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Program Descriptions
WorldLink TV Program Descriptions for
June 16, 2003 through June 23, 2003
The Active Opposition: The Nuclear Lullaby - What We Are Not Being Told
Host Peter Coyote and studio guests discuss the nuclear threat in the post-Cold War age. Who is the greatest nuclear threat in the world? Is it North Korea, Iran, Pakistan, Israel or perhaps the United States itself? After decades of cold-war, superpower parity and carefully constructed nuclear arms agreements, the Bush administration has now again begun thinking the unthinkable: the development and use of nuclear weapons as a viable means of warfare and counter-terrorism assaults. Meanwhile critics at home and around the world fear this may increase the possibility of nuclear war by sending a green-light signal to nuclear weapon-states that the use of �tactical� nuclear weapons is acceptable. THE NUCLEAR LULLABY presents information which the US government has not divulged on Nuclear Proliferation, the use of Depleted Uranium, and the storage hazards and �disposal� of nuclear waste. The program will the explore the legacy of nuclear radiation, from the �downwinders� of nuclear testing, to the American servicemen and women contaminated by depleted uranium in Iraq. Also discussed are both the domestic and international facets of the nuclear threat, including nuclear terrorism, the realities of a �Hindu� and �Islamic� nuclear bomb, the resurgence in building of plutonium pits, the contamination of the environment and the consequences of passing the unsolved burden of nuclear waste on to future generations. Guests include:
Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Petaluma)
Jonathan Schell - Fellow, The Nation Institute
Jonathan Granoff, ESQ - President, Global Security Institute
Arjun Makhijani - President of the Institute for Energy
Dan Fahey - Desert Storm Veteran
To view a streamed version suitable for broadband connections, click here; and for dialup connections click here
GET INVOLVED - HERE'S SOME LINKS TO GET YOU STARTED:
Nuclear Files, a website devoted to the history of the Nuclear Age.
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, educating citizens about global security issues, especially the continuing dangers posed by nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction.
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute conducting research on questions of conflict and cooperation of importance for international peace and security.
Center for Defense Information, a non-partisan, non-profit organization committed to independent research on the social, economic, environmental, political and military components of global security.
The Ploughshares Fund is a public grantmaking foundation that supports initiatives for stopping the spread of weapons of war, from nuclear arms to landmines.
GlobalSecurity.org is focused on innovative approaches to the emerging security challenges of the new millennium. The organization seeks to reduce reliance on nuclear weapons and the risk of their use -- both by existing nuclear weapons states and those states seeking to acquire such capabilities. GlobalSecurity.org aims to shift American conventional military forces towards new capabilities aligned with the post-Cold War security environment, and to reduce the worldwide incidence of deadly conflict.
Avoiding Armageddon, a timely series from Ted Turner Documentaries explores the explosive intersection between terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. Viewers are taken to some of the most dangerous places in the world to see dramatic human stories that convey the threats from nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, as well as the hope that the world can still choose to avoid Armageddon.
Nuclear Threat Initiative, co-chaired by Ted Turner and Sam Nunn, is working to reduce the global threats from nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons.
Algeria Daily
Three weeks in the lives of Algerian independent journalists. This documentary provides a refreshing and compelling vision of Algerian society, in sharp contrast to the one usually presented in the media. . We get a very personal and visceral perspective of Algerian life including the arrival of Louisa, the photojournalist main character, at a massacre scene to a simple vignette at an Algerian school. We begin to understand that she pays a tremendous personal price for her career � a very different perspective of the journalist�s role than the popular negative view of the press in recent years. Directed and produced by Patrice Barrat. For more information, click here
To purchase this program, contact:
ARTICLE Z
20, boulevard Poissonni�re
75009, Paris-France
Tel : (33) 1 55 33 52 60
Fax : (33) 1 55 33 52 62
e-mail : [email protected]
Arranged Marriages
In our society where so many marriages fail and so many young people find it challenging to find a suitable mate, a glimpse into another world is both fascinating and ironic. In India most marriages are arranged. Love isn't always a consideration. It is neither a quest nor a prerequisite for happiness. You must fulfill your destiny. Marrying for love remains the exception. The arranged marriage serves the best interests of the family, preserves values from generation to generation. But how can love and life be a family matter and not an individual one? In this documentary the director meets with her Indian friends and tries to better understand what love can be like when it's not a choice. To inquire about purchasing this film, click here.
