ckaihatsu
15th September 2017, 15:17
Fall Political Film Series begins with "Land and Freedom" 9/17; How to send Hurricane Aid to Cuba
Loyola Political Film Series Fall 2017
Sundays, 2pm
Loyola University (downtown)
Corboy Law Center, room 301, 25 E. Pearson Street, Chicago
(one block north of Chicago & State Red line L stop)
September 17 Land and Freedom Ken Loach 1995 109min
The film narrates the story of David Carr, an unemployed worker and member of the Communist Party of Great Britain, who decides to fight for the republican side in the Spanish Civil War, an anti-fascist coalition of POUM socialists, Communists and anarchists. It goes into the conflicts between the different tendencies in the anti-fascist struggle.
There are several battle scenes in Land and Freedom, but, as with all of Loach's movies, this one is impelled by ideas. It's unlikely that you've seen a war movie quite like Land and Freedom. After the militia liberates a small town, they join the local workers in a lengthy argument about the pros and cons of collectivization. It's a rich, spirited discussion, and both sides make excellent points. Land and Freedom is filled with such scenes as characters talk about things that mean something, like why they should reject the organized Communist army and why they shouldn't moderate their slogans just to gain the support of other nations.
The story unfolds as seen through David's eyes. Torn between supporting the organized resistance and continuing to be a part of an isolated but autonomous militia, David makes the "safe" decision, then, to his dismay, learns the reason why Franco is winning the war -- the Stalinists are more interested in suppressing the real freedom fighters than opposing the fascists. The film won the FIPRESCI International Critics Prize and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival.
October 1 Ukraine on Fire Oliver Stone 2016 95 min
Ukraine on Fire offers a historical explanation for the deep divisions within Ukraine and presents information about the current crisis that challenges the mainstream media’s paradigm, which blames the conflict almost exclusively on Russia.
The film begins with gripping images of the violence that ripped through the capital city of Kiev during both the 2004 Orange Revolution and the 2014 removal of Yanukovich. It then travels back in time to provide a perspective that has been missing from mainstream versions of these events and even in many alternative media renditions.
In one of the interviews in Ukraine on Fire, journalist and author Robert Parry explains how the National Endowment for Democracy and many subsidized political NGOs emerged in the 1980s to replace or supplement what the CIA had traditionally done in terms of influencing the direction of targeted countries.
This film also reminds us that what happened in Ukraine was a bipartisan effort. It was begun under George W. Bush and completed under Barack Obama
https://consortiumnews.com/2017/02/13/a-documentary-youll-likely-never-see/
October 8 Motorcycle Diaries 2004 126 min
Che Guevera before he became Che Guevara. In 1952 he and his older friend Alberto leave Buenos Aires in order to travel across the South American continent in search of adventures. While there is a goal at the end of their journey - they intend to work in a leper colony in Peru - the main purpose is tourism. They want to see as much of Latin America as they can, more than 5000 miles in just a few months.
During their expedition, Guevara and Granado encounter the poverty of the indigenous peasants, and the movie assumes a greater seriousness once the men gain a better sense of the disparity between the "haves" and "have-nots" of Latin America. In Chile, the pleasure travelers encounter a couple forced onto the road because of their communist beliefs. The duo accompany the couple to the Chuquicamata copper mine, and Guevara becomes angry at the treatment of the workers. There is also an instance of recognition when Ernesto, on a river ship, looks down at the poor people on the smaller boat hitched behind. Ernesto's connection to people in need is visceral and tactile throughout the film.
However, it is a visit to the Incan ruins of Macchu Picchu that inspires something in Ernesto. He wonders how the highly advanced culture gave way to the urban sprawl of Lima
In Peru, they volunteer for three weeks at the San Pablo leper colony. There, Guevara sees both physically and metaphorically the division of society between the toiling masses and the ruling class (the staff live on the north side of a river, separated from the lepers living on the south).
