by John Ruhland

The movies on this list are well-suited to watching individually or as a group to stimulate political discussions. Most can be found on video at the Seattle Public Library, or independent video stores.

* HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
** A "MUST SEE"

A PLACE CALLED CHIAPAS Nettie Wild 1998 Documentary on struggle of indigenous people in southern Mexico.

BAY OF PIGS U.S. (once again) opposes a new government that is much more popular and democratic than the previous one supported by the U.S.

*BEFORE THE RAIN Beautiful, sad contemporary war movie, set in Macedonia.

BLOOD MAKES THE GRASS GROW GREEN War Resisters during the First Gulf War.

*BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY 1989 Patriotic American enlists in the Marines, and has a dramatic transformation.

CARLA'S SONG Ken Loach Nicaraguan revolution.

THE CHIAPAS WAR Another war U.S. companies demanded to protect "their interests" (Chase Manhattan Bank therefore must be a U.S. interest). See any information put out by the Christic Institute, who won the Karen Silkwood case.

CIA: AMERICA'S SECRET WARRIORS Mark Levin 3-part TV documentary.

CRISIS IN THE GULF

DEFENCE OF THE REALM David Drury 1985 Documentary on Britain's secret police.

EL NORTE Original, and PBS American Playhouse version 1983 Two Guatemalans flee to America to escape death squad.

FEAR AND FAVOR IN THE NEWSROOM Beth Sanders 1996 Media censorship in nukes, the Gulf War, and more.

HEARTS AND MINDS 1974 One of the best documentaries on the Vietnam War.

THE HO CHI MINH TRAIL 1984 In the series GREAT JOURNEYS by the BBC; gives insight into heroism of the Viet Cong.

IRAQ: WAR AGAINST THE PEOPLE 1991

*THE ITALIAN-ETHIOPIAN WAR: Africa in World Affairs from the PBS series BETWEEN THE WARS. Explains how U.S. and the League of Nations allowed Mussolini to invade and exterminate countless Ethiopians. One of the best examples demonstrating that the U.S. intervenes internationally only for economic reasons, and has no interest in human rights. (The U.S.'s complicity in anti-democratic movements is demonstrated most recently in Grenada, Panama, Haiti, Iraq, among many lesser-known areas around the world. Look also at Chile, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Peru, Argentina, Columbia, Puerto Rico, Korea, Vietnam....)

*KOMRADSCHAFT Germany Circa 1930 Mining accident brings out the best in wartime "enemy" workers.

NO VIETNAMESE EVER CALLED ME NIGGER

**THE PANAMA DECEPTION 1992 Shows pattern of U.S. military involvement since the VietNam War, control of media, and US profiting from drugs (see also 1984).

PRETTY VILLAGE PRETTY FLAME (Serbo-Croation) Srdjan Dragojevic1996 Follows the relationship between two friends, a Serb and a Muslim, from childhood through the war in Bosnia.

ROMERO 1989 Story of the U.S. CIA and military aggression that converted El Salvadorean archbishop from political conservative to radical.

SALVADOR Oliver Stone 1985 El Salvador as created by U.S. intervention. James Belushi.

*THE SECRET GOVERNMENT Mark Levin

TODOS SANTOS: THE SURVIVORS Olivia Carrescia 1989 Oppression of Guatemalans by CIA led army.

TWENTY FOUR EYES (Japanese) Keisuke Kinoshita 1954 Fate of a teacher and students on island due to WWII.

UNDER FIRE 1983 News reporters in Nicaragua during the revolution. Depicts U.S. involvement. Gene Hackman, Nick Nolte.

**WACO: THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT Willian Gazecki 1997 Clarifies whether the ruling class truly desires freedom or democracy.

*WAG THE DOG Robert DeNiro President starts a war to divert attention and to increase his popularity.

WHY WE FIGHT 1942-45 Six US Government propaganda films directed by top Hollywood directors, to persuade Americans to support entry into WWII. INCLUDES PRELUDE TO WAR, THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN Although huge profits for a select group are why we fight, propaganda is indeed "why we [the rest of us, are willing to] fight."