Black Kites
Dream-like and spectral, Black Kites is based on the 1992 journals and drawings of Sarajevan visual artist Alma Hajric, who, with friends from an arts collective, was forced into a basement shelter in order to survive the lengthy siege of Sarajevo. Co-starring and produced by Steve Buscemi, the film explores the artist's interior landscape--her hopes, fears and dreams--and interweaves them beautifully with the brutal truths of her daily existence.
For more information, and to purchase this film, click here.
Blue And Black: Vis � Vis
Through a series of digital links, two black policemen, Sergeant Hendriek Mohale of the South African Police Service in Soweto and Sergeant David Van of the 23rd Police District in Philadelphia, explore how they are each coping with crime, the pressures of police work, and a legacy of racism on the job and in their lives. As they focus on race relations, they share stories of difficult experiences and delve into issues that affect them - testimonies before South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, community disputes between blacks & whites in and around Philadelphia, and attitudes toward interracial marriage in their respective communities. For more information on this film and other Vis � Vis programs, please visit the Vis � Vis site.
Bush Mechanics 4: The Rainmakers
This offbeat four-part series follows the exploits of the Bush Mechanics as they travel through the rugged central region of Australia. In each episode, the Bush Mechanics, from the remote Aboriginal Warlpiri community of Yuendumu, are presented with a new set of challenges - catching a car thief, getting a nephew out of jail, racing to an outback rock concert and traveling thousands of miles to gather pearl shells for a rainmaking ceremony. As they traverse the desert in their dilapidated vehicles, they solve multiple car problems with wacky and inventive bush repair techniques. For more on Bush Mechanics, click here.
BUSH MECHANICS 4: THE RAINMAKERS
With the country in the grip of severe drought, the Bush Mechanics are summoned by the rainmaker Jungala to go to Broome in search of rainmaking pearl shells. In the old days, Jungala would have traded bush tobacco for the valuable shells, but now he trades today's commodity - a motorcar he painted with the Rain Dreaming. As Jungala sings them on a safe journey, the Bush Mechanics are beset with dust storms, fires and unfamiliar landscapes as they travel to saltwater country to trade an old Ford V8 for the magical pearl shells. To purchase this film, click here.
Cinema Soleil
Two young men open a makeshift movie theater in Cite Soleil, the largest shanytown in Haiti to earn a living for themselves and their families. Every day the two boys have to overcome numerous obstacles to ensure the projections take place. In spite of their poverty, the spectators come in great numbers. Although the theater cannot offer them any real escape from the oppression of 40 years of dictatorship, it does provide a window on the outside world.
To purchase the film, please contact the following distributor:
Margarita Seguy
F for Film
[email protected]
Dark Cloud: Our Strange Love Affair With the Bomb
Nukes as portable infantry weapons. Nukes for digging tunnels. Nuclear decontamination with a whisk broom. Secret government films of the 1940's, '50s and '60s form the backdrop for this darkly entertaining exploration of America's fascination with the Bomb. At times humorous, strange and disturbing, these films reveal how the culture of nuclear weapons shaped American society during the Cold War, and how the advocates of nuclear culture sought to make atomic weapons a part of everyday life.
For more information, and to purchase this film, click here.
Coca Mama
Is the "war on drugs" effective? Or is it a colossal waste of money and manpower? Filmed over a year in four countries, this powerful documentary brings us coca-growing peasants, anti-narcotic patrols, and American lawmakers. The filmmakers gained unique access to the Colombian rebels who stand accused of protecting the drug trade. Millions of U.S. tax dollars are being spent to eradicate drug production in South America, but there is little evidence that this money will diminish supply. Coca Mama shows the disastrous effects of the policy on the coca farmers in Bolivia and Colombia, who are paid by the drug cartels to grow the coca and then attacked by drug patrols using fumigation planes. They spray the coca farms with poison, inadvertently killing all the other crops, fish, plants � and sickening the children. In America, there is no evidence that the "war" has diminished the supply of drugs here. Increasingly, young Americans are becoming addicted to drugs, mostly to cocaine. Because the U.S. government refuses to give sufficient funds for therapy programs for addicts desiring treatment, our prisons are filled with young dealers and addicts. A staggering bureaucratic labyrinth in Washington � fifty law enforcement agencies exist to control drug traffic without success. Kevin B. Zeese of Common Sense for Drug Policy says "Law enforcement is actually counterproductive� it creates new drugs, new drug markets, new drug trafficking routes and more violence � they�ve made the problem worse." This film is available for sale or rental to universities, schools, museums, businesses and community groups from The Filmmakers Library.
