St. Pete for Peace Wednesday Film Series at Café Bohemia

2012 Films

May 9, 2012

Land LAND is a true Wild West story, delving into the tumultuous topic of land ownership and development in politically volatile Nicaragua.  The year is 2006, where Nicaragua is viewed as the new land of opportunity.  Newspapers and magazines hail it as The New Cancun, The Next Florida.  Fred, Sean and Keith, three naive Americans wide-eyed at the prospects of finally making it big, set up shop and start constructing resorts for tourists’ next discount tropical vacation. What these inexperienced developers don’t know is that the seemingly inexhaustible cheap manual labour is about to run out. The natives are restless and starting to see through this new form of imperialism  (more).

April 25, 2012

Better This World How did two boyhood friends from Midland, Texas wind up arrested on terrorism charges at the 2008 Republican National Convention? Better This World follows the journey of David McKay (22) and Bradley Crowder (23) from political neophytes to accused domestic terrorists with a particular focus on the relationship they develop with a radical activist mentor in the six months leading up to their arrests. A dramatic story of idealism, loyalty, crime and betrayal, Better This World goes to the heart of the War on Terror and its impact on civil liberties and political dissent in post-9/11 America  (more).

April 18, 2012

Lumumba Made in the tradition of such true-life political thrillers as Malcolm X and JFK, Raoul Peck’s award-winning epic dramatizes the rise and fall of legendary African leader Patrice Lumumba. When the Congo declared its independence from Belgium in 1960, the 36-year-old Lumumba became the first Prime Minister of the newly independent state but would last just months in office before being brutally assassinated  (more).

April 11, 2012

This is Where We Take Our Stand In March of 2008, 250 veterans and active duty soldiers marked the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq by gathering in Washington, DC, to testify from their own experience about the nature of the occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq. Inspired by the 1971 Winter Soldier Investigation held by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, they too sought to express their opposition to those wars with their first-hand accounts, bearing witness with voices not generally heard. Our documentary is a portrait of three participants. It follows their lives for six weeks leading to the event and afterward; an active duty female soldier, a nine-year National Guard veteran, and a three-tour former Marine. This is their story  (more).

April 4, 2012

The Best Government Money Can Buy? The first behind-the-scenes, comprehensive, non-partisan examination of the system of lobbying in Washington, DC.  The cost of election campaigns has spiraled out of control, to the extent that, on average, our representatives spend more than 25% of their time fund-raising. Even our Presidents regularly interrupt the nation's work in order to spend time fund-raising! Veteran documentary film-maker, British-born Francis Megahy, makes a journey of discovery as he tries to answer some questions which puzzle him: who provides the money? What effect does it have? How is it connected to the financing of political campaigns? And most crucial, is it in the public interest?  (more).

March 28, 2012

The Agronomist Directed by Jonathan Demme, this profile of Haitian radio journalist and human rights activist Jean Dominique weaves historical footage of Haiti's troubled past with one-on-one interviews with Dominique and his devoted wife, Michele Montas. The film also incorporates rare footage shot just before Dominique's assassination on April 30, 2000 (more).

March 14, 2012

You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train In these turbulent times, Howard Zinn is inspiring a new generation. This acclaimed film looks at the amazing life of the renowned historian, activist and author. Following his early days as a shipyard labor organizer and bombardier in World War II, Zinn became an academic rebel and leader of civil disobedience in a time of institutionalized racism and war. His influential writings shine light on and bring voice to factory workers, immigrant laborers, African Americans, Native Americans and the working poor. Featuring rare archival materials and interviews with Zinn and colleagues such as Noam Chomsky, You Can’t Be Neutral captures the essence of this extraordinary man who has been a catalyst for progressive change for more than 60 years. Narrated by Matt Damon • Featuring music by Pearl Jam, Woody Guthrie & Billy Bragg!  (more).

March 7, 2012

Shut Up and Sing The movie from two time Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Barbara Kopple and Cecelia Peck that chronicles the lives of the Dixie Chicks from 2003 to the start of their 2006 tour. All the highs, lows and mayhem that occurred just before and for the three years following “the incident” are all here.  The personal attacks, personal growth, a changing world, making music, having babies, receiving death threats, and even a fair amount of laughter  (more).

