June 2013


Last updated on June 1, 2013. Please check back later for additions.

Contents

  • Coming Attractions: Summer 2013 Trailer Program NEW DATE
  • The Cinema Lounge
  • AFI Docs
  • Adams Rib Previews AFI Docs With Sky Sitney JUST POSTED June 17
  • Q&A with Director Alex Gibney: We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks
  • Fill the Void: Q&A with Director Rama Burshtein
  • Dirty Wars: Q&A with Investigative Journalist Jeremy Scahill
  • We Need to Hear From You
  • Calendar of Events

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    Last 12 issues of the Storyboard.



    Coming Attractions: Summer 2013 Trailer Program

    The summer edition of the DC Film Society's twice-annual "Coming Attractions" trailer program is 7:00pm on June 4 at Landmark's E Street Cinema. Bill Henry and Tim Gordon will once again serve as hosts and as usual there will be lots of giveaways and door prizes.

    Some of the trailers to be shown might include the latest Superman flick, Man of Steel animated films Epic and Monsters University, Baz Lurhmann's The Great Gatsby, Vince Vaughn in The Internship, Will Smith's After Earth, Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing, and 300: Rise of an Empire, Star Trek: Into Darkness, Elysium, Iron Man 3, The Hangover Part 3, Turbo, Now You See Me, The Wolverine, The Lone Ranger, World War Z, and maybe a few extras.

    An updated list of trailers to be shown is posted on the website.



    The Cinema Lounge

    The next meeting of the Cinema Lounge will be on Monday, June 17 at 7:00pm. This month's topic is "Documentaries: The Original Reality Programs."

    The Cinema Lounge, a film discussion group, meets the third Monday of every month (unless otherwise noted) at 7:00pm at
    Barnes and Noble, 555 12th St., NW in Washington, DC (near the Metro Center Metro stop). The meeting area is on the second floor, special events area. You do not need to be a member of the Washington DC Film Society to attend. Cinema Lounge is moderated by Adam Spector, author of the DC Film Society's Adam's Rib column.



    AFI Docs 11th Film Festival

    From the Press Release

    AFI Docs presented by Audi (formerly Silverdocs) presents 53 films from 30 countries June 19-23. The festival's Opening Night film is Letters to Jackie (Bill Couturié) and Closing Night film is Caucus (AJ Schnack). Errol Morris, this year's 2013 Guggenheim Honoree, has been picked for his contributions to the documentary genre.

    Other notable filmmakers presenting their work include Patrick Creadon (If You Build It), Sean and Andrea Nix Fine (Life According to Sam), Barbara Kopple (Running From Crazy) and Lucy Walker (The Crash Reel).

    The festival's new all-day forum for thought leaders, filmmakers and audience members, the AFI Catalyst Sessions: The Art of Moving Reality, will focus on immigration, education, intellectual property and humor in politics.

    "2013 is a year filled with dynamic changes: After ten years, the festival previously known as Silverdocs is now AFI DOCS presented by Audi" said Sky Sitney, Festival Director. "AFI DOCS reflects that we have expanded to a new environment in downtown Washington, DC which will be easily accessible to audiences eager to discover this year's most compelling documentaries. At the same time, we are continuing a full slate of programming at our longstanding venue, the AFI Silver Theatre & Cultural Center in Silver Spring, MD. At AFI DOCS, America's premier showcase for documentary film, we present the most provocative, challenging and compelling investigations of reality that filmmakers from America and around the world have conjured over the last year."

    Visit the website.



    Adam's Rib Previews AFI DOCS with Festival Director Sky Sitney

    By Adam Spector, DC Film Society Member

    Ten years ago the American Film Institute took a chance on Silverdocs, a film festival devoted entirely to documentaries. The gamble paid off as Silverdocs became a key documentary showcase and provided innumerable opportunities for filmmakers. For me and so many other film lovers in the DC area, it grew into an annual event. So I was somewhat concerned upon learning that Silverdocs is now AFI Docs. Instead of residing solely at the AFI Silver and nearby screens in Silver Spring, the revamped festival is split between the Silver and various DC venues. I sat down with Festival Director Sky Sitney to discuss the changes and this year's highlights. Check it out
    in my new Adam's Rib column.