Code Name Artichoke
An expos� of the CIA's secret experiments on humans in the 1950s. Through the use of drugs, hypnosis and torture, suspected Soviet agents were subjected to a rigorous brainwashing to induce their confessions. The issue is explored through the story of U.S. scientist Dr. Frank Olson, who was involved in these experiments. Tormented by his conscience, Olson wanted to quit the program � and died shortly thereafter under mysterious circumstances.
Forty years later, Eric Olson had his father's body exhumed to prove that he had been murdered, most likely to prevent Dr. Olson � one of the most important bearers of secrets in the U.S. � from revealing the truth. Working closely with Olson's survivors, authors Egmont R. Koch and Michael Wech shed light on these incredible events. For the first time ever, "Code Name Artichoke" shows exclusive photos and visual documents from Frank Olson's private archives and gives the scientist's former companions and colleagues a forum to air their views. For a transcript of the film, click here. WorldLink TV Spotlight is hosted by Mark Hertsgaard.
Official CIA statement about this case from Sept 20, 1994:
�We regret the tragic death of Frank Olson and sympathize with his family. If the private investigation being conducted at the behest of the Olson family produces new information on the case, it should be brought to the attention of the appropriate authorities. We cooperated with the investigations of this case by the Congress and the Executive Branch in the 1970s, and we certainly will cooperate if the case is re-opened.�
RELATED SITES:
Olson Family Website
The Sunshine Project
In The Company of Fear
Set in Colombia, this film shows how the tactic of "protective accompaniment" is used by international volunteers to shield human rights activists from assault by government or paramilitary forces. With just over a decade of implementation, protective accompaniment has proven itself to be an effective non-violent tactic for the prevention of human rights abuses around the world. "In the Company of Fear" is an experimental film capturing the courage of those working towards a new paradigm in human rights protection. It offers hope that as civilians we have the power to effectively shape world history. For more information, click here.
Available from Film Transit International
402 Notre-Dame Street East
Suite 100
Montr�al, Quebec
H2Y 1C8
Phone: (514) 844-3358
Fax: (514) 844-7298
[email protected]
Convoy to Moldova
A fast-moving, breathless and heartbreaking film that leads us straight to hell and back. In 1999, in response to a call for help from Moldova, a Northern Irish non-governmental organization specializing in humanitarian action sends a convoy to the former Soviet republic wedged between Romania and the Ukraine. An orphanage housing over 200 abandoned children is in a desperate state. Food and medicines are scarce, and there is no heating, health care or education. The children live like animals and those with physical and mental disabilities are left to look after themselves. The volunteers accompanying the convoy are ordinary people with little or no experience in this kind of humanitarian work, and their efforts to distribute food and medicine are initially impeded by local corruption and bureaucratic incompetence. After a year of struggles and several trips back to the orphanage, persistence starts to pay off and the children's rediscovered smiles are the best reward. For more information, click here. Produced by Julia Jakobek for the BBC. For more information on the ITVS Documentary Series, click here
Presented by ITVS
Dark Circle
A sobering look at the full scope and human impact of the Atomic Age, from the dropping of the first nuclear bombs on Japan to the present day perils of the hydrogen bomb factories and nuclear power. This updated version of the Emmy Award-winning film weaves dramatic personal stories of nuclear victims with previously classified footage of the secret world where nuclear bombs are tested and built. The link between nuclear power and nuclear proliferation is also explored. Even with the end of the Cold War, DARK CIRCLE is as relevant as ever: nuclear weapons are still with us, nuclear power is re-emerging, and the capability to build atomic bombs is spreading to other countries. To purchase this film, click here.
For a streamed preview of this film, click here.
