AS NOMINATIONS CLOSE FOR BEST FILMS OF 2008, VOTING TO NARROW THE LISTS BEGINS
There were seventeen nominated films in 2008, much fewer than usual for a presidential election year. Political Film Society rules, based as they are on the Academy Award rules, require a maximum of five films in each category. To narrow the lists, members are entitled to vote for up to five films in each of two categories, with a deadline by January 31, 2009:
Select the best five from the categoryEXPOSÉ, fact-based films that raise political consciousness:
| FILM TITLE | ACCEPT | DROP | UNDECIDED | CONTENT (see full review on website) |
| The Bank Job | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | Largest robbery in history is OK |
| Battle in Seattle | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | How globalization affects us all |
| Changeling | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | How authorities manipulate fact |
| Che | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | Why Che won in Cuba, lost in Bolivia |
| The Counterfeiters | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | Nazis forced Jews to be counterfeiters |
| Defiance | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | Jews hide from Nazis in a forest |
| Frost/Nixon | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | How Frost got Nixon to apologize |
| Milk | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | How the gay rights movement began |
| Miracle at St. Anna | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | Heroic Black army unit in 1944 |
| Still Life | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | Impact of 3 Gorges Dam in China |
| W. | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | Impact of Bush’s conflict with his dad on his presidency |
| Walkyrie | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | The biggest plot to kill Hitler |
Vote for the top five films that raise consciousness of the need for improvements inHUMAN RIGHTS:
| FILM TITLE | ACCEPT | DROP | UNDECIDED | CONTENT (see full review on website) |
| Battle in Seattle | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | Unnecessary police brutality |
| The Boy in the Striped Pajamas | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | Auschwitz’s impact on ordinary Germans, especially a child |
| Changeling | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | How police can mistreat women |
| Hunger | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | British mistreatment of IRA prisoners |
| Milk | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | The need to advance gay rights |
| Miracle at St. Anna | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | Discrimination against Blacks |
Four films sought to raise consciousness of the need for DEMOCRACY: Changeling, Flash of Genius, Milk, and Nothing But the Truth. Two films sought to raise consciousness about the need to consider PEACE rather than violence—Gran Torino and Stop-Loss. They will be on the final ballot of February 1.
Winners in all four categories will be selected from the final ballot, which will be sent to members following the meeting of the Board of Directors at 11 a.m., February 1, at 8481 Allenwood Road, Los Angeles, CA.