Film festival panel considers industry ethics

By Ursula Gullow

(AGR)— “There are still more white people in this country, and they are who the film industry goes after.” This was the terse response of Spike Lee’s executive producer, Sam Kitt, to a question regarding racism in the US film industry at a panel discussion last Saturday about ethics and politics within film —part of the Asheville Film Festival’s educational offerings. The panel was comprised of six industry professionals and aimed to promote dialogue about critical issues such as stereotyping, violence, and personal responsibility within movies and documentaries. According to the Asheville Film Festival’s guide, the panel hoped to be “one of the liveliest discussions of the festival.” While the audience was enthusiastic enough, the panelists’ fell short of the intended goal.

The discussion opened with Debra Roberts promoting the work of Little Pearls —a nonprofit that “creates tiny films for television and other media that open minds…to remind us of who we are and what truly matters in the universe.” Mostly these tiny films, or “pearls”, are feel-good public service announcements that lack hearty political commentary, and focus on inspirational, personalized messages. “The impact we hope to have on mass media,” says Roberts, “is that media as a whole becomes more positive.” But she didn’t clarify what “positive” means. The most promising of the “pearls” produced is “Farmer to Farmer”, a spot which shows farmers of North Carolina expressing empathy for the farmers of the UK during the 2001 foot and mouth epidemic. While it is uplifting to see such a display of solidarity, maybe now another pearl could be produced about why the epidemic happened, and how to ensure that it doesn’t keep happening.

The discussion of ethics quickly became a discussion of economics. Everyone on the panel agreed that money is the driving force behind what movies get produced and sold to mass audiences. “Selling tickets is what judges the success of a movie,” an emphatic Kitt proclaimed. But what is particularly disturbing was the unwillingness of any of the panelists to challenge and rebel against that notion. It seems to be the expected norm, and worse still, an excuse for the homogeneity that permeates movies today. On the topic of cultural imperialism — the near-monopolistic distribution of Hollywood movies to people of neo-imperialized lands, Kitt exclaimed, “No one is forcing people to go to these movies — they are going out of their own free will!” Only one other panelist — filmmaker/critic Mary Dalton — refuted Kitt’s comment by observing that an entire marketing strategy exists behind the Americanization of foreign countries.

Dalton had another good point: “Most movies are not good or bad; they are complex cultural documents with many layers.” Dalton observed that many people do not have a language for articulating their emotional response to a film, suggesting that such a language be nurtured, rather than a censorship of media. With a deeper understanding of these “cultural documents” the demand for socially rich movies will increase, she implied.

But is it really “demand” that is responsible for bad cinema? When a young man so emotively posed the question, “who is responsible for the racist posturing of black people in movies?” it was surprising that Sam Kitt — executive producer for the most prominent black director in film today — shot out his comment about white people dominating the market. This dangerously implies that most white people demand racist cinema, and if only there were more people of color in this country, racism would simply disappear. At this point in the panel discussion, mention of systemic racism, sexism, and classism within the film industry — or even a reflection on the House of Unamerican Activities Committee — would have been appropriate. (For a comprehensive look at these issues, read Michael Parenti’s Make Believe Media or Tom Englehardt’s End of Victory Culture.)

While the panel failed to rebuke the free-market that guides the industry they work within, to its credit — and the credit of the people who organized it — a forum was provided for people to share ideas and experiences relating to the pertinent topic of ethics within the movie industry. Hopefully, aspiring filmmakers in the audience will feel inspired to resist the bottom-line, profit prerogatives of formulaic Hollywood cinema, and produce their own films that are rich in social meaning and creative experimentation. The panel itself, and the film festival that embodied it, are evidence enough of a demand for such independent filmmaking within our community.

Musicians to sing the links between trade, US’ big media

By Katherine Stapp

(IPS) — Disgusted that “the media is no longer reporting the stories that really matter,” British folk-rocker Billy Bragg is taking his message directly to the people with a ‘Tell Us The Truth’ US tour that brims with outrage over corporate swashbucklers and talking head tele-zombies.

“You could argue that the goal of this tour is to discover why a majority of the American people believe that Saddam Hussein was in some way responsible for 9/11,” Bragg told IPS.

“Since that awful day in 2001, the facts about who perpetrated such an atrocity, and why, have been obscured by propaganda and conspiracy theory alike. The Bush administration was able to sell the invasion of Iraq to the people because the mainstream media failed to inform the American public of the facts,” he said.

When the first show kicks off on Nov. 7, Bragg will be joined by R&B legend Lester Chambers, country-blues guitarist Steve Earle and Audioslave’s Tom Morello, who is performing under the moniker ‘The Nightwatchman’.

Bragg said he was approached by the organizers of an upcoming US conference on media reform and asked to perform at the event in the state of Wisconsin. Around the same time, Jobs With Justice, a union-led activist movement the singer has worked with in the past, asked if he would be able to attend the ministerial meeting of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) in Miami in late November.

The FTAA gathering is expected to draw tens of thousands of labor, environment, and human rights activists from North and South America who object to the secretive nature of the negotiations and say the neo-liberal economic model underpinning the FTAA will inevitably worsen poverty and inequality.