Arab Diaries 4: Work and Money
This episode explores the hopes and aspirations of young Arab men and women as embodied in the dreams and realities of flying. Captain Hatem's childhood dream was realized when he became a pilot for Iraqi Airlines. However, his career came to an abrupt end when the airline was grounded after the Gulf War. To support himself he now runs a small recycling workshop. We go with Captain Hatem on his monthly pilgrimage to the deserted "Saddam" International Airport, and follow on his daily rounds collecting old plastics. In Gaza, Miral is an illegal resident in her own country. Without papers she can't travel between the West Bank and Gaza strip. Her only way out of Gaza is by working as an airline stewardess on short hauls around the Middle East.Like so many Syrian young people, Ammar (pictured) believes that he has no future in his country. We follow him through his final weeks in Damascus as he says goodbye to friends and family to take a job in Dubai working for Gulf Air. For more click here. To purchase Arab Diaries, please visit the First Run/Icarus Films site.
A Dog's Life
A portrait of Vladimir, who finds refuge in a shelter built from scraps in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Betrayed by his friends and fianc�, he finds peace only among the 700 stray dogs he cares for. He knows their names, temperament, habits and fears and, together, they live from one day to the next in a story woven of tenderness and discipline.
Available from Doc & Co.
E-mail [email protected]
First Peoples' TV: Drumbeat for Mother Earth
Many scientists and tribal people consider persistent toxic chemicals to be the greatest threat to the long-term survival of Indigenous Peoples. "Drumbeat for Mother Earth" explores how these chemicals contaminate the traditional food web, violate treaty rights, travel long distances, and are passed from one generation to the next during pregnancy, causing cancer, learning disabilities, and other serious health problems. For more information on this film, and to purchase it, click here. "Drumbeat for Mother Earth" is part of the "First Peoples' TV"series made possible by DreamCatchers, a non-profit organization working to bring Native films to a wider audience.
DW in Focus: SARS - A Breath of Death
A report on the incipient global epidemic with a focus on the economic and social effects of the disease in China, where many shops have closed, foreigners are fleeing and people are afraid to leave their homes. For the latest information on SARS, please visit the following sites:
World Health Organization
Centers for Disease Control
Earth Report: The High Tech Harvest
Genetically-modified (GM) crops have become a major health concern in the West, especially in Western Europe. Popularly labeled �Frankenstein foods,� for a great many West Europeans they epitomize everything that is wrong with a world dominated by a global economy and powerful multinationals. But in Africa, the world's poorest continent, GM foods are viewed very differently.
Faced with rising poverty, an increasing population and arid soil conditions, Africans are interested in the possibilities that GM crops have to offer. With genetically engineered characteristics such as salt or drought tolerance, disease resistance, higher yields or increased nutrition, many Africans believe the benefits of GM crops outweigh the risks. Earth Report investigates whether biotechnology offers hope for a better harvest for Africa. For more information and to inquire about purchasing the film, please visit the Earth Report site.
Earth Report: Tiger, Taiga
Over 10,000 kilometers east of Moscow, beyond Siberia, lies the Taiga of Russia's Far East. Sandwiched between the warm Sea of Japan and the frozen north, the Taiga is an ecological melting pot where Arctic wildlife meets Asian. Valuable old growth trees such as Manchurian Oak and Korean Pine are the key to this ecosystem, which is home to hundreds of rare species, including the last Siberian, or Amur, tigers. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 ushered in a period of political and economic disarray that has taken a severe toll on the natural resources of Russia's Far East. The enforcement of wildlife protection was largely abandoned, and the cash-strapped Russian government raised money by selling off large tracts of Siberian forest to logging companies. In addition, the lack of employment opportunities has led to an increase in illegal logging and poaching activities. As the accessible timber is becoming depleted, pressure is increasing to open up the last areas of untouched Taiga.
For more information on this program, and to inquire about purchasing the film, please visit the Earth Report site.
European Journal
Highlights of the week's European news, from Deutsche Welle.
Face to Face: Young Arabs & Americans
A groundbreaking television documentary featuring a live digital satellite link between four students at San Francisco�s Lowell High School and four Arab high school students in Amman, Jordan. This original WorldLink production is the first youth dialogue of its kind to hit American TV screens. Stephen Olsson, WorldLink�s director of original programming, calls the program �a unique meeting of cultures, hearts and minds - four young Americans, two girls and two boys, meet electronically with their counterparts from an Arab culture perceived as hostile to ours. The conversation ranges from political disagreements to cultural stereotypes and misperceptions, interracial dating, drugs, the Intifada, teen suicide bombers, Martin Luther King, the bias of the media, and U.S. support for Israel. Although they agree on much, they remain worlds apart on issues like suicide bombings.� The players in this drama are articulate, honest and candid about the political and social factors contributing to the tragic Middle East stalemate.
