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.
BRIAN BANKS EXPOSES DISCRIMINATION AND REDEMPTION At the age of 16, Brian Banks (played by Aldis Hodge) is a star football athlete at Long Beach Polytechnic High, looking forward to a scholarship from USC. On campus one day, he encounters a girlfriend, Kennisha Rice (Xosha Roquemore), and the two decide to do some smooching, so […]
15 MINUTES OF WAR CELEBRATES HOW LONG TERRORISTS WERE SHOT DOWN Based on an incident in 1976, Somali terrorists kidnapped a bus of 31 children going to school in the French colony of Djibouti. The Somalis wanted to exchange the kids for release of their brethren. Paris sought negotiations while a small group of sharpshooters
A FILM TITLE I DO NOT CARE IF WE GO DOWN IN HISTORY AS BARBARIANS ? That’s right. There is a film with such a title. In 1941, the same words were spoken during a meeting of the Council of Ministers of the government of Romania. The words were used to galvanize support for a
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SKIN REVEALS A DANGEROUS SUBCULTURE THAT IS GROWING Some White Supremacists are skinheads with tattoos all over their body, even their heads. Directed by Israeli-born Guy Nattiv, Skin seeks to explain why White Nationalism thrives, what government and civil society have been doing to cope with America’s top source of domestic terrorism, and why some
A BOY GENIUS FISHES FOR HIS LIFE IN CAPERNAUM About 12 years old, Zain (played by Zain Al Rafeea) is a Syrian refugee living in Beirut, Lebanon, along with his refugee family. At the beginning of Capernaum (Capharnaüm), he is in court suing his parents because they gave birth to him. His mother Souad (Kawsar
DOES RED JOAN REVEAL A POSSIBLE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE RECIPIENT? Did a humble British woman prevent World War III? The film Red Joan, a biopic of Melita Norwood, suggests that that was her motive in providing secrets of the atom bomb to the Soviet Union. Based on Jennie Rooney’s novel recounting true events, Red Joan
AJAs ARE APPLAUDED IN GO FOR BROKE: AN ORIGIN STORY Why were tens of thousands of Japanese on the West Coast sent to internment camps, but few were similarly mistreated in Hawaiˋi? Go for Broke: An Origin Story, directed by Alexander Bocchieri, answers that question without specifically identifying the puzzle. The film begins a few
THE INVISIBLES BRINGS HIDDEN BERLIN JEWS OUT OF THE SHADOWS Hitler rounded up most of the Jews in Germany for evacuation to death camps. From 1943, when the Nazis declared Berlin free of all Jews, about 7,000 remained in Berlin, hiding out as best they could, whereas only 1,700 survived by the end of the war. The
LITHUANIANS MOURN IN ASHES IN THE SNOW Made for about $5,000, Ashes in the Snow (Tarp pilku debesu) is based on the novel Between Shades of Gray, which dramatizes how Lithuanians were treated by the conquering Soviets during World War II. Beginning with a calm day in a Lithuanian town in early 1941, the film focuses on the fate
ON THE BASIS OF SEX CELEBRATES RUTH BADER GINSBURG’S STRUGGLE The film On the Basis of Sex is a biopic of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who became an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court in 1993 and has authored landmark rulings to bring gender equality to the United States. The focus is on her extraordinary quest to be accepted
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