    We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks: Q&A with Director Alex Gibney

    By James McCaskill, DC Film Society Member

    Julian Assange and his Wikileaks website seem to be spawning a cottage industry in the past few years. We've had one documentary (Luc Hermann and Paul Moreira's 2011 film, Wikileaks: War, Lies and Videotape), the UK TV series (Wikileaks: The Secret Life of a Superpower, 2012, and DC Film Festival's Open Night film, Underground: The Julian Assange Story (Robert Connolly, Australia, 2012). Benedict Cumberbatch (playing Assange) and James McAvoy (playing the German technical expert, Domscheit-Berg who had a contentious breakup) are in The Fifth Estate.

    But right now we have Alex Gibney's documentary, We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks (US, 2012).

    At a recent preview screening at Landmark's E Street Cinema on May 21, Gibney was interviewed by Josh Gerstein, White House reporter for Politico specializing in legal and national security issues. The following are extracts from that Q&A.

    Josh Gerstein: This is a timely film with the Department of Justice crackdown on journalists. What do you think about this legal action?
    Alex Gibney: It's been a slow momentum through Bush to Obama. The Executive Branch does not like to give up power. The more they have, the more they want. Obama promised openness but has classified more documents.

    Josh Gerstein: Tell us about your interview with Julian Assange.
    Alex Gibney: I'm not sure what the novelty is. Julian has given many interviews over the past few years. Julian has a limited view. He demanded money and when he did not get that he wanted final cut rights. Didn't get that either. There is a certain irony to someone claiming free speech political asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy as their president has a history of arresting reporters. Another point where Julian has misled was his claim of a committee reviewing to redact names from the Manning dump of hundreds of thousands of classified documents. There was no 'committee', just Manning. Only a handful of names were redacted.

    Josh Gerstein: Your documentary downplays the reliability of his being deported from Sweden to the US. Is he in criminal jeopardy?
    Alex Gibney: He may be in jeopardy. He has confounded the situation by targeting his followers to vilify the two women in Sweden who have brought rape charges against him. Was it an attempt to get the women to drop their charges? I found no evidence that Sweden has plans to deport him. No charges have been filed against him as he must be in Sweden's physical custody before charges can be made. An Alexandria Grand Jury is still investigating him so charges could be brought. Julian has a way of twisting the facts into ways that are not accurate. Most people don't know that Julian has four children by four different women. At first the Swedish women only wanted him to take an HIV test as the condom broke. He refused but has later, after they filed charges, agreed to the test.

    Josh Gerstein: There is a modest role for the the NY Times in the movie. More Guardian (UK newspaper) and Australian sources.
    Alex Gibney: There is a lot to cover in this film. Digital chinks in negotiating with Julian. A lot of people talked about Julian and the journalists.

    Josh Gerstein: You brought in Bradley Manning.
    Alex Gibney: I started the story about Julian and Wikileaks. I thought that a central character had gone missing: Bradley Manning. Julian has become a large character. Fiction films are underway based on him. The Guardian was preventing me from talking with Julian as they have deals for film and books. He has a far more balanced image: not a perfect hero, not perfect villain.

    Josh Gerstein: You cover a lot of people: Assange, Manning, Domscheit-Berg (who was once Julian's right hand man until he felt betrayed by Domscheit-Berg), former CIA Director Michael Hayden, Adrian Lamo (the hacker who turned Manning in to the FBI).
    Alex Gibney: There are a lot of people. Three hours, thirty minutes in the first cut. State Department is well covered. A lot of details but we had to focus on certain core elements. You can't do everything in a movie. A lot of those interviewed exaggerated their story. The purpose of the film is to get people to think. It is against the law to over classify. Never been a government official to be prosecuted for doing that.

    We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks opened May 31 at the AFI Silver Theater.



    Fill the Void: Q&A with Director Rama Burshtein and Producer Asaf Amir

    By Ron Gordner, DCFS Member

    Fill the Void is directed by a female Hassidic Orthodox Jew and filmed within the community. The film centers on an Orthodox family in Tel Aviv where the 18 year old daughter Shira is looking forward to an arranged marriage. When her older sister Esther dies in childbirth, Shira's marital plans are put on hold. How can her newly widowed brother-in law cope with raising a newborn baby and also begin looking for a replacement wife and mother of his child? How Shira and her family face the dilemmas they are presented with is a rich cinematic adventure into religious and family life and sacrifices. The film screened in September 2012 at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and was later named the 2012 Israeli Oscar nomination for best foreign language film. Both the film and actress Hadas Yaron won the Israeli Film Academy awards. Hadas also was named best actress at the 2102 Venice Film Festival. Note: spoilers may be contained in the Q&A.



