brandishing firearms. After several shootings, one miner is finally killed. The man's wake is an especially memorable scene. Harlan County, USA is a landmark in the history of American documentary filmmaking.

NOVEMBER 7

Testament (1983)


Twenty years ago, we had Reagan in the White House promoting the fantasy that "with enough shovels we'll all survive a nuclear war." The powerful film "Testament", released in 1983, told another story. Director Lynne Littman made a quiet disaster film... no explosions, no soap opera, no special effects, yet it is one of the most effective films on the horrors of nuclear war. It opens with the life of a small town family dealing with everyday problems. But the familiarity of the everyday is turned upside down once the bombs fall. The fabric of life is slowly torn away. We don't see millions of people die, but we know the worst has happened. As the number of deaths from radiation mounts, the images speak volumes: a playground has been converted into a cemetery. A swing moves slowly in the breeze, behind it are dozens of new graves. There is no power, running water, heat, telephone, and almost no food. The family's large, well furnished home is little more than a roof and four walls. Testament is hard to watch, but the performances by Jane Alexander and the supporting cast are very strong. While times and politics have changed a lot since 1983, this is film is still very relevant today.

To get us in a Halloween mood,

Friday, October 24th


"Hell House"
by George Ratliff


"Hell House is a documentary about Dallas’ Pentecostal Trinity Church and the controversial haunted house that it puts on each Halloween. In depicting a gay man dying of AIDS and cursing God for it, a girl who attends a rave and has only herself to blame when she is raped, and a teenage school shooter all being dragged off to hell for their sins, the church hopes to make the 12,000 attendees each year see the light. It is to director George Ratliff’s credit that he refuses to exploit the Trinity folks or depict them as freaks. The Pentecostals speaking in tongues and laying on hands is all presented matter-of-factly and without judgment. And aside from this, these people seem ordinary in every other way except the terms in which they couch reality. In today’s climate, a movie like Hell House cannot help but raise issues of religious fanaticism. Despite being among the most zealous of Protestant Christian denominations, Pentecostals would certainly be repulsed by any comparison to Islamic fundamentalist members of the Taliban or Al Qaeda. The exploitation of stereotypes for a haunted house is, of course, on a completely different moral footing than the oppression of women or terrorist bombings. Yet what they have in common is an unqualified devotion to a divine cause, the intensity of which may frighten others who do not share their beliefs. The problem with unquestioning belief in abstract absolutes is that performing just about anything in the name of that belief becomes justifiable in the mind of the believer."

review by George Wu of www.rottentomatoes.com
This film is not appropriate for children