Feb. 22, 2012

Anatomy of a Coup - The CIA in Iran In 1953, a military-backed coup overthrew Iran's elected Prime Minister, Mohammed Mossadegh, Time Magazine's 1952 Man of the Year. The U.S.'s role was an open, if never officially acknowledged, secret. Now the CIA's own, still classified secret history of the operation has come to light. It reveals how the CIA and British Intelligence conspired to initiate and plan the coup to maintain control over Iranian oil. CIA agents, family members, and historians tell how the CIA plotted its first success  (more).

Feb. 15, 2012

Thrive THRIVE is an unconventional documentary that lifts the veil on what's REALLY going on in our world by following the money upstream -- uncovering the global consolidation of power in nearly every aspect of our lives. Weaving together breakthroughs in science, consciousness and activism, THRIVE offers real solutions, empowering us with unprecedented and bold strategies for reclaiming our lives and our future  (more).

Feb. 8, 2012

Fair Game A suspense-filled glimpse into the dark corridors of political power, Fair Game is an action-thriller based on the autobiography of real-life undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson (Naomi Watts), whose career was destroyed and marriage strained to its limits when her covert identity was exposed by a politically motivated press leak. As a covert officer in the CIA’s Counter-Proliferation Division, Valerie’s work involved identifying the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq before the United States declared war. Her husband, diplomat Ambassador Joe Wilson (Sean Penn) was hired by the CIA for a fact-finding mission as part of the investigation. When the Bush administration ignored his findings and used them to support the call to war, Joe contradicted the White House in The New York Times, igniting a firestorm of controvers  (more).

Feb. 1, 2012

The Taqwacores Yusef is a first-generation Pakistani-American engineering student who moves off-campus with a group of Muslim punks in Buffalo, New York. His new "un-orthodox" housemates soon introduce him to Taqwacore - a hardcore, Muslim punk rock scene. As the seasons change, Taqwacore influences the house more and more. The living room becomes a mosque during the day, while it continues to host punk shows at night. Ultimately, Yusef begins to challenge his own faith and ideologies. A powerful and original story of punk Islam in the USA and the discovery of oneself within the confines of religion  (more).

Jan. 25, 2012

Freedom Riders FREEDOM RIDERS is the powerful harrowing and ultimately inspirational story of six months in 1961 that changed America forever. From May until November 1961, more than 400 black and white Americans risked their lives—and many endured savage beatings and imprisonment—for simply traveling together on buses and trains as they journeyed through the Deep South. Deliberately violating Jim Crow laws, the Freedom Riders met with bitter racism and mob violence along the way, sorely testing their belief in nonviolent activism. From award-winning filmmaker Stanley Nelson (Wounded Knee, Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple, The Murder of Emmett Till) FREEDOM RIDERS features testimony from a fascinating cast of central characters: the Riders themselves, state and federal government officials, and journalists who witnessed the Rides firsthand. The two-hour documentary is based on Raymond Arsenault's book Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice  (more).

Jan. 18, 2012

Stealing a Nation - Diego Garcia An extraordinary film about the plight of people of the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean - secretly and brutally expelled from their homeland by British governments in the late 1960s and early 1970s, to make way for an American military base. The base, on the main island of Diego Garcia, was a launch pad for the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Diego Garcia is America's largest military base in the world, outside the US. There are more than 4,000 troops, two bomber runways, thirty warships and a satellite spy station. The Pentagon calls it an "indispensable platform" for policing the world. A remarkable dossier of evidence has been put together by Pilger and producer Chris Martin, all from official files, charting one of the most shocking conspiracies of modern times, which continues today  (more).

Jan. 11, 2012

Just Do It - A Tale of Modern Day Outlaws Just Do It lifts the lid on climate activism and the daring troublemakers who have crossed the line to become modern-day outlaws. Documented over a year, Emily James’ film follows these activists as they blockade factories, attack coal power stations and glue themselves to the trading floors of international banks despite the very real threat of arrest  (more).

Jan. 4, 2012

The Billionaire's Tea Party The Tea Party movement has taken American politics by storm. But is this truly a populist uprising or one of the greatest feats of propaganda ever seen? Australian filmmaker Taki Oldham sets out answer this question, finding that behind the movement’s rhetoric of ‘freedom’ versus ‘socialism’ lies a highly co-ordinated network of shadow groups, funded by the likes of billionaire ideologues Charles and David Koch. Are the Tea Party protestors really just pawns in a plan to replace government with a privatized America?  (more).