“It seemed to me that it might be worth putting together a series of gigs that traveled between these two events and helped to illustrate that media monopoly and globalization are related,” Bragg said.

A coalition of media reform and free trade groups will be attending the 13 concert dates, passing out literature, registering young voters, and building support in the run-up to the FTAA meeting in Miami.

“Our message is that NAFTA [the North American Free Trade Agreement, a scaled-down predecessor of the FTAA] has been a disaster for all three countries involved,” said Dan Beeton of Citizen’s Trade Campaign, which is affiliated with Bragg’s tour.

“We absolutely oppose extending these failed policies throughout the region.”

Created in 1992, NAFTA includes the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Josh Silver, the managing director of Free Press, warned that the FTAA could also usurp laws limiting media ownership. Multinational corporations could then seek cash compensation under the idea that these limits are “unduly burdensome to competition.”

“This is all about democracy,” said Silver, whose group put together the Wisconsin conference. “Major multinational corporations have consolidated their control over the US media. Under this system, we are finding staggering levels of hyper-commercialism, dumbed-down journalism, and political campaigns that have turned into horse races.”

“If we can make media consolidation a bona fide issue, a real campaign issue that is on the laundry list of what candidates have to answer to, we can win,” he said.

“Another aspect that is not often discussed is the role of advertising and how it affects journalism,” Silver added. “When TV stations portray controversial news fare, such as graphic depictions of war, that’s a turnoff to advertisers. They want to attract advertisers, not repel them. It’s not a conspiracy, it’s the bottom line.”

Media activists are especially worried about new rules recently issued by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that would allow major daily newspapers in any market to buy television and radio stations in the same market.

Other changes let a single corporation own stations that collectively reach 45 percent of the US viewing public (as opposed to the previous 35 percent), and that permit one corporation to own two television stations in the same market.

Different arms of the US Congress have already signaled they will fight the proposals.

“The European public, including a majority here in Britain, remained skeptical about the benefits to be gained by attacking Iraq, not because of a latent anti-Americanism, but because their mass media refused to accept the link with al-Qaida,” Bragg said. “And remember, these were nations that broadly supported the invasion of Afghanistan.”

“This evidence suggests that media consolidation has had the effect of marginalizing voices in America that question the logic of those in the Bush administration who wished to invade Iraq. If that is the case, then we need to be taking this message to the American people, because their sons and daughters have been put in harm’s way as a result.”

The ‘Tell Us The Truth’ tour continues a long tradition of musicians as activists in the United States.

In his book Stand and Be Counted, David Crosby, a two-time inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, goes back 150 years to describe an anti-war benefit concert held shortly after the US Civil War.

Through interviews with dozens of rock and folk stars, Crosby also explores the active roles that musicians played in the union movement in the early 1900s and in the civil rights movement and Vietnam War protests of the 1960s.

More recently, the Live Aid concerts of 1985 raised money for famine relief, while other high-profile benefits have focused on human rights and the Free Tibet movement.

“As an artist, all I can do is to offer my perspective of the situation and hopefully inspire the audience to engage with the issue,” Bragg told IPS.

“Look what happened with the Vietnam War. Once pop culture engaged with the anti-war movement, the tide began to turn in public opinion. That’s what the neo-conservatives fear will happen again, which explains why Bush wants his pals to buy up as many radio stations as possible.”

The ‘Tell Us The Truth’ tour arrives in Asheville on Saturday afternoon, Nov. 15 at The Orange Peel. See opposite page for details.

Autonomous Social Movements Caravan coming to Asheville

By Bob Williker

(AGR)-- Latin America has seen a major upsurge in social unrest since the beginning of the 21st century. As more people are pushed below the poverty line due to neo-liberal economic policies forced upon Latin American countries by the United States and corporate interests; and more people see through the false promises of politicians, a new movement has come onto the scene of resistance in South America: the autonomous left.

What is unique about this movement is that it is based in the people, not the leftwing politicians and union bosses. It is a step away from the bureaucracy of the institutional left, and a step towards taking direct action to meet the needs of the people.

This new direction is perhaps best illustrated in the popular uprising in Argentina during December of 2001. It was around this time that the Argentinean economy collapsed due to economic policies enacted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The economic collapse created such great unrest throughout the country that president Fernando de la Rua declared a state of siege. But for the first time in Argentina’s history, a state of siege was met with a popular uprising so massive, and reaching across every sector of society, that he was forced to repeal it. A spontaneous revolt was sparked by de la Rua’s action, leading to thousands of people pouring into the streets under the slogan “Que se vayan todos!” (They all must go!) And indeed they did. De la Rua and a number of other politicians were forced to resign in the following days as people barricaded roads throughout the country and one bank after another was torched.

This was not the only outcome of the popular uprising. Communities organized themselves into neighborhood assemblies on the principles of direct democracy in order to meet their day to day needs that the government could not. Furthermore, around 200 factories, abandoned by their owners, were re-occupied by the employees and put under worker control, providing much needed income for their communities. The direct action taken in the streets to oppose the Argentinean government created a number of other concrete results. A welfare program, benefiting more people than any other program in any other Latin American country, was instituted. The government was forced to stop the devaluation of workers’ salaries, and Argentina defaulted payments on it’s IMF loans. Most importantly, the uprisings created a new radical culture based on horizontality, multiplicity, and autonomy.