Half the Sky: The Women of the Jiang Family
Built around a series of interviews, images of daily life, special family occasions and archive film, ?Half the Sky? explores the changes within the lives of four generations of women in the Jiang family over the last 50 years in China. From the grandmother who was bought by the Jiang family at age 14 to be grandfather's second wife, to her 24-year-old great-granddaughter who works as a sales assistant at the Pierre Cardin boutique in Beijing, the film focuses on the women's individual experiences of marriage, children, work, love, and self-esteem. No women in any country have seen their lives change so radically as Chinese women. "Women are 'half the sky'," declared Mao Zedong, "and they are absolutely the equal of men." Equal they may have been, but by regimentation, to the point of the virtual abolition of womanhood and femininity. Today economic reforms have given young women a degree of independence unknown to any previous generation. For the first time they are conscious and outspoken about their role and position in society, and they make their demands known. Available from Bullfrog Films.
Honor Bound
During the Second World War, while America was fighting the Japanese, a unit of second generation Japanese-Americans was fighting bravely on the European front. These sons of Japanese immigrants proved their courage and loyalty on the fiercest battlefields, as they fought to overcome the stigma of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. The 100/442nd Regiment suffered the highest rates casualty and became the most decorated unit in American history. Meanwhile back at home, their families were in desolate internment camps, having been forced to leave their homes, farms and businesses. This film, made by the daughter of one of the soldiers, tells their story through remembrances and archival footage. With pride the veterans recall how they rescued the" Lost Battalion" of 211 Texans about to be annihilated by the enemy. Eight-hundred soldiers were wounded or killed in this operation which the U.S. Army has called one of the top ten battles of all time. The veterans also remember the friendly rivalry between the exuberant Hawaiian-Japanese, who had never faced discrimination, and the reserved American Nisei who had the double burden of fighting prejudice at home as well as the enemy abroad. Produced and directed by Wendy Hanamura.
RELATED SITES:
Japanese American National Museum
A More Perfect Union: Japanese Americans and the Constitution at the Smithsonian National Museum
FACE TO FACE, which connects the experiences of Japanese Americans imprisoned during WWII with those of Arab Americans and Muslim Americans today.
To purchase this film, contact TRANSIT MEDIA:
[email protected]
1-800-343-5540
Journal
International news and business report from Deutsche Welle, live from Berlin.
Dan Cruickshank and the Lost Treasure of Kabul
Architectural historian Dan Cruickshank journeys to Afghanistan on an expedition into the heart of its war torn cities and mountainous regions in search of what remains of its once rich cultural heritage. Over the last 20 years, Afghanistan has been blown apart by successive civil wars and the tyrannical regime of the Taliban. This was a country with a unique cultural identity, whose ancient trade road, the Silk Route, had brought a great fusion of influences from the Han dynasty in the East, the Caesar dynasty in the West and from India in the South. Now Afghanistan lies in ruins and archaeological sites and architectural ruins have been plundered by soldiers and profiteers. For this Omnibus Special, Dan Cruickshank attempts to discover what cultural treasures remain. He travels to Bamiyan to see first hand the colossal Buddhas that were destroyed by the Taliban in March 2001. He meets the Hazara people of Bamiyan, who speak openly about life under the Taliban. In Kabul, Dan visits the town�s museum which has lost approximately 70% of its collection. All artifacts containing imagery thought contradictory to the Taliban version of Islam were destroyed. What little remains is due to the heroics of museum staff and members of the Afghan "Cultural Resistance" who risked their lives to save art work. Dan Cruickshank is one of the Britain�s leading architectural and historic building experts.
For more information about this program, click here.
For more information about Don Cruickshank�s Afghanistan project, click here.
