Videoactive: Documentaries From The Edge

dublin | arts and media | news report Sunday October 24, 2004 22:14 by Indymedia Ireland Editorial Group - Indymedia Ireland

Taking Place At Samuel Beckett Centre Trinity College Dublin: 12th - 14th November

The Videoactive Documentary Festival is being co-hosted by the Cultivate Sustainable Living Centre and Indymedia Ireland. The festival will showcase a series of feature length politically commited documentaries from around the planet, the majority of which have not been screened in Ireland previously. Each feature will be accompanied by a selection of recently produced documentary shorts. These will include a number of vivid street level accounts (recently completed by members of the Indymedia Ireland collective) of the Bush Visit to Shannon and the controversial Mayday protests which took place during Ireland's recent Presidency of the EU. The Videoactive event is a not for profit event. Admission will be five euro for each screening. Season tickets allowing entry to all seven screenings will be available for twenty euro. All funds raised will go towards the purchase of digital video projectors for the Cultivate and Indymedia collectives. The organisers hope to develop this event into a yearly survey of politically engaged filmmaking from around the Globe.

We need your help to spread the word widely about this event as we have no dollars for press advertising. You can download a PDF of the programme from this link. Please print it out and distribute widely. Posters are available to download here- spread them around: 1 2 3 4

OVERALL WEEKEND SCHEDULE HERE
Scroll down for more detail on screenings.

** FRIDAY 7.00 PM SCREENING **
The Miami Model (90 mins) + We Interrupt This Empire (68 mins)

** SATURDAY 2.00 PM SCREENING **
Outfoxed: Rupert Murdock's War on Journalism (77 mins) + Trailer: Bush in Ireland: 100,000 Unwelcomes (30 Mins)
NEW ADDITION No RNC Video Collective - rough fresh cut of NYC actions! (50 Mins)

** SATURDAY 5.00 PM SCREENING **
The End of Suburbia (78 Mins) + Trailer: Mayday Mayday (30 Mins)

** SATURDAY 8.00 PM SCREENING **
Battleground: Dispatches from the Edge of Empire (82 Mins) + Trailer: Trespassers Will Be Severely Tortured (43 Mins)

** SUNDAY 2.00 PM SCREENING **
Liberty Bound (90 Mins) + Trailer: Aftermath: Unawnsered Questions from 911 (35 Mins)
NEW ADDITION No RNC Critical Mass - fresh cut of NYC action (14 Mins)

** SUNDAY 5.00 PM SCREENING **
The Fourth World War (100 Mins) + Trailer: Woomera Breakout (35 Mins)

** SUNDAY 8.00 PM SCREENING **
Surplus: Terrorized into being Consumers (52 Mins) + Embedded: Weapons of Mass Deception (100 Mins)

** FRIDAY 7.00 PM SCREENING **



The Miami Model (90 mins)
"Amongst the shocking images in the video, the police assault on Elizabeth Ritter, a Miami lawyer, stands out. Dressed in a business suit, wearing high heels, carrying a sign that reads “Fear Another Totalitarian Administration”, she was pelted by rubber bullets and suffered an injury to the head. The soon to be released DVD of The Miami Model will include a post-riot interview with Ritter where she puts what happened to her in a larger context. Those who participated in the activities against the FTAA in Miami will forever be affected by the experience. The extremity of police repression and the range and sophistication of their tactics left scars on us all. The terror created in Miami was painfully obvious with rumors we heard from city residents that “The Anarchists” had collected billiard balls to throw at the police or that they were going to inject feces into civilians. The corporate media was at the helm of the propaganda machine as they pumped the climate of fear into downtown Miami. The marriage between the media and government isn’t a mere conspiracy, either: several reporters, officially “embedded,” in an arrangement similar to that which emerged during the invasion of Iraq, are interviewed in The Miami Model and freely discuss their hand-in-glove relationship with the police. Original article in full. / Trailer Here



We Interrupt This Empire (68 mins)
We Interrupt ... covers a huge amount of ground, from corporate war profiteering to post-9/11 ethnic profiling, from the sugarcoating of the war on TV to police brutality (and, at times, police impotence). But the film's power ultimately comes from the footage, shot by approximately twenty contributors, of the massive shutdown of San Francisco. "A friend of mine just got back from England," Sousa says, "and he showed it to hundreds of people over there, and they were really excited to see that people were actively resisting the war here. Because, sometimes, that's hard to communicate across countries. It's nice for them to see that there's resistance happening in the US, because I think there's this perception, especially in Europe, that we're not doing as much as other places." Full review here and you can find more info here. / Trailer Here


