Film Series
"Central America and the Cold War"
Wednesday evenings, 6-9 PM, April 6-May 4, 2005
129 McKenzie Hall

April 6	Under Fire (127 minutes, color, 1983)
	Directed by Roger Spottiswoode, this is a fictional drama, a romance set during the Nicaraguan revolution. As US representatives of the press – including characters played by Nick Nolte and Gene Hackman – learn about the revolution they are covering, they come to have sympathy for the Sandinistas. Hackman plays a character modeled after Bill Stewart, whose fate had a strong impact on US public opinion about support for the dictator Anastasio Somoza. A counterrevolutionary mercenary, played by Ed Harris, offers a Cold War perspective, moving from a fight in Africa to Nicaragua to try to stop the Sandinistas from coming to power. Sandinista leader, “Rafael,” recalls the revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara. See: http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=51711. Professor Stephanie Wood (346-5771) will introduce the film and lead any discussion following the screening.
	[Source for the image of the film cover: http://images.amazon.com/images/P/6303471641.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg.]

April 13	Coverup: Behind the Iran/Contra Affair (72 minutes, color, 1988)
	An award-winning feature-length documentary, directed by Barbara Trent, “Coverup exposes several of the most disturbing chapters in the history of U.S. covert foreign policy. It presents a tale of politics, drugs, hostages, weapons, assassinations, covert operations and the ultimate plan to suspend the U.S. Constitution. Coverup was the first film to reveal the 'October Surprise' hostage deal (the Reagan/Bush campaign deal with Iran to delay the release of the 52 American hostages until after the 1980 election), and is the only film which presents a comprehensive overview of the most important stories suppressed during the Iran Contra hearings.” [Quote from: http://www.empowermentproject.org/pages/coverup.html.] One of the people interviewed is a UO graduate who worked for the CIA. Professor Carlos Aguirre (346-5905) will introduce the film and lead any discussion following the screening.
	[Source for the image of the film cover: http://www.empowermentproject.org/pages/coverup.html#ordercoverup.]

April 20	They Can Cut All the Flowers, But They Will Never Stop the Spring (40 minutes, color, 1990s)
	This documentary, directed by Lois Wessel, Bruce Petschek, and Larry Stowell, with a title borrowed from Pablo Neruda, is the story of Ben Linder, an international activist from Oregon who was volunteering on a hydroelectric project in a small Nicaraguan community in 1987 when he was killed by the Contras. The Contras were a counter-revolutionary force organized and funded by the U.S. government in an effort to bring down the Sandinista government. Photography by Barbara Wigginton, among others. Wigginton, an Oregonian, made another documentary, Displaced by War: A New Documentary about the People of Nicaragua (1988) that we have in the Knight Library. A room in the EMU is named for Linder, and his mother, Elisabeth, will be present at our conference, when the room will be re-dedicated. Spanish Instructor Bryan Moore (346-0577) will introduce the film and lead any discussion following the screening.
(also 4/20)	The Unapologetic Life of Margaret Randall (59 minutes, color, 2002)
	Also on April 20th. Directed by Lu Lippold, this is a sympathetic yet no-holds-barred biography of an international activist who has lived in Mexico, Cuba, and Nicaragua and published about 80 books, including some about women’s participation in revolution in Central America. Randall had to sue the United States to have her citizenship reinstated after living abroad, as the FBI saw her as a dangerous subversive. Randall will be a speaker at our conference. For more information, see: http://www.citypages.com/movies/detail.asp?MID=3341. Randall’s personal collection has been donated to the University of New Mexico; see: http://elibrary.unm.edu/oanm/NmU/nmu1%23mss663bc/nmu1%23mss663bc_m3.html. Professor Stephanie Wood (346-5771) will introduce the film and lead any discussion following the screeing.
	[Source for the image of the film cover: http://calendar.walkerart.org/index.wac.]

April 27	Romero (102 minutes, color, 1989)
	Directed by John Duigan, this is a docudrama about the last three years in the life of Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador. Romero was assassinated twenty-five years ago, in March 1980, after having spoken out against the military and paramilitary “death squads” that were conducting a terror campaign in suppressing a brewing revolution. To no avail, Romero had also asked then US President Jimmy Carter to stop funding the repressive Salvadoran regime. Stars Raul Julia. For an interview with Julia, who is sympathetic about Romero’s life, see: http://158.123.198.5/byoc/workbook/ROMERO.htm. Professor Carlos Aguirre (346-5905) will introduce the film and lead any discussion following the screening.
	[Source for the image of the film cover: http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0098219/.]

May 4	The Sixth Sun: Mayan Uprising in Chiapas (57 minutes, color, 1996)
	This is a film by Saul Landau and Meridian Productions, Inc., headed up by Meredith Burch of Eugene, Oregon. It treats the Chiapas uprising led by the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) in 1994, and the confrontation between impoverished rural people, large landowners, and the military. Landau considers the context of global economic integration and the impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which he sees as largely negative. The film features a segment on the peace mediations led by Bishop Samuel Ruiz, a liberation theologian and defender of human rights, who will be a speaker at our conference. For more information, see: http://www.afn.org/~iguana/archives/1998_09/19980910.html. Professors Stephanie Wood (CSWS 346-5771) and Analisa Taylor (Romance Languages, 346-5813) will introduce the film and lead any discussion after the screening.
	[Source for the image from the film: http://www.mediarights.org/search/fil_detail.php?fil_id=01658.]

Sponsor: Latin American Studies. For more information, please contact Stephanie Wood, 346-5771 or swood@uoregon.edu.