Democracy for New Mexico

Guild Hosts Local Premier of Controversial "Death of a President"

From Albuquerque's Guild Cinema:
DECEMBER 8 - 14
(ONE WEEK)
Too hot to play at the multiplex - A Guild Exclusive!
DEATH OF A PRESIDENT (4:30, 6:30, 8:30)
Winner of the International Critics' Prize at the Toronto Film Festival, DEATH OF A PRESIDENT is conceived as a fictional TV documentary broadcast in 2008, reflecting on another monstrous and cataclysmic event: the assassination of President George W. Bush on October 19th, 2007. The "documentary" combines archival footage and carefully composed interviews as it refashions the event into a riveting story, following the FBI's hunt for the assassin.

Director Gabriel Range previously used the device of a "retrospective documentary" in his celebrated 2003 film, THE DAY BRITAIN STOPPED, about a chain of events that led to a breakdown of the country's transport system and nearly a hundred fatalities. Both of these films have been acclaimed for the technical virtuosity with which they combine archival footage and filmed scenes to create disturbingly real visions of catastrophes. DEATH OF A PRESIDENT was honored by The International Critics Prize Jury (FIPRESCI) at Toronto for "the audacity with which it distorts reality, to reveal a larger truth," and the Guild Cinema is excited to have been chosen to present its Albuquerque premiere.

Also coming to the Guild:

DECEMBER 9 & 10 (SATURDAY & SUNDAY)
By Popular Demand for Two Shows Only:
AMERICA: FREEDOM TO FASCISM (2:00 PM ONLY)
All Seats $5
Determined to find the law that requires Americans to pay income tax, Aaron Russo (THE ROSE, TRADING PLACES) sets out on a journey. Neither left- nor right-wing, this startling examination exposes the systematic erosion of civil liberties in America. Through interviews with US Congressmen, a former IRS Commissioner, former IRS and FBI agents, tax attorneys and authors, Russo connects the dots between money creation, federal income tax, voter fraud, the national identity card (becoming law in May 2008) and the implementation of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to track citizens. A striking case about the evolving police state in America.

The Guild Cinema

3405 Central Ave. NE

Albuquerque, NM 87106

(505) 255-1848

www.guildcinema.com

Santa Fe Screening of "Inside Bill Richardson" Set for 12/3

From award-winning journalist Neil Simon: A documentary I produced on Governor Richardson is going to play on the big screen this coming weekend as part of the New Mexico Film Expo. Anybody interested in Richardson's career, current ambitions, and New Mexico politics in general, will surely enjoy this 30-minute film produced at the height of the governor's first term. 

"Inside Bill Richardson" movie
Sunday, December 3, 2:30 PM
Jean Cocteau Cinema, 418 Montezuma in Santa Fe
Tickets are $9 (includes access to other films being screened that day).

A description of the film from Neil Simon's website:

Governor Bill Richardson (D-NM) is one of the country’s best known politicians from one of the country’s least known states. In this one-of-a-kind film, award-winning journalist Neil Simon shows you just how Richardson leads the state he made his own.

From his childhood in Mexico City through his early political carpet-bagging, Richardson is honest, revealing and candid in this 30-minute feature. With interviews from Richardson’s harshest critics and most loyal insiders, this film is a glimpse into the life and leadership of an ambitious governor at the height of his popularity.

For a front-row seat at international diplomacy, Richardson’s lowest lows (as Secretary of Energy) and highest highs (2002 gubernatorial win) and everything in between, enjoy “Inside Bill Richardson.”

For more information, contact Neil Simon or visit his website:

Neil Simon, 202-294-9659
neilhsimon@gmail.com
www.neilhsimon.com

12/3 Screening: Committing Poetry in Times of War

The film "Committing Poetry in Times of War" will be screened Sunday, December 3, 2006 at 7:45 PM at the NM Film Museum (former Jean Cocteau Cinema) in Santa Fe as part of the NM Film Expo of the Santa Fe Film Festival.