"Wandering around our America has changed me more than I thought. I am not me anymore. At least I'm not the same me I was." ~ Guevara at film's end
October 15 Strike Sergei Eisenstein 1925 122min
"The strength of the working class is organization. Without organization of the masses, the proletarian is nothing. Organized it is everything. Being organized means unity of action, unity of practical activity." Lenin (opening shot)
Sergei Eisenstein's first full-length feature, to celebrate the 1905 Russian Revolution, depicts a workers' strike against their oppressive factory bosses. When a worker is accused of stealing a piece of machinery, he commits suicide, and his fellow workers revolt against the owner of the factory. As the strike drags on and government officials grow more desperate to end it, their methods of dealing with the rebellious workers become grislier.
The film is most famous for a sequence near the end in which the violent suppression of the strike is cross-cut with footage of cattle being slaughtered, although there are several other points in the movie where animals are used as metaphors for the conditions of various individuals. Another theme in the film is collectivism in opposition to individualism which was viewed as a convention of western film.
October 22 Battle for Stevastopol 2015 110min
Superbly shot action scenes and acting make this drama about Lyudmila Pavlichenko – most successful woman sniper in the history of warfare. During the Red Army’s defence of the Soviet Union’s western border in 1941, sharpshooter Lyudmila Pavlichenko chalked up 309 confirmed kills – all Nazis. The film details the achievements of Pavlichenko, considered the greatest woman sharpshooter the world has seen. Nicknamed “Lady Death”, 25-year-old Pavlichenko is a complex character, and Yulia Peresild gives an impressively layered performance.
October 29 Aristide and the Endless Revolution 2005 84min
Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the former president of Haiti, was twice removed from office with the complicity of the US and the French. The film exposes the Western manipulation, the economic alliances between the Haitian and U.S. elite, the armed criminals posing as freedom fighters and other factors that have consistently threatened this country.
The film introduces renowned physician and anthropologist Paul Farmer, President Aristide himself, UN goodwill ambassador Danny Glover, Noam Chomsky, Roger Noriega (Assistant Secretary of State under George W. Bush), Congresswoman Maxine Waters, James Dobbins (director of the International Security and Defense Policy Center at Rand and former U.S. Special Envoy in Haiti), John Shattuck (former Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor) and many Haitian Voices.
November 5 October: Ten Days that Shook the World Sergei Eisenstein 1928 104 min
Soviet silent historical film by Sergei Eisenstein It is a celebratory dramatization of the 1917 October Revolution commissioned for the tenth anniversary of the event. The film covers the key events of the Russian revolution from February 1917 to October. Beginning with the crumbling of the Russian monarchy, the production depicts the growing conflicts at Petrograd, with Lenin leading the rebellion that results in the overthrow of the tsar's Winter Palace. In addition to its historically rooted narrative, the film is renowned for its inventive use of striking montage imagery. https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2012/03/ber4-m10.html
November 13 Viva Cuba Juan Carlos Cremata Malberto 2005 80 min
In a tale akin to Romeo and Juliet, the friendship between two children is threatened by their parents' differences. Malu is from an upper-class family and her single mother does not want her to play with Jorgito, as she thinks his background coarse and commonplace. Jorgito's mother is a poor socialist that is proud of her family's social standing. She places similar restriction on her son, who does not want him playing with the daughter anti-revolutionary family. What neither woman recognizes is the immense strength of the bond between Malu and Jorgito. When the children learn that Malu's mother is planning to leave Cuba, they decide to run away and travel to the other side of the island to find Malu's father and persuade him against signing the forms that would allow it. The story of their escape across the island is a very touching on.
The film became a box office hit and went on to win many awards nationally and internationally as it was displayed at many film festivals around the world, including 2005 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Grand Prix Ecrans Juniors Award, plus awards in countries as diverse as Australia, Italy, Guatemala, Germany, France, and Taiwan. In 2008, it was shown all over Venezuela.
