1971

July 2, 2016.  I was nicely surprised recently when I signed onto Netflix to discover that Netflix is now streaming a documentary called “1971.” I first saw “1971” at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2014, and have been trying to find it ever since.

“1971” is a fascinating pre-cursor to the times in which we live. The US government spying on its citizens? Today, in the age of hi-tech leaks involving Julian Assange, Bradley Manning and Wikileaks, not to mention Edward Snowden, this question sounds like a story out of current headlines. However, as my late father would have said, “The more things change, the more they remain the same.”

Tribeca Film Festival 2014

The Tribeca Film Festival is now running from April 16 – 27 at various venues around town, most of which are not actually in Tribeca. As in previous years, my coverage of this year’s Tribeca Film Festival is all about the films, documentaries in particular. Do not get me wrong, the glamour, glitz and celebrities are important but, for me, more than anything, the festival is about the work. At film festivals the documentaries are almost always the best parts, while fiction films can be uneven. Stick with the documentaries and it is all but guaranteed that you will see great filmmaking.

One documentary that really touched me was Garnet’s Gold. “Garnet’s Gold” is a universal, funny, bittersweet and ultimately very human story for anyone who has ever had doubts about the direction in which his, or her, life has gone. Most important, “Garnet’s Gold” has great characters, a vital element for any documentary.

“Garnet’s Gold” is the story of Garnet Frost, a 58-year-old man, living in Scotland, whose life has never quite jelled. Although a talented individual with high ideals, Garnet describes himself as stuck in limbo, as far as the progress of his life is concerned. He is waiting for something to come his way, which, so far, has not. Garnet lives with his soon to be 90-year-old mother who is a font of philosophy, wisdom and humor and one of the film’s many highlights.

The film’s back story is that 20 years before, Garnet, while hiking and camping by Scotland’s Loch Arkaig, in the wilderness, ran out of food and shelter and assumed he was just going to die. He was rescued. Along the way Garnet found a staff stuck into a rock formation. Upon reading an account of pirate gold being buried some 300 years before, in the same area in which he was found, Garnet is convinced that his staff was the marker for the gold. Garnet then sets out on a quest to locate the area from which he was rescued and find the gold. As Garnet’s mother, who has lent him money for the expedition, puts it, “It’s not gold, it’s his heart’s desire,” that he is after.

“Garnet’s Gold” has been beautifully photographed and directed by Ed Perkins.

Art and Craft is a fascinating look at the nature and definition of art and deviance. The story concerns schizophrenic art forger Mark Landis. Landis has an incredible talent for making perfect copies of paintings by Picasso and Matisse, among other artists. His forgeries hang in major art museums around the country. Is Landis guilty of a crime? No. He does not sell his art. Landis merely donates his art to museums, usually with a false story as to where it came from and the significance the work has for him. It is up to the museums to do their due diligence in order to determine if the art is authentic. Many, obviously, had not.

“Art and Craft“ questions the importance of authenticity in the art world. If the forgery is good enough to fool experts does it really matter that a particular work is a forgery? As Robert Wittman, part of the FBI Art Crime Team points out, “The art world is a very strange place.”

As a teacher of sociology I am very interested in the concept of deviance. On the one hand, one could say that Landis is engaging in deviant behavior, but by whose definition? What norms is he really breaking other than using his talent to pull pranks on museums? After all, it is up to the museums to figure out if the art is genuine.

Landis himself is perfectly upfront about what he does explaining that, in his opinion, ethical behavior does not pay off. Landis, in spite of his mental illness, or perhaps because of it, proves to be a character who is observant, confident and intelligent, with more than a bit of irreverence and humor about what he does.

“Art and Craft” has been directed by Sam Cullman and Jennifer Grausman.

Looking at our hi-tech world from the point of view of an event that happened 33 years ago,1971 is ajaw-dropping pre-cursor to the times in which we live.

Living in the age of Julian Assange and Wikileaks, Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden we don’t think about a lo-tech leak of secret documents (aside from what Daniel Ellsberg famously accomplished with the Pentagon Papers). In the year 1971, government secrets were on hard copy only. “If you disrupted the paper, you disrupted system,” we are told.

In 1971, at the height of the Vietnam War, in the town of Media Pennsylvania, a group of eight citizens, calling themselves “The Citizens Commission to Investigate the FBI” broke into the local FBI office. To help their scheme come off, they did this on the night of the famous Ali – Frazer boxing match, knowing that everyone else would be distracted watching the fight. They uncovered evidence of a top secret civilian surveillance program run by then FBI Head J. Edgar Hoover.   The discovery and subsequent release of information to newspapers changed the course of government surveillance…at least for a while.

The group was never caught. Only now, in this documentary, do they come forward to discuss the motivations for their actions.

Director Johanna Hamilton and editor Gabriel Rhodes have created a fast moving narrative, seamlessly blending present day interviews, stock footage, historical footage and re-enactments to tell this incredible, true story. “1971” is an exciting and stark reminder that the more things change, the more they remain the same.

Screening venues include AMC Loews Village 7 (66 3^rd Avenue) and Bowtie Chelsea Cinemas (260 West 23^rd Street) and the SVA Theatre (33 West 23^rd Street).

For more information on the Tribeca Film Festival, visit www.tribecafilm.com.

 

We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks

Julian Assange is the subject of Alex Gibney’s new documentary “We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks”

I could not wait to see Alex Gibney’s new documentary “We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks.”  I first became aware of this film when, a while back, one of my students e-mailed  me a link to the “We Steal Secrets” trailer.  I was hooked.  Now, having finally seen the movie, I am happy to report that this is not a case of the trailer looking great (as they often do) and the movie not being up to snuff.  “We Steal Secrets” was everything I hoped it would be and more.

In one of the classes that I teach, at Queens College, “Mass Communication and Popular Culture,” we discuss  Julian Assange and his whistleblowing website WikiLeaks.  Is Assange merely exercising his First Amendment right or has he gone too far by releasing top secret information?  In class we compare Assange’s actions and cause to those of Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers.

Up until now the only documentary on Assange that I have been able to find has been “Julian Assange: A Modern Day Hero?” available on line on Netflix.  The documentary is good, but a bit dry.  So how great it is that Gibney has pulled out all the stops with a well-produced, visually arresting and incredibly comprehensive film about Assange.

Mass Media and Popular Culture

In this blog I usually evaluate individual films at the rate of two a week.  Today I want to write about a unique experience that I have had of using films to educate.  In August I began teaching a sociology class, “Mass Media and Popular Culture,” at Queens College. The class meets at the un-Godly timeslot of 6:30-9:30 on Friday nights and has its final meeting on December 16.  When I was first given this time slot I said, “Who is going to take a class that meets on a Friday night?”  The answer, for me, was an education in and of itself.