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FINAL BALLOTING FOR BEST POLITICAL FILMS OF 2003 Many films were pre-nominated for Political Film Society awards for 2003. Since Political Film Society rules require the number of nominated films to be reduced to no more than five in each category, members voted in January to narrow the choices. Accordingly, the final ballot appears below: […]

POLLS CLOSE JANUARY 31 ON NOMINATIONS FOR BEST POLITICAL FILMS OF 2003 January 31 is the last day to narrow the number films nominated films for Political Film Society awards for 2003 in two categories–Exposé and Human Rights. Political Film Society rules require the number of nominated films to be reduced to five in each

POLLS CLOSE ON NOMINATIONS FOR BEST POLITICAL FILMS OF 2003 December 31 was the last day to nominate films for Political Film Society awards for 2003. Political Film Society rules require the number of nominated films to be reduced to five in each category. Accordingly, a ballot below for two of the four categories for

COLD MOUNTAIN SUBTLY EXPOSES THE INSANITY OF VIOLENCE At the center of Cold Mountain, directed by Anthony Minghella, is a love story that spans the years from 1861 to 1864, largely taking place in Cold Mountain, North Carolina, a community in the Appalachians (though none of the filming is actually in that state). The film

BEYOND BORDERS SHOWS THE UGLY SIDE OF REFUGEE RELIEF According to Sarah Jordan (played by Angelina Jolie) in Beyond Borders, there are some 50 million refugees in the world; the United Nations High Commission for Refugees handles half, and various nongovernmental organizations cope with what they can of the rest. Directed by Martin Campbell, the

THE STATEMENT DOCUMENTS DENAZIFICATION IN FRANCE AS LATE AS THE 1990s The Vichy regime was a part of France not occupied by the German military but instead governed by French who were willing to collaborate with the Nazis. Although much attention has been directed at Klaus Barbie, the “Butcher of Lyon,” less well known is

TRADITIONAL JAPANESE CULTURE WINS THE BATTLE IN THE LAST SAMURAI The Last Samurai, directed by Edward Zwick, provides a deep immersion into traditional Japanese culture that could be called “Lawrence of Japan” or “Dances with Samurai,” thus joining the genre of the 1935 (and 1962) and 1990 films, respectively. The story is fictional, recasting actual

AMERICAN JOURNALISM ABANDONS ITS DEMOCRATIC ROLE, ACCORDING TO SHATTERED GLASS Journalism is a serious business, according to Shattered Glass. Directed by Billy Ray, the film is a biopic of Stephen Glass (played by Hayden Christensen), an associate editor of The New Republic until 1998, when he was found to be fabricating stories. The film operates

A JAPANESE AMERICAN BUILDS AN EMPIRE IN COLOMBIA IN EMERALD COWBOY Colombia is the world’s main source of emeralds. In the Colombian biopic Emerald Cowboy, based on his biography, a twentysomething Eishy Hayata (played by Luis Velasco), an American citizen born in Tokyo, one day decides to visit Colombia. On learning first-hand that miners are

RUNAWAY JURY DEPICTS THE NRA IN A JURY TAMPERING FRENZY Early in Runaway Jury, we are told that 30,000 Americans die and 100,000 are injured each year by guns, statistics that do not stop the National Rifle Association from serving as the public relations front for an industry that rakes in $2 billion each year.