** SATURDAY 2.00 PM SCREENING **



Outfoxed: Rupert Murdock's War on Journalism (77 mins) + Trailer: Bush in Ireland: 100,000 Unwelcomes (30 Mins)
"Outfoxed" examines how media empires, led by Rupert Murdoch's Fox News, have been running a "race to the bottom" in television news. This film provides an in-depth look at Fox News and the dangers of ever-enlarging corporations taking control of the public's right to know. The film explores Murdoch's burgeoning kingdom and the impact on society when a broad swath of media is controlled by one person. Media experts, including Jeff Cohen (FAIR) Bob McChesney (Free Press), Chellie Pingree (Common Cause), Jeff Chester (Center for Digital Democracy) and David Brock (Media Matters) provide context and guidance for the story of Fox News and its effect on society. This documentary also reveals the secrets of Former Fox news producers, reporters, bookers and writers who expose what it's like to work for Fox News.  These former Fox employees talk about how they were forced to push a "right-wing" point of view or risk their jobs. Some have even chosen to remain anonymous in order to protect their current livelihoods. As one employee said "There's no sense of integrity as far as having a line that can't be crossed." More info here. / Trailer Here

NEW ADDITION No RNC Video Collective - rough fresh cut of NYC actions! (50 Mins)
This is a 56 minute rough cut of segments from the No RNC Video Collective (made up of Indymedia, Paper Tiger TV, and other independet media activists) TV show, UnConventional TV. This was an hour-long live TV show produced at MNN studios here in NYC for six straight nights during the August 2004 RNC. Segments include foootage of Rochester anarchist radio host Vermin Supreme reporting & interviewing delegates live from inside the convention during the Bush speech, the BNC (Bike National Convention/Critical Mass), military opinions, an Arnold spoof, radical insurgent clowns, and much, much more. This is the premiere screening of this footage , thanks go out to NYC Indymedia heads for sending us this for the Videoactive festival.

** SATURDAY 5.00 PM SCREENING **



The End of Suburbia (78 Mins) + Trailer: Mayday Mayday (30 Mins)
The End of Suburbia points out that the rise of the suburbs was made possible by abundant and cheap oil. It allowed for the creation of a system of habitation where millions of people can live many miles away from where they work and where they shop for food and necessities. And there is no other form of living that requires more energy in order to function than suburbia. But the voracious and expanding energy needs of our industrial society, our insane consumer culture, and the affluent suburban lifestyles are brushing up against the disturbing reality of finite energy resources. The biggest impact will be felt by those who currently live in the sprawling suburbs of North America. The end of cheap oil will signal the end of their way of life. Frankly, many of the things we take for granted will come to an end. The End of Suburbia makes clear that the effects of energy depletion go way beyond paying more at the pump. It will literally get down to the question of how you will feed yourself and your family. Although the documentary mostly avoids the gloom and doom of some peak oil theorists, it does occasionally touch on some of the darker aspects of fossil fuel depletion, notably how it will impact food production. The film briefly looks at the energy-intensive process needed to bring food to supermarkets. Our modern industrial agriculture relies heavily on petroleum for pesticides and natural gas for fertilizer, not to mention the energy used in planting, growing, harvesting, irrigating, packaging, processing and transporting the food. It stands to reason that if suburbia is going to collapse, it also means this centralized model of agriculture will collapse too. Full review here. / Trailer Here


** SATURDAY 8.00 PM SCREENING **



Battleground: Dispatches from the Edge of Empire (82 Mins) + Trailer: Trespassers Will Be Severely Tortured (43 Mins)
"Intense, emotional and fascinating from the first frames to the last, Battleground goes beyond media madness and political posturing into the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people and of American soldiers stationed on the front lines, to examine how the conflict has changed lives. Frank, a former anti-Saddam guerrilla and torture victim exiled for 13 years, finally returns to Iraq to see his family; Iraqis living without water or electricity wonder what has happened to their home in the name of "freedom and democracy"; American soldiers offer surprisingly candid views about the war. Shot over three weeks in late 2003, this superb documentary offers a real-world perspective you simply won't see anywhere outside the Middle East." More details here. / Trailer Here


** SUNDAY 2.00 PM SCREENING **



Liberty Bound (90 Mins) + Trailer: Aftermath: Unawnsered Questions from 911 (35 Mins)
“Are we bound for liberty? Or is liberty bound?" This is the question first-time director Christine Rose presents in her new documentary Liberty Bound. Part road film, part reality show, thoughtful, frightening and provocative, this could very well be the thinking man/woman’s Fahrenheit 9/11. Rose takes a journey through America post-9/11, but before the beginning of the Iraq War. On the way she encounters an America in transition - changed by the horror of the attacks, but even more (and what becomes one of the central tenet’s of the film) by the perceived stranglehold being put on the people of America by its own government. Rose sidesteps the “black helicopter” crowd by being both thoughtful and patient as she lets her journey unfold. In one of several compelling interviews, Howard Zinn speaks on the coming demise of this current power paradigm. The iconoclastic historian explains how the Bush agenda is setting the stage for the eventual collapse of the American government itself. Full review here.