1 Giant Leap
Excerpts from a 12-chapter musical documentary that captures a unique fusion of sound, image and the spoken word from some of the world's most influential artists and musicians. Jamie Catto, film maker and founding member of Faithless and Artist/Producer Duncan Bridgeman, joined forces to create the project, 1GiantLeap. They embarked upon a global journey that included Senegal, Ghana, South Africa, Uganda, India, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, United Stated and United Kingdom, equipped solely with a digital audio camera and a vision. This vision: to capture and share with others, the unique fusion of sound, image and spoken word from some of the world's most influential artists and musicians such as Neneh Cherry, Michael Stipe, Dennis Hopper, Asha Bhosle, Kurt Vonnegut and Baaba Maal. The result of this journey? Twelve breathtaking songs and some extraordinary footage. These are excerpts from this amazing film. For more information, visit the 1 Giant Leap site.
The complete film is available from Palm Pictures.
Life #8 - The Right to Choose
Nibret is eleven and, although the legal age for marriage is fifteen, they're marrying her to a man she's never met. Forced marriage isn't unusual in northern Ethiopia™it helps cement ties between families and establishes land rights. LIFE reports on the dissonant voices arguing for change in local cultures ™ and the calls for reproductive health care and primary education for women. For more information on this episode, please visit the LIFE site.
Afghan Massacre
In November, 2001, during the U.S. campaign in Afghanistan, thousands of Taliban prisoners were killed while traveling in sealed containers on their way from Kunduz to a prison at Sheberghan. The bodies of the dead and some who survived were then buried in a mass grave at nearby Dasht-i-Leile. U.S. special forces were closely involved and in charge at the time. Were they involved in a war crime? The Pentagon denies the events. The eyewitnesses tell what happened. WorldLink TV Spotlight is hosted by Mark Hertsgaard.
For more information and to purchase the film, please contact ACFTV.
RELATED SITES:
ACFTV
San Jose Mercury News article
Global Issues site
Global Policy site
International Committee of the Red Cross
Physicians for Human Rights
Mosaic: World News From The Middle East
Mosaic features selections from daily TV news programs produced by national broadcasters throughout the Middle East. The news reports are presented unedited and translated, when necessary, into English.
Mosaic includes television news broadcasts from selected national and regional entities. Some of the broadcasters are state controlled and others are private networks, often affiliated with political factions. These news reports are regularly watched by 280 million people in 22 countries all over the Middle East.
For more on the countries and broadcasters represented in our Mosaic series, please click here.
To view a recent episode in streaming format and for episode summaries, click here.
Mosaic Week in Review
A selection of the previous week's top stories from Mosaic. Mosaic features selections from daily TV news programs produced by national broadcasters throughout the Middle East. The news reports are presented unedited and translated, when necessary, into English.
Mosaic includes television news broadcasts from selected national and regional entities. Some of the broadcasters are state controlled and others are private networks, often affiliated with political factions. These news reports are regularly watched by 280 million people in 22 countries all over the Middle East.
For more on the countries and broadcasters represented in our Mosaic series, please click here.
To view a recent episode in streaming format, click here. For episode summaries, click here.
Nagasaki Journey
A powerful, yet hopeful look at the immediate and continuing aftermath of the atomic bomb dropped August 9, 1945, on Nagasaki, Japan. The film tells the moving personal stories of two Japanese survivors and a U.S. Marine, who was one of the first American troops to occupy the city after the war ended. All three dramatically reveal how the impact of this single bomb forever transformed their lives and their thinking. Despite the enormous wartime tragedy, their common humanity transcended previous hatreds, providing hope the Nagasaki bomb would be the last atomic weapon ever dropped in warfare. NAGASAKI JOURNEY features recently discovered film footage shot by Marines during their occupation, as well as striking photos taken the day after the blast by Japanese Army photographer Yosuke Yamahata.
To purchase this film, click here.
For more information about the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, click here.
The Nuclear Iceberg
The possibility that terrorists could acquire a nuclear weapon to build a crude nuclear bomb and attack the United States is the most urgent threat to American lives and liberties today. While this would be a major task for any terrorist group, a device such as this would be no more complicated than the first nuclear bomb used on Hiroshima � only far smaller. Our first and only homeland defense against this threat is to secure all of the nuclear bomb grade materials in Russia. The existing �Nunn Lugar Program� would have completed this task by the year 2018. Even after 9/11, the Bush administration and the Russians have only narrowed this time frame until the year 2008. �The Nuclear Iceberg� reveals this largely neglected and potentially catastrophic issue. Written and directed by Tom Selinski. To inquire about purchasing this film, please contact Tom Selinski at selinskitom@qwest, or call (218) 727-4335.
