By Tench Phillips, Naro Cinema
Dear Bernie,
By the time this issue of Veer hits the streets, the media pundits will have declared your campaign for president as effectively over and done with. They’ll rest their claims on the results of the Southern state primaries and on projected delegate counts – and they will assert that we must be realistic.
Many voters now acknowledge that the American economic and political system is rigged so as to benefit the wealthiest 1%. But then they’ll go on to say that there will never be a people’s revolution in this country. And so they’ll just hold their noses and vote for the status quo – either Hillary or, God forbid, Donald.
Of course the prognosticators have been saying that you can’t win from the very beginning when you first ran for mayor in Burlington, Vermont on a socialist platform. But ever since then you have been proving the naysayers wrong.
You have been tireless in your defense of the little guy against the anti-democratic forces of oligarchy that now control our government. Your message for social and economic justice is finally catching on and our movement just keeps growing and reverberating outward. And it’s not because the establishment press isn’t doing everything in their power to try to obfuscate your message and and to stop you.
In contrast to the lack of media attention that you have received, all the corporate-funded candidates have benefitted from non-stop coverage. We know that their crazed primary campaigns are being orchestrated by the corporate media not in order to promote democracy but for immense profits. And they have succeeded in creating the consummate reality TV star in the form of candidate Donald Trump.
The political narrative given by the giant media companies is based on beliefs about free-market capitalism (except for the giant monopolies), rugged individualism (except for inherited family money), and small government (except when it comes to our immense, bloated military). Rarely does the media devote enough time for you to explain concepts like social democracy, government regulation of big business, the rights of workers, and climate change policy.
So that’s why the Naro has packaged some upcoming film events that clarify the kinds of policies that you advocate. A few of the films will show on Wednesdays in our ‘New Non-Fiction Film’ series with speakers and discussion.
Michael Moore’s new film, ‘Where To Invade Next’ is his most positive and instructive film yet. Moore travels the world to discover how other ‘enlightened’ countries care for their citizenry. His newfound friends instruct him about social justice, rights for workers, and how their governments insure their citizens against economic hardship and ill health. Moore has spent 25 years making movies revealing America’s problems. Now he says that it’s time to solve them.
‘Requiem for The American Dream’ features an extended interview with activist and academic Noam Chomsky. At the age of eight-seven, Noam is recognized for his expertise in more than one realm. But yet his outspoken progressive views have made his acute political analysis strictly off-limits for the establishment press. In the film Noam explains how both of our political parties preach neoliberalism and American empire so as to perpetuate war and to enrich the ruling class at the expense of everyone else.
We’ve all had family members and friends who were tolerant and open-minded in their youth but have gone over to the dark side. That’s the premise of ‘The Brainwashing of My Dad’. Using her father as an example, filmmaker Jen Senko reveals how right-wing radio and cable have justified discrimination in this country and have created scapegoats of minorities. The film follows the ascension of Roger Ailes from the seventies in his role with the Nixon White House to the chairman of Fox News.
Bernie, your candidacy has provided us with a unique opportunity to dialogue with our friends and families about economic justice, the need for systemic political change, the corporate control of government, and crucial ecological issues. You have singlehandedly maneuvered the media so that they must now communicate your vision for an ecological civilization that will benefit all beings. Young people are discovering your message on the web and have become your greatest advocacy group. This nascent people’s movement which was jumpstarted by ‘Occupy Wall Street’ will continue to grow and prosper well after you have accomplished your own work.
The premise for our vision is an understanding of the commons – the natural world that we all equally share. The commons include clean air, clean water, nutritious food, healthcare for all, and access to natural habitats that can shelter plant and animal life. Misconceived doctrines about free markets and the commodification of these precious rights will no longer be compromised.
The last 200 years of adjudicated law in this country has bestowed ‘free speech’ and ‘personhood’ rights onto corporations. The task that lies ahead is to dismantle this inhumane and unjust system and to win back power for the people. Everything will have to change – but it will require a change of consciousness.
