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.
Our Lady of the Assassins (La Virgen de los Sicarios) focuses on Fernando (played by Germán Jaramillo) , who was born in Medellín, Colombia, when it was a peaceful if boring farming community. His literary talents took him to Europe, where presumably he lived a full life but we are left to infer that he contracted […]
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ALI DELIVERS A KNOCKOUT PUNCH TO HIS CRITICS & APPLAUSE TO HOWARD KOSELL Of all the boxers, Muhammad Ali was perhaps the most politically savvy. The film Ali attempts to weave politics into what might otherwise seem a conventional biopic, with many minutes of fight scenes, love stories, and musical interludes. Directed by Michael Mann,
UPRISING IN THE WARSAW GHETTO SHOWS HOW TO RESPOND TO BARBARITY WITH HONOR In 1943 the Warsaw Ghetto, created by the occupying Germans to contain the Jewish population of the city, erupted in guerrilla warfare against the Nazis. In Uprising, director Jon Avnet provides a docudrama of the era, from prewar Warsaw to the end
AN AMERICAN SOLDIER SEES THE EVILS OF THE BOSNIAN WAR WHILE AWAITING RESCUE In the midst of the Bosnian War, American naval aircraft in the Adriatic Sea were assigned by NATO command to conduct aerial surveillance of the combat while negotiations to end the conflict were in progress. On one such mission in 1995, a
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THAI VOLLEYBALL TEAM TRIUMPHS IN THE IRON LADIES In 1996 a mostly gay Thai volleyball team, the first of its kind, won the national amateur championship. The Iron Ladies (Sa-ree-lex), a film based on the story with clips from some of the games as credits roll, won Audience Awards for best feature film in the
THE HIDDEN HALF EXPOSES THE ROLE OF FEMALES IN IRAN Many recent films from Iran focus on the oppression of women in post-revolutionary Iran, but none so deeply as feminist Tahmineh Milani’s The Hidden Half (Nimeh-Ye Penhan). Indeed, she was arrested, charged by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Court of supporting “those waging war against God” and
GUNFIRE DROWNS OUT THE PLATITUDES OF POLITICIANS IN COLOMBIA Our Lady of the Assassins (La Virgen de los Sicarios) focuses on Fernando (played by Germán Jaramillo) , who was born in Medellín, Colombia, when it was a peaceful if boring farming community. His literary talents took him to Europe, where presumably he lived a full
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BORN UNDER LIBRA EXPOSES IRAN’S MORAL MINEFIELD Born Under Libra, directed by Ahmad Reza Darvish, is the latest of several films from Iran that focus on the absurdity of Khomeni-era restrictions in general and the plight of women in particular. Mahtab Peyman (played by Mitra Hajjar) attends a distinguished private university in Tehran where her
THUMBS UP FOR GREENFINGERS The English are inveterate gardeners, proud of turning adverse soil into lush and manicured panoramas of color. Based on a true story, Greenfingers focuses on Colin Briggs (played by Clive Owen), who has spent most of his life in prison for petty vandalism. One day he is transferred to Edgefield, a
LUMUMBA TELLS THE TRUE STORY ABOUT CONGELESE INDEPENDENCE The English are inveterate gardeners, proud of turning adverse soil into lush and manicured panoramas of color. Based on a true story, Greenfingers focuses on Colin Briggs (played by Clive Owen), who has spent most of his life in prison for petty vandalism. One day he is