For more information on the dangers of nuclear terrorism, click here.
One Night the Moon (Australia, 2001)
Set in 1930s outback Australia and based on a true story, �One Night the Moon� is a moving dramatic musical. Captivated by the moon one night, Emily, a six year old girl, climbs out of her bedroom window and wanders into the bush. Her distraught parents call in the police but, against all advice, her father refuses to let Albert, the black tracker - or any other �blackfella� - onto his land. After exhausting and fruitless searches, Emily's mother takes matters into her own hands and asks Albert for help. Aboriginal filmmaker Rachel Perkins (whose first feature, �Radiance� was voted best film at the Sydney and Melbourne Film Festivals) draws together award winning cinematography of the starkly beautiful landscape, and powerful, emotional music composed in part by the acclaimed singer/songwriter Paul Kelly who also stars as the father. Perkins' understated treatment of the underlying racial issues only serves to emphasize their current relevance. Winner of the Gold Awgie Award 2001 (Australian Writers Guild's top honor) and screened at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival.
Interview with Director Rachel Perkins.
For a review of the film, click here.
To purchase this film, please contact the following distributor:
MusicArtsDance Films
94 Cole St.
Victoria, Australia 3186
Tel: 03 9596 9999
Fax: 03 9596 9988
India and Pakistan: Under the Nuclear Shadow
In May 1998, over a billion people were thrust into the nuclear shadow as India and Pakistan blasted their way onto the world stage as nuclear weapons states. This 2001 independent documentary made in Pakistan takes a critical look at what the bomb has done for the two countries since then. Senior Indian and Pakistani military leaders assess the consequences of nuclear testing in South Asia and the possibility of war. Heads of Islamic religious organizations and militant groups engaged in jihad explain the hopes they have for the bomb and why they believe it strengthens Pakistan and Islam. Leading peace activists, academics and journalists make the case that nuclear South Asia is spiraling into instability, an arms race, deepening poverty, and an ever-greater threat of nuclear war, both deliberate and accidental. Through interviews, graphics, and archive footage, the film spells out in stark and urgent terms the nuclear danger that now imperils the people of Pakistan and India and the desperate need for peace. To help in the effort against the proliferation of nuclear weapons, or to purchase this film, please contact the Coalition for Peace Action at 609-924-5022.
Paul Jacobs and the Nuclear Gang
A poignant and potent documentary that exposes the government's suppression of the health hazards of low-level radiation. Paul Jacobs, a co-founder of Mother Jones magazine, was himself a victim of lung cancer which his doctors believe he contracted while he was investigating nuclear policies in 1957. He died before this film was finished in 1979. The film explores the effects of radiation exposure on American citizens in Utah and Arizona living downwind from the Nevada nuclear tests of the Fifties; servicemen exposed to nuclear blasts in Nevada and the Pacific; and the farmers living around the Rocky Flats, Colorado plant which produced plutonium triggers. By the time this film was released, a lot of them had died from the radiation. Jacobs also interviews government scientists, some of whom were fired when their research indicated the dangers of low-level radiation. This program won an Emmy and the George Polk Award for investigative journalism 1978. Produced by Jack Willis and Saul Landau.
For a streamed preview of this film, click here.
Peace in Sight
This film follows the daily lives of five eye patients from Morocco, Tunisia, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Authority, whose doctors participate in the Middle East Ophthalmology Network of the Peres Center for Peace. The film offers an insight into this unique cooperation between doctors of the Middle East, its benefits to their patients and to the advancement of their medical knowledge. The film is distinguished by the cooperation of film crews from Morocco, Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and is a co-production of the Peres Center and Al-Quds Educational TV, the broadcasting station of Al-Quds University.
Ready, Steady, Trade
Celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson is challenged to create a world-class meal from ingredients that reporter have been bought from some of the world's poorest farmers - from voodoo villages in Haiti to tomato fields in Ghana. The film investigates whether we harm the world's poor more through unfair trade than we help them through aid. WorldLink TV Spotlight is hosted by Mark Hertsgaard.
