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.
AURORA’S SUNRISE Graphically Explains the Armenian Genocide A biopic about Arshaluys Mardiganian, Aurora’s Sunrise is also a biopic and mini-critique of the previously forgotten film Auction of Souls (1919). The latter film is a story (though she was renamed Aurora to sell to an American audience), of a 14-year-old who is evicted from her home […]
Oppenheimer Tries to Restore A Reputation A biopic about physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer (played by Cillian Murphy), scenes shift back and forth throughout his life, with particular attention to those trying to destroy his reputation after his face appears on Time magazine as the father of the atomic bomb. Although he mostly speaks softly in
THE WIND AND THE RECKONING DESCRIBES AN ANTI-COLONIAL STRUGGLE IN HAWAIʽI After titles inform filmviewers that the Kingdom of Hawaiʽi was overthrown in 1893, the context is on a new law of the Republic of Hawaiʽi that required all persons with leprosy (Hansen’s disease) to be rounded up and sent to a “leper colony” on
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CHEVALIER FEATURES WHITE SUPREMACY Historical information about Joseph Bologne has been pieced together, and the film Chevalier has a lot of interesting subplots that are doubtless fictional. But the message of the film is one of the most fascinating of 2023 and seems very timely indeed, with White males infuriated by an upstart Black whom
SWEETWATER REMINDS FILMVIEWERS OF THE EARLY DAYS OF CIVIL RIGHTS PROGRESS In 1990, a man by the name of Nathaniel Clifton (played at age 78 by Everett Osborne) is driving a Chicago taxi. After his rider asks to increase the volume of an ongoing basketball game, a discussion begins, and the driver reveals that he
WOMEN TALKING RECOUNTS SEXUAL ABUSE IN BOLIVIA Mennonite “colonies” exist in Canada, the United States, and Bolivia. Women perform household chores and are not allowed educational opportunities. Such asymmetry evidently provokes the view of some men that they are superior, while women are mere objects. Between 2009–2009, about 150 women were raped, ages 5 to
ON SACRED GROUND TELLS THE TRUE STORY ABOUT THE DAKOTA PIPELINE PROTEST Directed by Josh Tickell, Joshua Tickell, and Rebecca Harrell Tickell, On Sacred Ground (subtitled It’s Time to Take a Stand) starts with a series of titles to provide filmviewers some background information, including the lawsuit filed against the Dakota Access Pipeline project by
EMANCIPATION FOLLOWS A SLAVE ON THE ROAD TO FREEDOM When Peter (played by Will Smith) hears from one of his masters that the Union Army is freeing slaves in Baton Rouge due to Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, effective January 1, 1863, he decides to flee horrible conditions near Clinton, Louisiana, where slaves are assisting in
HOLY SPIDER CELEBRATES A WOMAN WHO STOPPED A MASS MURDER During the year 2000, bad news came from the holy city of Mashhad, Iran. Women were being murdered, and the local police appeared unable to stop the continuing slaughter. Accordingly, in 2001 journalist Rahimi (played by Zar Amir-Ebrahimi) goes from Iran to Mashhad to investigate
SHE SAID TRACES THE BEGINNING OF #MeToo Women no longer play traditional roles. They work alongside men at most occupations today, including all layers of the film industry. However, gossip in Hollywood has long indicated that men doing the hiring impose a requirement on women when they open their pants during a job interview. Even