This independently made NM feature documentary film tells the story of how poets, educators and outraged citizens rallied in support of the Rio Rancho High School student Slam Poetry Team and its coach, Bill Nevins, when the team was shut down in early 2003 at the time of the start of the Iraq War. For more information, visit www.committingpoetry.com or email sirotkin@igc.org.

More Showings of Stealing America: Vote by Vote Set for Santa Fe

The Center for Contemporary Arts (CCA) in Santa Fe has added additional screenings of Stealing America: Vote by Vote on Thursday, November 2 at 1:30, and Saturday (11/4), Sunday (11/5), and Tuesday (11/7) at 2:30 PM. The show lasts about one hour. CCA is located behind the Armory for the Arts at 1050 Old Pecos Trail, just north of Cordova Road in Santa Fe. For more about this important documentary film, which includes interviews with New Mexico election reform activists, see our earlier post.

KUNM Benefit: New Film on Election Fraud Features NM Activists

From KUNM:
A special benefit screening of the new documentary, "STEALING AMERICA: Vote by Vote," will benefit KUNM. The film includes interviews with NM election reform advocates John Boyd, Pat Leahan, and Linda Yardley, as well as Greg Palast and others. The paper ballot lawsuit in New Mexico is an important aspect of this documentary. KUNM's Jim Williams will be the event host and filmmaker Dorothy Fadiman of Concentric Media and Albuquerque attorney John Boyd will be the featured guests.

Saturday, October 28, 2006, 7:00 PM
The KiMo Theater
423 Central NW, Albuquerque, NM
Followed by Panel Discussion
Fundraiser for KUNM Radio
There will be no advance ticket sales, but KUNM will be accepting donations at the door. Suggested donation is $10.

Stealing America: Vote by Vote is a new feature-length documentary on the 2004 national elections by Emmy-winning, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Dorothy Fadiman. Harvey Wasserman ofThe Free Press writes that Stealing America is “powerful, moving, infuriating, comprehensive and brilliant.”

Filmmaker Dorothy Fadiman will be on hand to discuss the filmmaking process and participate in the panel discussion, along with Albuquerque attorney John Boyd, who has been the chief litigator in the election reform lawsuits and is featured in the film.

To learn more about the documentary visit StealingAmerica.org. To find out about the films of Dorothy Fadiman go to Concentric.org.

Taos and Santa Fe Screenings:
The film will also be screened in Taos on October 26th and in Santa Fe on October 29th. Click for more info.

Free Screenings: Iraq for Sale

From Terry Riley:
Please go to the following web site to sign up to see a free screening of the new Robert Greenwald movie - Iraq for Sale:

https://iraqforsale.org/screenings.php

This movie documents the shameful waste of the money that the Bush Administration threw at the American corporations who took advantage of the occupation of Iraq. This is an important movie to see. The movie is being shown at the American GI Forum on Friday October 6th at 7 PM. The web site incorrectly lists it as Sunday October 8th. Please make sure that you note that the screening is FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6th. It's co-hosted by Veterans for Peace, Military Families Speak Out, Democracy for New Mexico and American GI Forum.

There is plenty of parking and seating.  You can get other information from the web site, as well as sign up for other screenings of the movie in New Mexico or schedule a screening of your own.

RSVP Now to See '9/11 Press for Truth'

From Terry Riley:
In light of the upcoming ABC showing of a clearly slanted production of a "docudrama" blaming Clinton for 9/11 I believe that many people will be interested in more information. There is a new film called 9/11 Press for Truth that will be shown in Albuquerque at the Peace Center at 202 Harvard SE at 6 PM on Sunday, September 17th.  If you are interested in attending, please RSVP at Brave New Theaters and select Albuquerque by your ZIP code. You can read more about the movie here. This screening is hosted by Veterans for Peace, Military Families Speak Out and Democracy for New Mexico.

Film Series Accompanies Latin American Posters Exhibition at National Hispanic Cultural Center

From the website of the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque:

Saturday, September 9
Latin American Posters Film Series
Wells Fargo Auditorium, 4 PM
National Hispanic Cultural Center
1701 4th SW, Albuquerque, NM 87102
FREE Admission
Lalo Alcaraz, United States of America, Ché, 1997, serigraph on paper,
66 x 50.8 cm., National Hispanic Cultural Center, Art Museum.

