Films that bring previously obscured truths about the political process to the attention of the public, showing for example how offices of public trust are used for private purposes.
BIOPIC CESAR CHAVEZ TRIUMPHS THROUGH NONVIOLENCE When Cesar Chavez (played by Michael Peña) was 11, he was an exploited grape picker in Delano, California, but he left for Los Angeles to learn about community organizing. When he returned, he had a vision of how to liberate farm workers, as portrayed in Cesar Chavez, directed by […]
OMAR EXPOSES LIFE ON THE WEST BANK AS NEVER BEFORE Under Israeli occupation, life in the West Bank is graphically displayed as in Omar, directed by Hany Abu-Assad. In his late teens, muscular Omar (played by Adam Bakri) has a girlfriend, Nadja (Leem Lubany), who is passionate about him; using knotted ropes, he has to
BETHLEHEM EXPOSES HOW ISRAEL COPES WITH TERRORISM Israelis have found a way to prevent and punish terrorists by cultivating “assets,” that is, Palestinian informants. In Bethlehem, agent Razi (played by Tsahi Halevi) befriends Sanfur (played by Shadi Mar’i), who is in his early teens and wants his father, Abu (Tarik Kopty), out of detention. Razi
THE MONUMENTS MEN PRESENTS AN EPIC TRUE STORY Despite Article 56 of the Hague Convention of 1899, which bans seizure of cultural property, Adolf Hitler planned to transfer art from Belgium, France, and the Netherlands to a museum in Germany. He believed that he could deprive those countries of cultural pride and thus any identity
IS AFTERMATH FOLLOWED BY ACCOUNTABILITY? One day in the year 2000 Frantisek Kalina (played by Ireneusz Czop) goes from Chicago to see his brother Józef (Maciej Stuhr) in a rural part of Poland, which he left in 1980. Józef’s wife and children have recently fled the country, but Józef inexplicably stays to continue wheat farming.
DALLAS BUYERS CLUB IS A BIOPIC OF A HEALTH CARE RADICAL Ron Woodroof (played by Matthew McConaughey) was an electrician in Dallas who exemplified the macho culture of Texas. He engaged in a lot of drinking, took drugs, got into fights, swore profusely, was an occasional bronco buster, and had an active sex life. In
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THE FIFTH ESTATE CONTRIBUTES TO THE FOURTH ESTATE Directed by Bill Condon, The Fifth Estate is a biopic of Julian Assange (played by Benedict Cummerbatch), who is interviewed making contradictory statements at the end of the film in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Assange admits to a strange upbringing, which supposedly prompted him to want
THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST EXPOSES AMERICAN HYPOCRISY Whenever terrorists attack or attempt to attack Americans, the party line narrative is “they don’t like our values.” So repeated Vice President Biden after the recent Boston attack. And “experts” on television also play amateur psychologist to explain why terrorists act, even equivalencing the 19-year old Chechen with the
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EMPEROR FOCUSES ON CIVILIAN CLOTHES During World War II, the American media depicted the leader of Japanese aggression as Emperor Hirohito, whom Japanese grew up revering as the descendent of the sun god. Lacking access to machi-nations in Tokyo, the media did not identify the prime ministers or the military faction as sole culprits. After
SAVING LINCOLN HONORS PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORABILIA AND A BODYGUARD Reproduced photos from the Library of Congress of the Lincoln era provide the background sets for scenes in Saving Lincoln, directed by Salvador Litvak, whose “cine-collage” is largely in a very comfortable black and white. The story is a biopic not only of Lincoln (played by Tom