Our struggle will be inspired by a deep love for our planet and by our compassion for the suffering of all species as we approach the impending planetary ecological die-off. It’s time to stop the cynicism and to really get to work. We will need to draw upon our inner resolve and all our relations so as to overcome obstacles that impede the preservation of the natural world.
You have inspired us, Bernie, to build this great mission together. We are grateful for your committed vision, leadership, and persistence. We realize that there is no option other than to work for a just, healthy, and peaceful world.
May the force be with us.
Upcoming Film Events at Naro Cinema
REQUIEM FOR THE AMERICAN DREAM
Widely regarded as the most important intellectual living today, Noam Chomsky met over a four year period with the filmmakers to give his penetrating insights into the rise of economic inequality, the death of the middle class, and the swan song of functioning democracy. Profoundly personal and thought provoking, Chomsky reflects upon his life of activism and political participation. Shows Wed, March 23.
VERDI’S LA TRAVIATA
An opera series produced by the Royal Opera House in London. Richard Eyre’s traditional 1994 production of Verdi’s most popular opera, conducted by Yves Abel, and starring Russian soprano Venera Gimadieva and Albanian tenor Saimir Pirgu. Shows Wed matinee, March 30.
LAST MAN ON THE MOON
When Apollo astronaut Eugene Cernan stepped off the moon in 1972 he left his footprints and his daughter’s initials in the lunar dust. Only now, over forty years later, is he ready to share his epic but deeply personal story. Although Cernan’s burning ambition carried him to the moon, there was a heavy price to pay for the fame and privilege that followed. As his wife famously remarked, “If you think going to the moon is hard, try staying at home.” Shows Wed, March 30.
EYE IN THE SKY
Eye In The Sky stars Helen Mirren as Colonel Katherine Powell, a UK-based military officer in command of a top secret drone operation to capture terrorists in Kenya. Through remote surveillance and on-the-ground intel, Powell discovers the targets are planning a suicide bombing and the mission escalates from “capture” to “kill.” But as American pilot Steve Watts (Aaron Paul) is about to engage, a nine-year old girl enters the kill zone triggering an international dispute, reaching the highest levels of US and British government, over the moral, political, and personal implications of modern warfare. Opens Friday, April 1.
THE BRAINWASHING OF MY DAD
Right-wing cable news and “conservative” talk radio attract older Americans like graying moths to an angry flame. But why would someone who was either apolitical or a Democrat in younger days become addicted to conservative talk shows in their twilight years? Filmmaker Jen Senko wondered how her WWII veteran and Kennedy Democrat father had been transformed into a Fox News fanatic, suddenly and inexplicably railing against blacks, gays, and poor people. Using her dad as an entertaining
example, Senko pulls back the curtain to expose the tools and tricks of the
wizards behind the right-wing media revolution. Shows Wed, April 6.
EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT
Academy Award Nominee Best Foreign Film. The ravages of colonialism cast a dark shadow over the South American landscape in the third feature by Ciro Guerra. Filmed in stunning black-and-white, the film focuses on Karamakate, an Amazonian shaman and one of the last survivors of his people, and the two scientists who, over the course of 40 years, build a friendship with him. The film was inspired by the real-life journals of two explorers and ethnobotanists, Theodor Koch-Grünberg and Richard Evans Schultes, who traveled through the Colombian Amazon during different decades in the last century to document the medicinal plant wisdom of the Amazonian Indians before being lost forever. In Spanish and indigenous dialects with subtitles. Shows Wed, April 13.
WHERE TO INVADE NEXT
From filmmaker Michael Moore, the human lightning rod for Republican wrath, comes this expansive, rib-tickling, and subversive comedy in which Moore, playing the role of “invader,” visits a host of nations to learn how the U.S. could improve its own prospects. The creator of Fahrenheit 9/11 and Bowling for Columbine is back with this hilarious and eye-opening call to arms. Turns out the solutions to America’s most entrenched problems already existed in the world—they’re just waiting to be co-opted. Date to be announced.
