Closed Captioned
Grades 10 - 12, College, Adult
Produced by Youngheart Entertainment
DVD Purchase $25
US Release Date: 2008
Copyright Date: 2007
DVD ISBN: 1-59458-751-5
VHS ISBN: 1-59458-750-7
Subjects
Awards and Festivals
Vancouver International Film Festival
East End Film Festival
Tiburon International Film Festival
Chichester Film Festival
Olafest, Orlando Latin American Film & Heritage Festival
For Personal Use Only
John Pilger reports that, in spite of a history of repeated US-backed suppression, popular democratic movements are gaining ground in Latin America.
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"One of the most powerful documentaries of the year...makes you look at the world in a new light." London Daily Mirror |
In his second inaugural address, President Bush pledged to "bring democracy to the world". In a speech lasting 23 minutes, he mentioned the words 'democracy' and 'liberty' 21 times. Most of the world, it is fair to say, will have recoiled, many in fear...
Bush's speech was significant because it finally emptied noble concepts like 'democracy' of their true meaning - government, of, by and for the people. Never before have people in the west shown such disenchantment with the democracy they vote for and the version they get. Never before has most of humanity registered such alarm at the ambitions of a great power.
The War on Democracy demonstrates the brutal reality of the America's notion of 'spreading democracy'; that, in fact, America is actually conducting a war on democracy, and that true popular democracy is now more likely to be found among the poorest of Latin America whose grassroots movements are often ignored in the west.
John Pilger conducts an exclusive interview with President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. Pilger also goes to the United States and in some remarkable interviews, speaks exclusively to US government officials who ran the CIA's war in Latin America in the 1980s. This reveals more about US policy than all the statements and postures of recent times; it also reveals how what's happened in Latin America is a metaphor for how the rest of the world is being "ordered."
The War on Democracy, however, is a hopeful film, for it sees the world not through the eyes of the powerful, but through the hopes and dreams and extraordinary actions of ordinary people. Although set mostly in Latin America, it is a metaphor for all the world.
The thrust of John Pilger's latest film is a constant theme in all his work: that great, rapacious power is far from invincible and that people power is enduring. Photaographed in high definition video, few films have been as timely as The War on Democracy.
Other films by John Pilger are Breaking the Silence, Stealing a Nation, New Rulers of the World, Palestine is Still the Issue, Paying the Price: Killing the Children of Iraq, Inside Burma, and the four films in the Documentaries that Changed the World series: The Quiet Mutiny, Death of a Nation, Year Zero: The Silent Death of Cambodia, and Do You Remember Vietnam?.
Note: THE WAR ON DEMOCRACY has been shown in theaters in several countries around the world, but it does not have a US theatrical distributor.
Reviews
"The War On Democracy is brilliant. John Pilger is the world's most important documentary film maker. He exposes the myths of U.S. empire, and also shows us the growing resistance to U.S. domination and neoliberalism. Pilger asks the bold questions that the establishment media have not asked, reminding us of the power of journalism and documentary film to help us understand the world -- and change it."
"This is a film that can provide important visual evidence that will set the story straight once and for all about the nature of the coup against Hugo Chavez in Venezuela in 2002. The sections on Chile and Guatemala, for example, were particularly enlightening. But it is Mr. Pilger's interview with Duane Clarridge, the chief of the CIA's Latin America division from 1981-1984, which is absolutely essential viewing. It is rare to capture on film a more honest, combative, and bone-chilling defense of the U.S. policy of destroying 'uncooperative' democracies abroad than Clarridge will provide."
"John Pilger did an excellent job at pulling it all together and gives us a powerful resource that will help us understand what U.S. foreign policy is really about. I highly recommend it!"
"A War on Democracy leads the viewer to confront U.S. Latin America policy head on. Pilger is a master guide through the maze that is Latin American history and the continuous attempts of the U.S. government to thwart democracy and exploit the people of Latin America. What Pilger does best is allow us to see that there is hope and ultimately the people of Latin America will be victorious."
"John Pilger and his associates have a lot to answer for! They have dared to present harsh, stubborn facts about American foreign and national security policy in a period where we have been propagandized to avert our eyes from the multiple truths of things, events and conditions as they are. They have shown not only the arrogance, but also the stupidity of leaders and their advisors who deceive others and themselves. And finally, these American leaders seek to demean, damage, if not destroy the chances that the defenseless and the wretched have to teach us, the well heeled but deceived so that we will cease acting like heels, fools, and occupiers. This film is an important teaching tool that should be used at the college level and beyond, in commercial theaters, unions, and churches."
"An unsparing assault on US political hypocrisy in the Western Hemisphere. Nevertheless, if we can't rely on the world's greatest democracy to protect human rights in the Americas, John Pilger assures us there are lots of little people who are ready, willing and able to do so for themselves--whether the US likes it or not."
"Thoughtful and thought-provoking...Very highly recommended viewing for civil rights activists, political reformers, and the general public in this current political season,The War On Democracy is a welcome and necessary addition to academic and community library collections."
"It is to be applauded for its extensive interviewing, its selection of government officials (active and retired), and a host of witnesses to tragedies throughout Latin America, and unabashed critical analysis. Recommended."
"Perhaps the most poignant moment in John Pilger's latest documentary, The War on Democracy, comes during an interview with Sister Dianna Ortiz, the U.S. nun tortured by Guatemalan security forces in 1989. 'I've heard people say that what happened in Abu Ghraib is an isolated incident,' she says, with a mix of outrage and disbelief. 'And I just shake my head and say: Are we on the same planet? Aren't you aware of our history? Isn't history taught in the classroom about the role of the U.S. government in human rights violations?' The answer, of course, is no. And that is the film's raison d'etre: to tell the story of U.S.-sponsored terror in Latin America."
"You'll come away feeling angry, inspired, informed and thoroughly entertained...the strength of Pilger's absorbing and emotive film lies both in the broader context it provides and the dots it skilfully connects...The great struggle on the Latin American continent of the last 500 years is largely unknown in the West, it is an ongoing story of control, empire and resistance that Pilger has successfully captured at what could be a pivotal moment. * * * *"
"Extraordinary documentary. A fascinating look at the social and economic history of a continent which is frequently overlooked in the news. The United State's own notion of democracy comes across as positively Orwellian...[Pilger's] passion for the subject and dedicated research pay off superbly...[and] make for gripping viewing. A brilliantly-researched and sometimes shocking insight into the democratic position of those countries whose dealings with America are more along the lines of slave than political poodle.****"