November 19 Ballad of a Soldier 1959 98min
This Soviet film portrays the difficulties and heroism of the Soviet peoples in their struggle against fascism in World War II. While set during World War II, Ballad of a Soldier is not primarily a war film. It recounts, within the context of the turmoil of war, various kinds of love: the romantic love of a young couple, the committed love of a married couple, and a mother's love of her child, as a Red Army soldier tries to make it home during a leave, meeting several civilians on his way and falling in love. Won award at San Francisco International Film Festival 1960, and nominated for Academy Awards in 1962
Sponsors: Loyola University Department of Sociology, Chicago ALBA Solidarity, [email protected], Stan Smith 773-322-3168
ChicagoALBASolidarity.wordpress.com
How you can aid Cuban Hurricane Relief:
After Irma, a Look at Why Cubans are 15 Times Less Likely to Die from Hurricanes Than Americans (https://www.democracynow.org/2017/9/12/after_irma_a_look_at_why)
After Irma, a Look at Why Cubans are 15 Times Less Likely to Die from Hurri...
One of the Caribbean islands hardest hit by Hurricane Irma was Cuba, where 10 people died. Irma hit Cuba’s north...
You can send aid to help Cuba through these three websites:
1 Cuba and Venezuela Solidarity Committee -- Emergency Campaign for Hurricane Relief for Cuba
http://www.cuba-venezuela.org/index.php/donate/
2. Pastors for Peace: http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?m=1114995572320&ca=4a362e37-d7be-4aea-9612-195526dfbc14
3. From: Isaac Saney <[email protected]>
To:
Subject: Hurricane Irma Relief & Reconstruction for Cuba Campaign
Date: Sep 10, 2017 9:28 PM
Hurricane Irma Relief & Reconstruction for Cuba Campaign
-Isaac Saney, CNC National Spokesperson, September 10, 2017 -
Hurricane Irma menaced and devastated the eastern and northern Caribbean, striking Cuba from September 7-10, resulting in significant and widespread damage. Accompanied by massive flooding, its sweeping destruction encompassed housing, communications, infrastructure, agricultural equipment, crops, and community buildings.
While, we are confident that the Cuban people will overcome any challenges posed by Hurricane Irma, Cuba will, nevertheless, have to expend considerable resources, both immediate and long term, in order to overcome the havoc wreaked by Hurricane Irma.
To assist Cuba in its immense efforts of recovery and reconstruction, the Canadian Network On Cuba (CNC) is launching the Hurricane Irma Relief & Reconstruction for Cuba Campaign.
Donations to the Hurricane Irma Relief & Reconstruction for Cuba Campaign can be made by mailing cheques made out to the Canadian Network On Cuba to: CNC Hurricane Relief, 56 Riverwood Terrace Bolton, ON L7E 1S4. Please write "CNC Hurricane Irma Relief Fund" on your cheque's memo line.
All donations will be forwarded 100% directly to Cuba.
In recent years, the CNC has had a series of successful Hurricane Relief Campaigns. The most recent was in 2016 when Hurricane Matthew struck eastern Cuba, devastating Baracoa, Cuba’s oldest city. In 2008, the CNC’s most extensive campaign was launched when a series of hurricanes caused damage in excess of $10-billion. The CNC not only raised hundreds of thousands of dollars, but also directly participated in the construction of a new social and cultural centre on La Isla de La Juventud (Isle of Youth).
In 2017, as Cuba faces this latest challenge, we are confident that Canadians - as they have repeatedly done - will once again demonstrate their friendship and solidarity with Cuba by supporting the island as it recovers from the ravages of Hurricane Irma.
Our experience with regard to Cuba's response to natural disasters is that it knows how to multiply the value of any donations it receives. We feel confident, based on the island's unsurpassed humanitarian work - both within Cuba and in other countries - that it has the skills, the organization and the ethical and moral values to put whatever assistance it receives to the best possible use.
Even at this difficult time, in the midst of Hurricane Irma’s havoc, Cuba’s deep internationalist spirit has once again been profoundly demonstrated by the sending of more than 750 Cuban health workers to Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, Haiti, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia, and the Bahamas.
As in past campaigns, we hope that solidarity organizations and individuals will generously support Cuba in its efforts to rebuild after this devastating hurricane.
Send Donations to: CNC Hurricane Relief, 56 Riverwood Terrace Bolton, ON L7E 1S4. Please make cheques out to t he Canadian Network On Cuba and write "CNC Hurricane Irma Relief Fund" on your cheque's memo line.