NEW ADDITION: No RNC Critical Mass - fresh cut of NYC action (14 Mins) by Armand Ruhlman & Glass Bead Collective NYC
A fast-paced documentary of the Critical Mass bike ride that took place in NYC on Friday, August 27, 2004 ­ two days before the start of the RNC. Cameras follow the 5,000 ­ 10,000 bicycle riders who started from Union Square in downtown Manhattan ­ then passed through Times Square, to the chants of "No More Bush..." - and eventually finished up at St. Mark¹s Church, at the intersection of 2nd Avenue and East 10th Street, in the East Village. The video piece contrasts the two major aspects or atmospheres that existed during the bike ride: 1) the initial joyful, celebratory nature of the event as the riders wended their through the streets of Manhattan and 2) the later, brutal, poisonous tone of the NYPD towards the riders at the end of the ride, in front of St. Mark¹s Church. The mood of the video piece goes from one of joy to one of intense confrontation as cameras capture instances of police abuse and brutality towards the riders ­ who committed no offense other than choosing to congregate in the street in front of St. Mark¹s church. This footage contains some of the most dramatic moments captured on video during the RNC ­ in terms of police arrests of protestors. This is the premiere of this short documentary, again thanks to NYC IMC Video Collective for giving it to IMC Éire for Videoactive.

** SUNDAY 5.00 PM SCREENING **



The Fourth World War (??? Mins) + Trailer: Woomera Breakout (35 Mins)
From the front-lines of conflicts in Mexico, Argentina, South Africa, Palestine, Korea, 'the North' from Seattle to Genova, and the 'War on Terror' in New York, Afghanistan, and Iraq. It is the story of men and women around the world who resist being annihilated in this war. While our airwaves are crowded with talk of a new world war, narrated by generals and filmed from the noses of bombs, the human story of this global conflict remains untold. "The Fourth World War" brings together the images and voices of the war on the ground. It is a story of a war without end and of those who resist. The product of over two years of filming on the inside of movements on five continents, "The Fourth World War" is a film that would have been unimaginable at any other moment in history. Directed by the makers of "This Is What Democracy Looks Like" and "Zapatista", produced through a global network of independent media and activist groups, it is a truly global film from our global movement. Continues here / Trailer Here


** SUNDAY 8.00 PM SCREENING **



Surplus: Terrorized into being Consumers (52 Mins)
Why is the lifestyle of consumerism a source of such rage today? How come the privilege of buying goods does not automatically lead to happiness? Why all this emptiness despite our wealth? Surplus approach is to portray this issue from an emotional rather than a factual perspective, shot in the US, India, China, Italy, Sweden, Hungary, Canada and Cuba during three years. It is the result of a complicated editing process by talented music composer/editor/percussionist Johan Söderberg. George W Bush's famous "shopping-speech" calling for a war against terrorism that deters the nation from the fear of consumption. Castro responding with hymns to the anti-consumerist, advertising-free island of Cuba. Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer preaching that the computer will give us peace on earth "bringing people together" while Adbuster Kalle Lasn warns that advertising pollutes us mentally, that over-consumption is unsustainable and that we are running out of oil. Surplus main man is John Zerzan, controversial philosopher whose call for PROPERTY DAMAGE has inspired many to take to the streets. "That is not violence. Sitting there doing dope and watching MTV . Then you go and get a job. Just schlep along. To me that is violence," says Zerzan. "We are terrorized into being consumers." More here. / Trailer Here




Embedded: Weapons of Mass Deception (100 Mins)
There were two wars going on in Iraq - one was fought with armies of soldiers, bombs and a fearsome military force. The other was fought alongside it with cameras, satellites, armies of journalists and propaganda techniques. One war was rationalized as an effort to find and disarm WMDs - Weapons of Mass Destruction; the other was carried out by even more powerful WMDs, Weapons of Mass Deception. The TV networks in America considered their non-stop coverage their finest hour, pointing to the use of embedded journalists and new technologies that permitted viewers to see a war up close for the first time. But different countries saw different wars. Why? For those of us watching the coverage, war was more of a spectacle, an around the clock global media marathon, pitting media outlets against each other in ways that distorted truth and raised as many questions about the methods of TV news, as it did the armed intervention it was covering-and it some cases-promoting.WMD, a 100 minute non-fiction film, explores this story with the findings of a gutsy, media insider-turned-outsider, former network journalist, Danny Schechter, who is one of America's most prolific media critics. Schechter says he "self-embedded" himself in his living room to monitor media coverage, by fastidiously tracking the TV coverage on a daily basis. More information here. / Trailer Here