Another inspiring example of people’s resistance in Latin America is the Landless Worker’s Movement (MST) of Brazil. The economic inequality in Brazil is shocking. Less then 3 percent of the population owns two-thirds of Brazil’s arable land. And while 60 percent of this farmland lies idle, 25 million peasants live in poverty, working temporary agricultural jobs, or having no job at all. In response to this the MST has occupied unused land, including presidential ranches, in order to provide landless peasants with a place to grow food. In 1999 alone 25,099 families occupied unused land. And these occupations have provided positive results. Today 250,000 families have won title to over 15 million acres of land due to MST land occupations.

These gains have not come without sacrifice. Land occupations are often met with brutal repression by police and landowners. Over 1,000 people have been killed as a result of land disputes, with very few of the murders ever being solved. This form of repression has not stopped the MST from continuing forward. It has created 60 food cooperatives in order to provide a sustainable income for peasants and has enlisted 600 teachers for it’s literacy program to help educate poor farmers.

To highlight movements working outside the framework of politicians and bureaucracy in Latin America, the Autonomous Social Movements Caravan is touring the east coast with activists and organizers from Brazil and Argentina. Speakers on the tour include representatives from the environmental movement, the indigenous rights movement, and the unemployed workers movement. Their presentations include speeches, videos, and puppet shows highlighting the plight of the poor and the environment at, as well as the resistance to, the hands of corporate greed. The tour also aims to bring awareness to the upcoming mobilizations against the Free Trade Area of the Americas meetings in Miami and the School of the Americas. The event begins at 7pm, Friday, Nov. 14 at the Asheville Community Resource Center, 63 N. Lexington Ave.

Weaving the Story

By Gabe Johnson

(AGR)-- On December 22nd, 1997, in Acteal, Chenahlo, Chiapas, Mexico, 45 members of the peace protest group Las Abejas were gunned down by paramilitary marauders while the group was praying for peace. The families of Las Abejas members fled their homes and left their land for fear of their own lives. Though the masked marauders were not officially connected with the Mexican government, the men were heavily armed and trained in military style.

Four years later, the Mayan farmers returned to the land to reclaim their homes and lives and to carry on the centuries-old traditions of Mayan culture.

Andrea Quillian, a senior at UNC-A, with the guidance of Margarita Hernanandez Perez, a leader of the Maya Ik (Maya Wind) weaving cooperative, has produced a five-minute short film and 35 accompanying photographs of some of the Mayan women who are struggling to reclaim economic independence and preserve their ancient practiced art of back-strap loom weaving. The exhibit, entitled, “Weaving the Story: Maya Women in Chiapas,” is on display at UNC-A’s Ramsey Library until the 26th of November, with an opening reception in the library on Sunday, Nov. 16th, from 4-6pm.

Margarita Perez first came to Asheville through the Asheville Sister City program from San Cristobal to speak about the conditions facing the indigenous population of Chiapas. Quillian became interested after hearing her speak.

“[Margarita] is driven to share what her life, and the lives of the women she works with, are like, and to get it out to the larger community that, ‘Hey, we’re here working our butts off and this is what life is like for us.’”

The Maya Ik is an independent weavers’ cooperative that was set up my Mayan women to help bring fair prices for the hand-woven and stitched garments that provide the women an income. As it stands, a single garment that may take a month to create and cost $8-9 US dollars in materials, brings on the average $18 US dollars.

What Quillian hopes to accomplish with her exhibition is to generate awareness of the economic struggle of these Mayan women and to tell their story to the westernized world. She also hopes to generate funding for a feature-length documentary that will examine with more detail the lives of these weavers and illuminate the ways in which this indigenous population is struggling to resist the westernization and ultimately extinction of their culture.

To contact Andrea Quillian: andreaquillian@charter.net

The Puppetistas are coming!

On this Sunday, Nov. 16, in Pritchard Park at 2pm, the colorful army of Puppetistas will be arriving in downtown Asheville armed with jugglers, stilt walkers and of course, dozens of giant, symbolic puppets. Every year the Puppetistas have a grand parade to protest the School of the Americas (now know as the Western Hemispheric Institute for Security Cooperation). The name Puppetista strikes an obvious and purposeful likeness to that of Latin American revolutionary organizations such as the Zapatistas or the Sandinistas. Puppetistas have participated in protests spanning from SOA vigils to the WEF protests in New York City.

Every year a large Puppetista contingent can be found at the School of The Americas protest vigil. Their intentions are to present a carnival-like atmosphere that will generate positive energy despite the obviously dower nature of the protests. This year the puppet brigade will be touring the east coast in preparation for the SOA protest, and they will be presenting a play entitled “Uncle Sam’s Global Circus.” According to their flyer, the Puppetistas intend this to be “a farcical look at oppressive US foreign policy.”