Loyola Political Film Series Fall 2017
Sundays, 2pm
Loyola University (downtown)
Corboy Law Center, room 301, 25 E. Pearson Street, Chicago
(one block north of Chicago & State Red line L stop)
September 17 Land and Freedom Ken Loach 1995 109min
The film narrates the story of David Carr, an unemployed worker and member of the Communist Party of Great Britain, who decides to fight for the republican side in the Spanish Civil War, an anti-fascist coalition of POUM socialists, Communists and anarchists. It goes into the conflicts between the different tendencies in the anti-fascist struggle.
There are several battle scenes in Land and Freedom, but, as with all of Loach's movies, this one is impelled by ideas. It's unlikely that you've seen a war movie quite like Land and Freedom. After the militia liberates a small town, they join the local workers in a lengthy argument about the pros and cons of collectivization. It's a rich, spirited discussion, and both sides make excellent points. Land and Freedom is filled with such scenes as characters talk about things that mean something, like why they should reject the organized Communist army and why they shouldn't moderate their slogans just to gain the support of other nations.
The story unfolds as seen through David's eyes. Torn between supporting the organized resistance and continuing to be a part of an isolated but autonomous militia, David makes the "safe" decision, then, to his dismay, learns the reason why Franco is winning the war -- the Stalinists are more interested in suppressing the real freedom fighters than opposing the fascists. The film won the FIPRESCI International Critics Prize and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival.
October 1 Ukraine on Fire Oliver Stone 2016 95 min
Ukraine on Fire offers a historical explanation for the deep divisions within Ukraine and presents information about the current crisis that challenges the mainstream media’s paradigm, which blames the conflict almost exclusively on Russia.
The film begins with gripping images of the violence that ripped through the capital city of Kiev during both the 2004 Orange Revolution and the 2014 removal of Yanukovich. It then travels back in time to provide a perspective that has been missing from mainstream versions of these events and even in many alternative media renditions.
In one of the interviews in Ukraine on Fire, journalist and author Robert Parry explains how the National Endowment for Democracy and many subsidized political NGOs emerged in the 1980s to replace or supplement what the CIA had traditionally done in terms of influencing the direction of targeted countries.
This film also reminds us that what happened in Ukraine was a bipartisan effort. It was begun under George W. Bush and completed under Barack Obama
https://consortiumnews.com/2017/02/13/a-documentary-youll-likely-never-see/
October 8 Motorcycle Diaries 2004 126 min
Che Guevera before he became Che Guevara. In 1952 he and his older friend Alberto leave Buenos Aires in order to travel across the South American continent in search of adventures. While there is a goal at the end of their journey - they intend to work in a leper colony in Peru - the main purpose is tourism. They want to see as much of Latin America as they can, more than 5000 miles in just a few months.
During their expedition, Guevara and Granado encounter the poverty of the indigenous peasants, and the movie assumes a greater seriousness once the men gain a better sense of the disparity between the "haves" and "have-nots" of Latin America. In Chile, the pleasure travelers encounter a couple forced onto the road because of their communist beliefs. The duo accompany the couple to the Chuquicamata copper mine, and Guevara becomes angry at the treatment of the workers. There is also an instance of recognition when Ernesto, on a river ship, looks down at the poor people on the smaller boat hitched behind. Ernesto's connection to people in need is visceral and tactile throughout the film.
However, it is a visit to the Incan ruins of Macchu Picchu that inspires something in Ernesto. He wonders how the highly advanced culture gave way to the urban sprawl of Lima
In Peru, they volunteer for three weeks at the San Pablo leper colony. There, Guevara sees both physically and metaphorically the division of society between the toiling masses and the ruling class (the staff live on the north side of a river, separated from the lepers living on the south).
