Films that portray the way in which ordinary people have a right to choose public policies and can bring about political change by making officeholders accountable to the people.
TICKLING GIANTS PROVES THAT COMEDY IS ONLY CRUEL FOR THE CRUEL A self-documentary in the style of Roger & Me, Bassem Youssef tells his story in Tickling Giants as he became the John Stewart of Egypt for four seasons. With considerable film footage, he begins as a heart surgeon who is caught up in the Arab Spring of […]
BITTER HARVEST FINDS 7-10 MILLION DEAD The film Bitter Harvest provides an historical account of the Ukraine from 1917 to 1933. Known as the “breadbasket of Europe,” the Ukraine in January 1917 was a part of the Russian Kingdom. By October, Lenin had taken over Russia and soon began to integrate the Ukraine into a new economic order
BOTSWANA STRUGGLES FOR INDEPENDENCE IN A UNITED KINGDOM Prince Seretse Khama (played by David Oyelowo), the heir to the kingdom of Bechuanaland, was only 4 years old when his father dies, so his uncle Charles (Arnold Oseng) not only serves as Regent but also rears him until he goes away to London for school, eventually enrolling
PERSEVERENCE WINS IN THE 33 ‘Tis the season for heartwarming movies, and The 33 may top the genre for 2015, just five years after 33 men were rescued from a Chilean mine for 69 days (though filming is at a mine in Colombia). But the film is not entirely a feel-good film because of their
STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON ENDS WITH A GAY PUZZLE After the Watts Riots of 1965, some African Americans in Los Angeles thought that a solution to the tyranny of the Los Angeles Police Department over African Americans was to move to a small town and gain majority control. One such town was Compton, not far from
Straight Outta Compton Read More »
THE STANFORD PRISON EXPERIMENT QUESTIONS WHO WERE THE SUBJECTS In 1961, Yale Psychology Professor Stanley Milgram sought to determine whether Adolf Eichmann’s claim that he was merely following orders was credible. He then began an experiment in which subjects for less than an hour were paid to punish someone in another room with electric shocks
The Stanford Prison Experiment Read More »
JIMMY’S HALL EXPOSES A SECRET ABOUT IRELAND In a biopic of Jimmy Gralton (played by Barry Ward), director Ken Loach has brought to public attention an episode that was long forgotten—and deliberately so by the Irish authorities from the 1930s to the 1970s. As Jimmy’s Hall begins, titles remind filmviewers of the fight for Irish
TIMBUKTU DEMONSTRATES WHY JIHAD MASKS FOR COLONIZATION Directed by Abderrahmane Sissako, but filmed in nearby Oualata, also dating back to the 12th century, Timbuktu begins by showing the peaceful lives of citizens of rural Mali—cattle farming, fishing, and an open market amid sand dunes and ruins of ancient structures. Arabic-speakers with weapons have arrived in
FREE THE NIPPLE EXPLAINS HOW TO ORGANIZE A MOVEMENT Photos in the 1920s show that both men and women covered their upper bodies at the beach. Sometime afterward, men showed their pectorals, but women were told that equality in that regard was obscene. Free the Nipple begins by noting that the legality of the public
KILL THE MESSENGER SHOWS HOW TO DISCREDIT AN HONEST REPORTER During 1985-1987, members of the Reagan administration persuaded Israel to sell guns to Iran in exchange for the release of Americans held hostage in Lebanon by a group connected with Iran. The United States Central Intelligence Agency then sold replacement weapons to Israel and used
Kill the Messenger Read More »