Wednesday, February 9 at 7:30 pm

The War on Democracy

by John Pilger and Christopher Martin

The U.S. has overthrown some 50 legitimate governments around the world since WWII.   World class journalist, John Pilger, is all too familiar with U.S. war policy and procedure abroad, both in the Middle East and Latin America.  In this film, John Pilger focuses on Latin America.  He shows the techniques (including those learnied at the School of the Americas), the brutality, and the carnage of U.S. intervention in 10 Latin American countries since the 1950s. We learn the real story behind the attempted overthrow of Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez in 2002 and how the people of the barrios of Caracas rose up to force his return to power.

Yes, the people of Latin America are rising up!  In this film we also learn about the rise of populist governments all across South America, led by indigenous leaders intent on loosening the shackles of the U.S. and intent on creating a fairer redistribution of the wealth from selling the natural resources of their countries.  John Pilger says that his film describes:  “the struggle of people to free themselves from a modern form of slavery.”  People who live in a world where they have next to nothing except ideas like democracy, freedom, liberation, and justice are reclaiming these for themselves with the power of their own courage and humanity.  Courageous people are defending the most basic human rights of all of us in a war that’s being waged against all of us, the war against democracy.

http://www.johnpilger.com/videos/the-war-on-democracy

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at Humanist Hall

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Wednesday, February 2 at 7:30 pm

South of the Border

by Oliver Stone

In this engaging film, Oliver Stone takes us on a whirl-wind tour of the political and economic changes that have and are sweeping Latin America.   Many of the more indigenous parts of the population (which are the majority and the poorest) have risen up in an inspiring display of democracy to elect leadership that look like them, value them, and who are working to create a fair and just social, political, and economic future for all of their citizenry — not just the well-off, lighter-skinned, or well-connected (to Western Europe and the United States) few. There’s a veritable revolution underway in South America, but most of the world doesn’t know it.  The U.S. still wants to believe that Latin America is its back yard, ours to despoil and abandon as we choose.

So Oliver Stone, seeking the truth about Latin America, takes us with him on a road trip across five Latin American countries to explore the social and political movements as well as our mainstream media’s misperception of South America while interviewing seven of its elected presidents.  In casual conversations with Presidents Hugo Chávez (Venezuela), Evo Morales (Bolivia), Lula da Silva (Brazil), Cristina Kirchner (Argentina), as well as her husband and ex-President Nestor Kirchner,  Fernando Lugo (Paraguay), Rafael Correa (Ecuador), and Raúl Castro (Cuba), Oliver Stone gains unprecedented access and sheds new light on the exciting transformations in the region.  Leader after leader seems to be saying the same thing.  America has not been listening. Hugo Chavez has been thoroughly demonized by the U.S., and for what reason? He believes Venezuela should be for the Venezuelans — what a concept! Indigenous peoples running their own countries! These countries, now run by their own people, want to control their own resources, strengthen regional ties, be treated as equals with the U.S., and become financially independent of the International Monetary Fund.

http://southoftheborderdoc.com/

To learn more about Film Series held

at Humanist Hall
click here

Wednesday,  February 3  at  7:30 pm

Inside the Venezuelan Revolution

A Talk and Slide Show Presentation

Presented by Laurie Tanenbaum

In 2003, knowing nothing about the country of Venezuela, Laurie Tanenbaum and Nick Wechsler saw the film, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” a documentary made by an Irish film crew.  The filmmakers were interviewing President Hugo Chavez in 2002 when doors burst open and they were witness to a military coup.  No one threw the crew out so they kept filming.  They documented the process of the coup and then the peaceful uprising of the poor who came into the streets and forced an end to the coup within 24 hours.

An amazing film that introduced thousands of people around the world to the revolution taking place in Venezuela, Laurie was so surprised and moved that she began to study what was taking place.

In January, 2008, Laurie and Nick went to Venezuela with Global Exchange to meet this peaceful revolution.  This evening they will tell their story of the amazing efforts of Venezuelans to build a new society.

www.venezuelanalysis.com

To learn more about films and film series

at Humanist Hall,

click here