The Progressive Film Series is a social event as well as a chance to see some rarely available films. We present a series of documentary and dramatic films that confront important contemporary issues and can be used (through discussion) to better understand complex world problems. It is held every 2nd Thurs at Cafe Luna - at 7 PM. Admission is Free!

These are important films, not that often seen, so we hope you can make time to show up, enjoy some fine coffee and progressive company, and participate in the discussion about the film!

Past Films

June 14, 2007 - Sound and Fury - Josh Aronson's remarkable documentary takes an unexpected approach to the "medical miracle" film by examining the political and emotional turmoil that erupts between brothers over the cochlear implant that might allow their deaf children to hear.  The ways in which a so-called miracle cure can divide as well as heal families and communities is the focus of Sound and Fury, which explores with almost painful intimacy the politics of disability.  Oscar nominated for best documentary feature.

May 10, 2007 - Wall - This fine documentary is a meditation on the wall that Israel is building to separate itself from the Palestinians.        Not a polemical film and not one that takes strong political positions against or for any particular side, this film focuses on the human effects of the wall on people living on both sides.  

A native of Morocco who speaks French, Arabic and Hebrew, Simone Bitton created this film in 2004, while the wall was being built.  She talked with the generals who planned the wall, the residents along both sides, the workers who are constructing the wall, and interviewed people in the street.  The result is slowly revealed to be an exploration of the human costs of dividing any group of people into Us and Them. 

April 12, 2007 - Control Room - The Iraq War has been the most dangerous in history for journalists.  More than thirty were killed last year alone, most targeted specifically for murder by one faction of another.  Almost all of the journalists killed in 2006 were Iraqi. 

No media outlet in the Iraq War has been more controversial than Al Jazeera.  Attacked relentlessly by both the US and Arab governments as a voice for terrorists, the organization is the most widely viewed source of television news in the Arab world, and one that operates independent of any government.

Control Room tells the story of the formation of the network and its work in the early years of the Iraq War.  The film was shot by Jehane Houjaim in the cinema verite style, and it is a compelling portrait of the exciting and risky job of independent journalism today.

 

March 8, 2007 The Conversation - One of the greatest paranoia movies ever made, on many ten best lists, this early Gene Hackman classic was directed by Francis Ford Coppola.  It tells the story of an eavesdropping specialist who is hired to record a conversation under very challenging circumstances by some corporate executives.  As he slowly decodes the conversation, he becomes more and more involved in the case and finally decides to take sides, with unexpected results. 

Eavesdropping and data mining technologies today are a hundred times better than they were then.  Civil rights and privacy are under more attack than ever.  Although made more than thirty years ago, this film is sure to raise issues for our discussion that all of us can relate to today. 

For More Information

Call Daniel at 567-0593 or e-mail asher@foundgroup.com.