NIXON NOMINATED FOR BEST EXPOSÉ
The latest nominee for an award for raising political consciousness is Oliver Stone’s Nixon. Although criticized by Nixon’s family, admirers and biographers, the film enlightens filmviewers on the way in which a political leader tragically cannot escape the influence of formative experiences during a difficult childhood.
NOMINATIONS CLOSE FOR BEST POLITICAL FILMS OF 1995
Ballots below are to determine which films best raised political consciousness during 1995 in six categories. Mail your ballots to the above address by February 28 (blanks=”No” votes):
YES NO
DEMOCRACY Beyond Rangoon ( ) ( )
EXPOSÉ Beyond Rangoon ( ) ( )
Nixon ( ) ( )
Panther ( ) ( )
HUMAN RIGHTS Beyond Rangoon ( ) ( )
Murder in the First ( ) ( )
Picture Bride ( ) ( )
The Scarlet Letter ( ) ( )
PEACE Beyond Rangoon ( ) ( )
HAWAI`I Picture Bride ( ) ( )
HAWAI`I INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL YES NO
Bombay ( ) ( )
Father, Son, and Holy War ( ) ( )
Islands on the Edge of Time ( ) ( )
Once upon a Time When We Were Colored ( ) ( )
Picture Bride ( ) ( )
Brief plot summaries for all nominees:
Beyond Rangoon portrays the repression of the democracy movement in Burma during 1988.
Murder in the First shows how a young lawyer exposed and changed inhumane conditions at Alcatraz.
Nixon (see above)
Panther tells the story of the Black Panther Party.
Picture Bride depicts economic exploitation, racism, and sexism as picture brides arrived in Hawai`i from East Asia in 1907-1924.
The Scarlet Letter recalls the era of religious persecution in Massachusetts, thus exposing a possible agenda of the Christian coalition.
Bombay is a Romeo & Juliette story of a Moslem marrying a Hindu in India.
Father, Son, and Holy War blames communal violence in India on the male need to assert masculine identity.
Islands on the Edge of Time recounts efforts of the CIA and U.S. military to prevent Palau from achieving independence.
Once upon a Time When We Were Colored depicts changes in a small town in Mississippi from 1946 to 1962, as a community where Blacks support one another is destroyed in the quest for integration.
SYLLABUS & WORKING PAPERS OFFERED
Three Politics & Film Syllabi are now available:
#1 John Williams
#2 Ernest Giglio
#3 Henry Kariel (revised!)
Five Working Papers are also available for purchase:
#1 Genovese, “Art & Politics: The Political Film as a Pedagogical Tool”
#2 Morlan, “Pre-World War II Propaganda: Film as Controversy”
#3 Giglio, “From Riefenstahl to the Three Stooges: Defining the Political Film”
#4 Williams, “The Real Oliver North Loses: The Reel Bob Roberts Wins”
#5 Savage, “Popular Film & Popular Communication.”
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