Coerced into joining the CIA’s anti-communist efforts during the Vietnam war, the Hmong people became a Secret Army. When the U.S. pulled out of Southeast Asia in 1975 and the Lao kingdom was overthrown by the communists, the Hmong became targets of retaliation and persecution.
Hundreds of thousands fled the country; others ran to remote mountainous regions of Laos. Over 30 years and two generations later, the Hmong in hiding are still mercilessly hunted, attacked, raped, tortured and killed by the military.
Since 2004, the crackdown has intensified and those who can escape seek refuge in Thailand. The traumatized refugees have not been promised protection or help. Instead, they are threatened with deportation back to Laos, the very place from which they barely escaped.
In this documentary, the refugees speak for thousands of voiceless people still trapped in the jungle, surrounded by Lao and Vietnamese soldiers — and hunted like animals. See Clip
Brad Friedman Retelling of Florida’s 2000 Election Debacle Condenses 36 Days of Aborted Democracy into 2 Hours of Taut, Heartbreaking Political Suspense
…And Yet, the Lessons Continue to be Ignored…
“Laura Dern, in our opinion, actually underplayed the role of walking caricature, FL SoS Katherine Harris, who’s seen awaking into her dream role as the ultimate GOP power broker able to hand the “victory” to Bush in Florida, while advised by the ever-present Republican lobbyist J.M. “Mac the Knife” Stipanovich (Bruce McGill), who somehow was able to obtain direct access to the inner-sanctum office of the SoS/Co-chair of Bush’s Florida campaign.
That Dern actually underplayed the role — despite having brought so much camp, the only thing missing was a tent, a sleeping bag and a flashlight — is a point made strikingly clear during the film’s closing credits as shots of the actual historical players, just portrayed in the film, flash by in dreadful reminder that what we just saw was, sadly, all too real. The actual Harris, far more camped-out and tramped-out then anyone could possibly play “credibly”, is seen, on horseback, celebrating her rich post-Election theft reward as a new U.S. Congresswoman (only to fall in disgrace just one Congressional session later), out-camping Dern hands down and breasts up”.
Nick Turse
Alternet
“Liberal Hollywood” is a favorite whipping-boy of right-wingers who suppose the town and its signature industry are ever-at-work undermining the U.S. military. In reality, the military has been deeply involved with the film industry since the Silent Era. Today, however, the ad hoc arrangements of the past have been replaced by a full-scale one-stop shop, occupying a floor of a Los Angeles office building. There, the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, and the Department of Defense itself have established entertainment liaison offices to help ensure that Hollywood makes movies the military way.
What they have to trade, especially when it comes to blockbuster films, is access to high-tech, tax-payer funded, otherwise unavailable gear. What they get in return is usually the right to alter or shape scripts to suit their needs. If you want to see the fruits of this relationship in action, all you need to do is head down to your local multiplex. Chances are that Iron Man — the latest military-entertainment masterpiece — is playing on a couple of screens.
Read more
Liz Jackson Four Corners
Olympics organisers have hit the home straight in full stride. Games venues are getting their final touches. Beijing’s stunning “bird’s nest” stadium has been unveiled to international acclaim. Hundreds of thousands of volunteers wait impatiently as the torch teasingly approaches.
With about 80 days to go, China is seizing its chance to showcase the Olympics - and its own economic marvel - to the world. Nothing can quell the excitement or spoil the nation’s finest hour… not even the horrific earthquake in China’s southwest – and certainly not a small group of activists for human rights. After all, the Games slogan “One World, One Dream” implies little room for dissent.
But when China pitched for the Olympics, it promised to promote human rights. So far, as Four Corners discovers on a journey to China, that promise remains unfulfilled. Read more
You can now watch Liz Jackson’s report “Voices of Dissent” online. Windows Media/broadband
Filming begins in Germany of a new biopic of Adolf Hitler, which will take a tongue-in-cheek look at the dictator’s early life. The film is based on the play of the same name by the late Hungarian Jewish playwright George Tabori. As filming gets underway in Germany, where it is still illegal to distribute the book, Mein Kampf’s producers say the film will be ironic rather than historically accurate.
An ambiguous animation painted on public walls. Music by Andrea Martignoni. Produced by Mercurio. Film assistant: Sibe. Made in Buenos Aires and in Baden (fantoche)
A political satire set in Turaqistan, a country occupied by an American private corporation run by a former US Vice-President Aykroyd/Cheney. In an effort to monopolize the opportunities the war-torn nation offers, the corporation’s CEO hires a troubled hit man (Cusack), to kill a Middle East oil minister.
Now, struggling with his own growing demons, the assassin must pose as the corporation’s Trade Show Producer in order to pull off this latest hit, while maintaining his cover by organizing the high-profile wedding of Yonica Babyyeah (Duff) an outrageous Middle Eastern pop star, and keeping a sexy left wing reporter (Tomei) in check. Written by fmmini
Amy Berg talks about her award-winning documentary “Deliver Us From Evil.”
About the film.
Moving from one parish to another in Northern California during the 1970s, Father Oliver O’Grady quickly won each congregation’s trust and respect while being an active pedophile that the Catholic Church hierarchy, aware of his predilection, had harbored for over 30 years, allowing him to abuse countless children. Juxtaposing an extended, deeply unsettling interview with O’Grady himself with the tragic stories of his victims, filmmaker Amy Berg bravely exposes the deep corruption of the Catholic Church and the troubled mind of the man they sheltered.
How about this for timing. According to Variety, Steven Soderbergh is expected to take a low-budget approach to the drama from screenwriters Brian Koppelman and David Levien, making it the second film in his six-project commitment to Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner’s HDNet label. The trade paper says that “The Girlfriend Experience” looks at the world of prostitution, specifically focusing on a $10,000-a-night escort, adding that “rather than go for star power, Soderbergh may set an adult film actress to play the lead role.”
Read more
If you enjoy watching short films (and I usually don’t), I ran across an exception on YouTube. While this clip is just under two minutes, I believe the full length of this short called, “We Have Decide Not To Die”, is 11 minutes. Danielí Askill, who looks as if he just a kid, is the writer/director/co-producer of the short film. The film’s meaning is vague, drawing, I guess, some kind of symbolic birth and death allusion, but it’s still very well done and worth watching. If you’re interested in the making of the film, the writer/director is interviewed here.
Over the course of his Oscar-winning career — spanning the ”Godfather” films, ”Scarface,” and now ”88 Minutes” — Pacino has given us more than his share of great soundbites…
My personal favorite:
”Out of order? I show you out of order. You don’t know what out of order is, Mr. Trask. I’d show you, but I’m too old, I’m too tired, I’m too f—in’ blind. If I were the man I was five years ago, I’d take a flamethrower to this place! Out of order? Who the hell do you think you’re talkin’ to? I’ve been around, you know? There was a time I could see. And I have seen. Boys like these, younger than these, their arms torn out, their legs ripped off. But there isn’t nothin’ like the sight of an amputated spirit. There is no prosthetic for that. You think you’re merely sending this splendid foot soldier back home to Oregon with his tail between his legs, but I say you are…executin’ his soul! And why? Because he’s not a Baird Man. Baird Men. You hurt this boy, you’re gonna be Baird Bums, the lot of ya.”— Scent of a Woman