"Wandering around our America has changed me more than I thought. I am not me anymore. At least I'm not the same me I was." ~ Guevara at film's end
October 15 Strike Sergei Eisenstein 1925 122min
"The strength of the working class is organization. Without organization of the masses, the proletarian is nothing. Organized it is everything. Being organized means unity of action, unity of practical activity." Lenin (opening shot)
Sergei Eisenstein's first full-length feature, to celebrate the 1905 Russian Revolution, depicts a workers' strike against their oppressive factory bosses. When a worker is accused of stealing a piece of machinery, he commits suicide, and his fellow workers revolt against the owner of the factory. As the strike drags on and government officials grow more desperate to end it, their methods of dealing with the rebellious workers become grislier.
The film is most famous for a sequence near the end in which the violent suppression of the strike is cross-cut with footage of cattle being slaughtered, although there are several other points in the movie where animals are used as metaphors for the conditions of various individuals. Another theme in the film is collectivism in opposition to individualism which was viewed as a convention of western film.
October 22 Battle for Stevastopol 2015 110min
Superbly shot action scenes and acting make this drama about Lyudmila Pavlichenko – most successful woman sniper in the history of warfare. During the Red Army’s defence of the Soviet Union’s western border in 1941, sharpshooter Lyudmila Pavlichenko chalked up 309 confirmed kills – all Nazis. The film details the achievements of Pavlichenko, considered the greatest woman sharpshooter the world has seen. Nicknamed “Lady Death”, 25-year-old Pavlichenko is a complex character, and Yulia Peresild gives an impressively layered performance.
October 29 Aristide and the Endless Revolution 2005 84min
Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the former president of Haiti, was twice removed from office with the complicity of the US and the French. The film exposes the Western manipulation, the economic alliances between the Haitian and U.S. elite, the armed criminals posing as freedom fighters and other factors that have consistently threatened this country.
The film introduces renowned physician and anthropologist Paul Farmer, President Aristide himself, UN goodwill ambassador Danny Glover, Noam Chomsky, Roger Noriega (Assistant Secretary of State under George W. Bush), Congresswoman Maxine Waters, James Dobbins (director of the International Security and Defense Policy Center at Rand and former U.S. Special Envoy in Haiti), John Shattuck (former Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor) and many Haitian Voices.
November 5 October: Ten Days that Shook the World Sergei Eisenstein 1928 104 min
Soviet silent historical film by Sergei Eisenstein It is a celebratory dramatization of the 1917 October Revolution commissioned for the tenth anniversary of the event. The film covers the key events of the Russian revolution from February 1917 to October. Beginning with the crumbling of the Russian monarchy, the production depicts the growing conflicts at Petrograd, with Lenin leading the rebellion that results in the overthrow of the tsar's Winter Palace. In addition to its historically rooted narrative, the film is renowned for its inventive use of striking montage imagery. https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2012/03/ber4-m10.html
November 13 Viva Cuba Juan Carlos Cremata Malberto 2005 80 min
In a tale akin to Romeo and Juliet, the friendship between two children is threatened by their parents' differences. Malu is from an upper-class family and her single mother does not want her to play with Jorgito, as she thinks his background coarse and commonplace. Jorgito's mother is a poor socialist that is proud of her family's social standing. She places similar restriction on her son, who does not want him playing with the daughter anti-revolutionary family. What neither woman recognizes is the immense strength of the bond between Malu and Jorgito. When the children learn that Malu's mother is planning to leave Cuba, they decide to run away and travel to the other side of the island to find Malu's father and persuade him against signing the forms that would allow it. The story of their escape across the island is a very touching on.
The film became a box office hit and went on to win many awards nationally and internationally as it was displayed at many film festivals around the world, including 2005 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Grand Prix Ecrans Juniors Award, plus awards in countries as diverse as Australia, Italy, Guatemala, Germany, France, and Taiwan. In 2008, it was shown all over Venezuela.
