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THREE FILMS SHOW HOW ANTI-TERRORISM METHODS IMPERIL LIBERTIES In The Siege, nominated for the best film of 1998 raising consciousness of the need to protect both democracy and human rights,  Edward Zwick (director of Courage Under Fire and Glory) poses a hypothetical:  What if terrorism graduated from retail bombings to wholesale slaughter in New York […]

“AMERICAN HISTORY X “ NOMINATED FOR BEST FILM ON PEACE Never before has the filmviewing public been sensitized to the conditions that spawn the American neo-Nazism of the skinheads.  In American History X, British-born Tony Kaye zeroes in on race relations within the United States in graphic detail (though he has attempted to dissociate himself

“REGENERATION” NOMINATED AGAIN As a film that brings to light the war protest of poet Siegfried Sassoon, who claimed that Britain’s role in World War I changed from defender to aggressor and therefore wanted to become a conscientious objector to the war, Gillies MacKinnon’s Regeneration has been nominated for an award as 1998’s best exposé

TWO FICTIONAL ANTI-WAR FILMS PROVIDE NEW TWISTS Steven Spielberg’s “Saving Private Ryan” has been nominated as the best film of 1998 in the category peace, promoting the virtues of peace over violence.  Ostensibly about the heroism of soldiers who did their duty in World War II, the film tells theater audiences that the combat of

“THE TRUMAN SHOW” NOMINATED FOR DEMOCRACY AWARD Peter Weir’s continuing effort to inspire filmviewers to reflect on the stupid mistakes committed by those in power has hit the jackpot again.  Whereas his Gallipoli questioned why Britain used soldiers as cannon fodder, and his Dead Poets Society depicted the cruelties of authoritarianism and antisemitism, The Truman

“WILDE” NOMINATED FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD The life of bisexual Oscar Wilde, focusing on his affection for young adult men and the consequences of his desire to fulfill his destiny, is passionately portrayed in the British film Wilde.  Directed by Brian Gilbert, the film pits Oscar Wilde against the Marquess of Queensberry, whose son is

TWO FILMS NOMINATED FOR 1998 AWARDS PROMOTING PEACE Several films released in 1998 have already been nominated for awards.  The Boxer has been nominated for the best film promoting peace.  The classic Romeo and Juliet story, set in Northern Ireland, shows the human absurdity of  a war between the modern Capulets and Montagues.  The later

The Political Film Society, which has been based in Honolulu from 1985, has moved to Hollywood, effective today. Each year members of the Political Film Society select the films which best raise political consciousness in one of several categories.  Today, after balloting for the past three months, the following have been voted as the top

OFFICIAL BALLOT Cast your votes for the films that best raised political consciousness in 1997: DEMOCRACY ___          Red Corner (shows how extralegal considerations endemic in crony rule within China prevent the criminal justice system from producing a just outcome) ___          The Rainmaker (portrays the elusiveness of justice in the cases of a battered wife who

OFFICIAL BALLOT Cast your votes for the films that best raised political consciousness in 1997: DEMOCRACY ___          Red Corner (shows how extralegal considerations endemic in crony rule within China prevent the criminal justice system from producing a just outcome) ___          The Rainmaker (portrays the elusiveness of justice in the cases of a battered wife who