A series of films in conjunction with the Latin American Posters: Public Aesthetics and Mass Politics exhibition at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque. The exhibit opens September 8, 2006 and runs through March 4, 2007.

Yo Soy Joaquín (I am Joaquín), 1969, 19 min. Directed by Luis Valdez. Dramatization of the classic Chicano poem by the same name by Rodolfo "Corky González about the Mexican American experience from the Spanish conquest to the farmworkers' struggle. González was a leading Chicano activist in Denver, CO.

Salt of the Earth, 1954, U.S., 92 min. Directed by Herbert Biberman. Based on the 1951 zinc miners' strike in Silver City, NM. The film stars several miners and their families, including the labor leader Juan Chacón. It also deals with the struggle of the miners' wives for recognition, dignity and equality. The film was made at the height of the McCarthy era and denounced as subversive and subsequently blacklisted.

(Editor's Note: Thanks to Michelle Meaders for the heads up on this and other events.)

Guild Cinema to Screen Documentary on Summer of McGovern

Albuquerque's Guild Cinema will screen ONE BRIGHT SHINING MOMENT: THE FORGOTTEN SUMMER OF GEORGE MCGOVERN on August 28 - 31, 2006 (Monday thru Thursday) at 3:00, 5:30 and 8:00 PM. The documentary was directed by Stephen Vittoria and narrated by Amy Goodman. It features interviews with the candidate himself, supporters and activists like Gore Vidal, Gloria Steinem, Warren Beatty, Howard Zinn, and music from Bob Dylan, Robbie Robertson, Donovan, and Elvis Costello. Here's a review by John Anderson of Variety:

"Too decent to be president" was the label stuck to former senator and 1972 presidential candidate George McGovern, the self-effacing subject of Stephen Vittoria's new documentary. If "decent" means "polite," then this ferocious movie makes no effort to emulate its subject. Narrated with heat by Amy Goodman of "Democracy Now!", ONE BRIGHT SHINING MOMENT is both biography and political analysis, ranging from McGovern's prairie roots and Depression boyhood to his place in the vanguard of the Vietnam era's antiwar movement.

Without overplaying the obvious parallels with contemporary Washington, the film is clearly intended as an elegy for decency and true democracy in American politics - the "bright shining moment" of the 1972 Democratic convention - and as a sad comparison with today's administration. One of the aspects to the McGovern legacy the filmmakers seek to redress is the man's poster-boy status for political failure, even while noting that his loss to Richard Nixon in the '72 election was the "mother of all landslides."

What the film aims to show - and does well, through a variety of well-informed talking heads, and well-tailored archival footage of elections past - is that McGovern's grassroots, anti-establishment tactics and ultimate victory at the Democratic convention was, and remains, an example of what U.S. politics strive, and generally fail, to achieve.

Guild Cinema
3405 Central Ave. NE (two blocks west of Carlisle in Nob Hill)
Albuquerque, NM 87106
(505)255-1848

The Road to Guantanamo to Screen at First Unitarian Church Tonight

From the Albuquerque Peace & Justice calendar:
The film The Road to Guantanamo will be shown on Friday, August 18th, at 7:00 PM, at the First Unitarian Church, in the Wesson Room (South building) at Carlisle and Comanche in Albuquerque. No charge and popcorn provided. It is the story of the mistreatment of detainees and the policy of holding suspected terrorists at the detention camp. It is based on the testimony of three British Muslims captured in Afghanistan in 2001 and held at Guantanamo for more than two years. It is not a documentary, rather it relies on interviews of these three men and then faithfully reproduces their version of events and the known facts. The narrative is enacted by nonprofessional actors and mingles the techniques of documentary and fictional filmmaking. Rated R for language and violence.

The Social Justice Council is sponsoring the film to inform and inspire a letter-writing campaign against torture.