For more information and to inquire about purchasing the film, click here
RELATED SITES:
International Forum on Globalization
Speech on hunger by Brazilian President Lula da Silva
Food First
The Silences of the Palace
One of the outstanding films to have emerged from North Africa in recent years, The Silences of the Palace is a spellbinding portrait of life behind the closed doors of the royal palace in the final days of Bey rule in 1950s Tunisia. The news that Prince Sid' Ali has died forces 25 year old Alia to confront her past. During the funeral, she visits the palace grounds where she spent her childhood. In the deserted corridors, she recalls her relationship with her mother, a forbidden friendship and her own act of revolutionary transgression. With outstanding performances and haunting music, this film reveals the lonely life of women, half mistresses half wives, locked up for life in the Arab palace. 1994 winner of the Camera d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and the International Critics' Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. Directed by Moufida Tlatli. In Arabic and French with English subtitles.
To purchase this film, click here.
I'll Sing for You
In the sixties, the people of Mali awoke each morning to the sound of Boubacar "KarKar" Traor�'s voice on the radio, singing of independence. Everyone in Mali remembers having danced to his hits. But since his music was only played on the radio, he didn't earn enough money to live on and gave up music to work as a tailor and a salesman to feed his family. For two decades he remained relatively unknown and many Malians assumed he was dead. Following the death of his beloved wife, Pierette, KarKar left Mali for France where he worked in construction, and sang on weekends in the Parisian immigrant shelters that were his home. Then, a British music producer discovered one of KarKar's old recordings, searched him out and helped to re-launch his career. I'll Sing For You includes beautiful black and white photographs and archival film combined with lyrical footage of present day Mali and KarKar's current music: a repertoire of bluesy ballads, mixing tribal, American and Islamic influences.
For more information about Traor� and the film, click here.
To inquire about purchasing this film, please contact the French producer below:
Les Productions Faire Bleu
Jacques Sarasin
011-331-4807-0504 tel
011-331-4807-0562 fax
[email protected]
Superpower TV
Superpower TV showcases international perspectives and analysis on world events and the role of the United States. Host Lisa Simeone, former anchor of NPR's Weekend All Things Considered; and co-host Mark Thompson, TIME Magazine correspondent, discuss current events with a regular rotation of international journalists, as well as other guests from the foreign military and diplomatic communities in Washington. Each episode of SUPERPOWER TV also includes a live video link to the studios of washingtonpost.com, featuring commentary from senior editor and World Opinion Roundup columnist Jefferson Morley. SUPERPOWER TV is a production of Azimuth Media, an independent media production company specializing in international security issues.
For this week�s topic and guests, visit the SUPERPOWER TV site.
Viewpoint With James Zogby
A live call-in discussion program about Middle East and world issues hosted by Dr. James Zogby from Washington D.C. and broadcast throughout the Middle East by Abu Dhabi Television. U.S. viewers may call 1-800-528-2090 with their questions or comments during the program. Dr. Zogby, founder and president of the Arab American Institute, has also written a weekly column on U.S. politics for the major newspapers of the Arab world. The column, "Washington Watch" currently is published in 14 Arab countries.
Nusrat: A Voice from Heaven
The ecstatic devotional Sufi music from Pakistan is called Qawwali. One of its most famous and inspiring artists was the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. His remarkable invention and emotion reached across cultural divides and made him one of the most celebrated musicians of his time. He recorded many CDs, toured tirelessly, and worked with western artists like Peter Gabriel and Eddie Veder. "A Voice from Heaven" is more than a tribute to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. An exploration into the Sufi soul, it is also a travelogue of sorts, that captures through vivid photography and live performance the feeling, flavor and fervor of Qawwali music.
For more information, click here.
The War Game
In the mid-60's, the BBC funded a documentary on how World War III would affect Britain. But the film director Peter Watkins gave them was never aired, and the BBC released a statement saying it was "too horrifying" for television. Despite this, it won an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature, and hit worldwide theatrical release in the coming years. Even today, it has a shocking gravity that is undiminished by time. Using County Kent as the backdrop, a highly effective newsreel style takes the viewer on the Cold War prelude, the attack itself (striking military targets many miles away), and the desperate anarchy that ensues. Subtlety isn't Watkins's suit (perhaps the BBC objected to the film's blunt antiestablishment politics as much as anything), but by breaking taboos such as showing graphic carnage and plausibly depicting the brutal postnuclear martial law, �The War Game� is a monumental predecessor to �The Day After� and �Testament.� The film is available from the Internet Movie Database.
For a streamed preview of this film, click here.
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