Body of War: Film and Talk by Ellen Spiro
Body of War Film Screening at 11:00 a.m.
Meet Tomas Young, 25 years old, paralyzed from a bullet to his spine – wounded after serving in Iraq for less than a week! This film presents the face of war as a naked and honest portrayal of what it’s like inside the body, heart and soul of this extraordinary and heroic young man and a critique of the political process that sanctioned the war.
Producer Ellen Spiro 1:00 p.m.-2:15 p.m.
“Seeing Ourselves: The Power & Passion of Film”
Ellen Spiro will speak on “making” the Body of War–knowing Tomas; working with Phil Donahue; dealing with politics of war and issues of Iraq war veterans and other social and political realities. Currently Ms. Spiro teaches film at the University of Texas. An award winning Guggenheim and Rockefeller fellow and Emmy Award winner, her films have been shown at festivals and broadcast worldwide on PBS, HBO, BBC, CBC (Canada), and NHK (Japan).
War & Peace
Wednesday, MARCH 25TH – 2 FILMS on WAR AND PEACE (11:00 & 1 p.m.)
11:00 a.m. – “Why We Fight” (Film, 99 min.)
Eugene Jarecki takes a holistic approach to examining “what it is about our culture that engenders such a willingness – even an eagerness – to wage war.” So, why do we fight? Do we need war? Is war good business? This is the question raised in President Dwight Eisenhower’s 1961 Farewell Address when he warned Americans about the “military-industrial complex”.
Filmmaker Jarecki (”The Trials of Henry Kissinger”) was granted unparalleled Pentagon access with interviews and observations by a “who’s who” of military and Washington insiders including Senator John McCain, Gore Vidal, and Dan Rather. The film analyzes the forces – poiitical, economic, and ideological – that lead Americans to war. The film covers U.S. foreign policy from World War II to the Iraq War and the entanglement of corporate and political interests in the business of war.
Introduction and discussion with Professor Janice Greco.
Study guide Available: http://www.sonyclassics.com/whywefight/
1 p.m. – “Peace Is Every Step” (Film, 50 min.)
Classic film profiles Thich Nhat Hanh, a leading Vietnamese Zen teacher and author (Being Peace, The Miracle of Mindfulness, etc.).
Thich Nhat Hanh efforts to achieve an early peaceful end to the American war in Vietnam earned him a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and a forty-year exile from his homeland. The film challenges us to consider what it takes to “construct peace” – on a personal level, in the family, in the community, in a nation, and in the world. Narrated by Ben Kingsley, and filmed on location in Plum Village in France, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. and shows rare archival footage from Vietnam in the 1960s.
Movie Makers Academy Awards & Slices of Life
Wednesday, March 11th – 12:45 p.m. Eagle Room-Town & Country Campus
The REEL will recognize and showcase the work of Northwest College’s film-making program with Professor Rick Harrington and student film-makers. At this week’s program we will screen 2 short student films and Slices of Life, a student feature that deals with a mystery–
Why did Houston police officer, Jessica Rabbit, lose her mind after what appears to be a routine day of police investigation? What appened to Ms. Rabbit that fateful day?? The making of this film involved 16 classes, and was written, produced, directed, acted, and edited by more than 350 students over the course of a year, photographed in Mini DV. at the approximate cost of $245.00.
The MovieMakers Academy began in the year 2000 as a Continuing Education Program with 12 students. In the first 10 weeks the class made a feature length motion picture at a total cost of $200.00. The operating concept was: “You want to make a movie? Then, do it all: write, direct, produce, edit, distribute, and exhibit.”
MovieMakers Academy became extremely popular with high enrollments and was turned it into a Work Force Development Program that today offers an AAS Degree with an enrollment of 400 students. It is the only film program offered at a community college in Texas. Graduates now work in professional motion picture production worldwide. Hollywood, Bollywood, Canadawood, etc.