November 19 Ballad of a Soldier 1959 98min
This Soviet film portrays the difficulties and heroism of the Soviet peoples in their struggle against fascism in World War II. While set during World War II, Ballad of a Soldier is not primarily a war film. It recounts, within the context of the turmoil of war, various kinds of love: the romantic love of a young couple, the committed love of a married couple, and a mother's love of her child, as a Red Army soldier tries to make it home during a leave, meeting several civilians on his way and falling in love. Won award at San Francisco International Film Festival 1960, and nominated for Academy Awards in 1962
Sponsors: Loyola University Department of Sociology, Chicago ALBA Solidarity, [email protected], Stan Smith 773-322-3168
ChicagoALBASolidarity.wordpress.com
How you can aid Cuban Hurricane Relief:
After Irma, a Look at Why Cubans are 15 Times Less Likely to Die from Hurricanes Than Americans (https://www.democracynow.org/2017/9/12/after_irma_a_look_at_why)
After Irma, a Look at Why Cubans are 15 Times Less Likely to Die from Hurri...
One of the Caribbean islands hardest hit by Hurricane Irma was Cuba, where 10 people died. Irma hit Cuba’s north...
You can send aid to help Cuba through these three websites:
1 Cuba and Venezuela Solidarity Committee -- Emergency Campaign for Hurricane Relief for Cuba
http://www.cuba-venezuela.org/index.php/donate/
2. Pastors for Peace: http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?m=1114995572320&ca=4a362e37-d7be-4aea-9612-195526dfbc14
3. From: Isaac Saney <[email protected]>
To:
Subject: Hurricane Irma Relief & Reconstruction for Cuba Campaign
Date: Sep 10, 2017 9:28 PM
Hurricane Irma Relief & Reconstruction for Cuba Campaign
-Isaac Saney, CNC National Spokesperson, September 10, 2017 -
Hurricane Irma menaced and devastated the eastern and northern Caribbean, striking Cuba from September 7-10, resulting in significant and widespread damage. Accompanied by massive flooding, its sweeping destruction encompassed housing, communications, infrastructure, agricultural equipment, crops, and community buildings.
While, we are confident that the Cuban people will overcome any challenges posed by Hurricane Irma, Cuba will, nevertheless, have to expend considerable resources, both immediate and long term, in order to overcome the havoc wreaked by Hurricane Irma.
To assist Cuba in its immense efforts of recovery and reconstruction, the Canadian Network On Cuba (CNC) is launching the Hurricane Irma Relief & Reconstruction for Cuba Campaign.
Donations to the Hurricane Irma Relief & Reconstruction for Cuba Campaign can be made by mailing cheques made out to the Canadian Network On Cuba to: CNC Hurricane Relief, 56 Riverwood Terrace Bolton, ON L7E 1S4. Please write "CNC Hurricane Irma Relief Fund" on your cheque's memo line.
All donations will be forwarded 100% directly to Cuba.
In recent years, the CNC has had a series of successful Hurricane Relief Campaigns. The most recent was in 2016 when Hurricane Matthew struck eastern Cuba, devastating Baracoa, Cuba’s oldest city. In 2008, the CNC’s most extensive campaign was launched when a series of hurricanes caused damage in excess of $10-billion. The CNC not only raised hundreds of thousands of dollars, but also directly participated in the construction of a new social and cultural centre on La Isla de La Juventud (Isle of Youth).
In 2017, as Cuba faces this latest challenge, we are confident that Canadians - as they have repeatedly done - will once again demonstrate their friendship and solidarity with Cuba by supporting the island as it recovers from the ravages of Hurricane Irma.
Our experience with regard to Cuba's response to natural disasters is that it knows how to multiply the value of any donations it receives. We feel confident, based on the island's unsurpassed humanitarian work - both within Cuba and in other countries - that it has the skills, the organization and the ethical and moral values to put whatever assistance it receives to the best possible use.
Even at this difficult time, in the midst of Hurricane Irma’s havoc, Cuba’s deep internationalist spirit has once again been profoundly demonstrated by the sending of more than 750 Cuban health workers to Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, Haiti, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia, and the Bahamas.
As in past campaigns, we hope that solidarity organizations and individuals will generously support Cuba in its efforts to rebuild after this devastating hurricane.
Send Donations to: CNC Hurricane Relief, 56 Riverwood Terrace Bolton, ON L7E 1S4. Please make cheques out to t he Canadian Network On Cuba and write "CNC Hurricane Irma Relief Fund" on your cheque's memo line.