by Dr. John Ruhland

Part 13

Why the US is targeted by “terrorists”

poverty under neo-colonialism and capitalism

The movies on this list are well-suited for watching as a group to stimulate political discussions, and may be especially pertinent in the wake of the Seattle WTO demonstrations. Most can be found on video at the Seattle Public Library or independent video stores.

*highly recommended     **a “must see”

THE MIDDLE EAST

BLOOD MAKES THE GRASS GROW GREEN Gulf War Resisters.

THE DUPES Tewfik Saleh, 1972. Palestinians resort to help from a coyote in order to get to Kuwait where they hope to find work and money.

FEAR AND FAVOR IN THE NEWSROOM Beth Sanders, 1996. Media censorship in nukes, the Gulf War, and more.

*HAMSIN Daniel Wachsmann, (Hebrew) 1983. Depicts Jewish worker pitted against Arab (by rich, unseen enemies of both, who stir up Zionist hatred). US support encourages this strife in order to maintain control in area.

THE HORSE (Turkey) A father sacrifices all in an attempt to improve the life of his son.

THE NIGHTS OF THE JACKAL Abdulatif Abdulhamid, 1990. Syrian film depicting effect of western imperialism on strongly controlling traditional man.

*THE PEDDLER Mohsen Makhmalbaf, (Iran) 1986. Creative and artistically filmed view into life for poor just after the Shah.

*SIEGE (Israel) 1970. Israeli working people used as cannon fodder to kill Arab working people in order to promote Zionist ambitions.

THREE KINGS Questions the legitimacy of the Gulf “War.” Starring Ice Cube.

**WEDDING IN GALILEE Michel Khleifi, (Hebrew/Arabic) 1987. Young Palestinian couple gets married despite tensions with Israeli occupying forces.

*YOL (Turkey) 1982. Specific human conditions vary throughout the world, yet the struggles are actually very similar.

THE AMERICAS

*A PLACE IN THE WORLD Adolfo Aristarain, 1992. Multinational company moves into an Argentinian town, promising wealth to the poor farmers.

BAY OF PIGS The US once again opposes a new government that is much more popular and democratic than the previous one it supported.

CENTRAL STATION (Brazilian) 1998. Story of an orphan child in Rio.

THE HARDER THEY COME Perry Henzel (Jamaican) 1973. Capitalism is clearly explained/exposed in this Reggae classic with musician Jimmy Cliff.

KILL CASTRO 1980. Strange movie depicting the violence of the Miami Cubans and the treachery of the CIA.

*LAS MADRES: THE MOTHERS OF PLAZA DE MAYO (Argentina) 1977. Documentary of 14 women whose children were killed by US-backed government, and then began a movement protesting in front of the presidential palace. (see also THE OFFICIAL STORY).

MEN IN BLACK El Salvadoran death squads.

MISSING Costa-Gavras, 1982. Chile as created by US intervention, Jack Lemmon, Sissy Spacek.

**THE OFFICIAL STORY Luis Puenzo, (Argentina) 1985. The life of a prominent family sometime after a US supported coup. (see also LAS MADRES).

**THE PANAMA DECEPTION 1992. Shows pattern of US involvement since the Vietnam War, control of media, US profiting from drugs (see 1984).

ROMERO 1989. Story of the conditions that converted El Salvadoran archbishop from political conservative to radical.

SALVADOR Oliver Stone, 1985. El Salvador as created by US, James Belushi.

SUGAR CANE ALLEY Euzhan Palcy, (Martinique) 1985. Life of boy whose family lived through slavery then capitalism.

TODOS SANTOS: THE SURVIVORS Olivia Carrescia, 1989. Oppression of Guatemalans by CIA -led army.

UNDER FIRE 1983. News reporters in Nicaragua during the revolution, Gene Hackman, Nick Nolte.

AFRICA

HYENAS Djibril Mambety, (Senegal) 1992. Story of a community which succumbs to the promises of western commercialism.

L’ELLISSE Michelangelo Antonioni. Bourgeois lifestyle revealed. Gives a view into the lives of people who profit from subjugation of Africans.

*L’ETAT SAUVAGE Francis Girod, 1978. Colonial business interests prevent African nation’s attempt at independence.

SAARABA (UTOPIA) (Foreign) 1988. New generation of post-independence Africans’ indictment of corrupt older generation.

SOPHIA’S HOMECOMING (Namibia) 1997. A woman working away from home as a domestic servant returns home (one of 4 shorts in AFRICA DREAMING).

THIS MAGNIFICENT AFRICAN CAKE from the series AFRICA: A VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY WITH BASIL DAVIDSON.

*TOUKI BOUKI (JOURNEY OF THE HYENA) (Senegal) 1973. Adventure of young couple, desperate to escape shantytown.

YEELEN (BRIGHTNESS) Souleymane Ciss, (Mali) 1987. Powerful message for today’s neo-colonial African rulers.

ASIA

A RUMOR OF WAR Idealistic marines quickly learn the truth about the Vietnam war when they become cannon fodder.

**THE BURMESE HARP Kon Ichikawa, 1956. The cost of a war for colonial power and the conversion of a soldier to a pacifist is stunningly and feelingly portrayed.

DODES KA-DEN Akira Kurosawa, 1970. The lives of poverty-stricken people in Japan. Rare color film by Kurosawa.

*DON-ZOKO (THE LOWER DEPTHS) Akira Kurosowa, 1957. The lives of impoverished people.

GATE OF FLESH Seijun Suzuki, 1964. Life of the impoverished in Japan under American occupation.

GO TELL THE SPARTANS MASH-style escalation of US war against Vietnam from military advice to “real” war

GREEN EYES John Erman, 1984. American GI returns to devastation caused by US Imperialism in Vietnam, in order to find mother of his child.

HEARTS AND MINDS 1974. One of the best documentaries on the Vietnam War.

THE HO CHI MINH TRAIL 1984. In the series GREAT JOURNEYS by the BBC; gives insight into heroism of the Viet Cong.

INDOCHINE 1992. Vietnam at the end of French domination.

MOTHER (OKAASAN) 1952. The life of a working class mother raising her family after WWII.

RIKISHA-MAN Poor man helps raise son of a widowed officer.

THE 317TH PLATOON P Schoendoerffer, 1965. Follows two French officers in 1954 during 8 days of their war in Vietnam.

*TURUMBA K Tahimik, (Philippines) 1981. Traditional values of Philippine village are affected when German stores need crafts.

WHAT FAROCKI TAUGHT (German) 1998. Effects of Napalm in Vietnam.