    Audience Question: It seems that it is not illegal to marry your sister or brother-in-law in Israel, but is this not allowed in some countries?
    Rama Burshtein: I am not aware in what countries it is not legal. (Audience member says she thinks it is not legal in France or Canada--but the audience quickly says that is not true.) Again I don't know of it being illegal anywhere, but also it is not required in the Orthodox community. It is not considered doing a mitzvah to do this in the family. So I wondered how could this happen also, but when researching it, you find that the family values are so strong that at the end I felt yes it could be very natural to fall in love with your big sister's husband after your sister has died. The family allows it so it can happen.

    Audience Question: Are any of the actors from the Orthodox community?
    Rama Burshtein: All the extras are from the community, but the main actors (except for the matchmaker) are from the secular community.

    Audience Question: Is this your first movie?
    Rama Burshtein: It is my first official film, although I have been doing films for women within the Orthodox community for years. Those are small films with only women in them and have simple grammar and are done on small budgets. The Orthodox community does not show films from the outside world. So this is a first doing such a big film for me, although it was made for $1 million.

    Audience Question: I understand this was started as a Sundance program. How has it changed since your original project started?
    Rama Burshtein: I made changes in Sundance and used their great lab. We made DP and scene changes but by all means it did not end there. I worked on it later also with changes.

    Audience Question: Has the Orthodox community has seen it and if so, how they have reacted to the film?
    Rama Burshtein: This was filmed by an insider to the Orthodox community. The film will be released in Israel next month (October 2012) so I will have to wait for the Israeli outside comments, but in my small community it has been very well received. The community is usually very suspicious of outsiders trying to interpret their religion and lifestyle, but in this case it is different. So I will have to wait and hope that the other Orthodox communities will like it also.

    Audience Question: How would a woman not of Orthodox faith react to the film? Do the woman really have much of a say in their future?
    Rama Burshtein: First I did not make this film for the Orthodox community, I made it for Israel at large and other countries, which is why I am at this and other festivals. I do feel that the older women in the film do have a say in their lives, but it is a bit different than the voice being upfront. But they do manage the whole thing really. They are strong and her choices in the end are not forced on her and are not about a duty. These are the choices she makes. It's a movie about family, choice, and complication with that drama. But I still see it as a very feminist film, although I am not a feminist in any sense. I think I present the women in the film as being very quietly strong. I don't think a man could present them this way.

    Audience Question: Could you discuss the note that Shira gave to the rabbi? What was your decision-making there?
    Rama Burshtein: It was in the script and shot, but I saw that when I showed the note that the audiences got very confused. She says in the note, "Please close up my heart." I feel it is clear that her heart is open to where the rabbi did not bless the union the first time, but people interpreted it differently. So I left it out and you can decide what it means.

    Audience Question: Is Shira happy at the end?
    Rama Burshtein: It's open for interpretation. It doesn't matter what I meant, I find that everyone sees his/her own film so that is up to your perception.

    Fill the Void is scheduled to open June 7 at Landmark's Bethesda Row Theater.



    Dirty Wars: Q&A with Jeremy Scahill, Investigative Journalist

    By Annette Graham, DC Film Society Member

    A screening of Dirty Wars was held May 30 at Landmark's E Street Cinema. Investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill, author of the international bestselling Blackwater, was present for discussion. Kelly Jane Torrance, movie critic at the Examiner, moderated. Dirty Wars is a documentary which follows Jeremy Scahill into the hidden world of America's covert wars, from Afghanistan to Yemen and Somalia.

    Kelly Jane Torrance: How do you ever end a war on terror? Terror is a nebulous concept that can be defined to be anything. Didn't just this week President Obama say war on terror was over?
    Jeremy Scahill: No. It's been reported, but it certainly isn't over. People look at the Somali thing and say, "You're brave for doing that." But the real heroes are the unfamous journalists who are Yemeni, or Iraqi, or Afghans, or Somalis who take the real risk. If you look at the journalists who were killed around the world over the past year, the overwhelming majority of them are not Americans and the overwhelming majority of them are not reporting in English. And there are journalists missing today in Syria and elsewhere and so I try to carry their stories with me. If those of us that have a platform don't speak up for jouranlists when they are in prison or when they are targeted or when they are harassed, regardless of what their politics are, then we're not doing our job as journalists. And Abdulelah Haider Shaye, the journalist in the film is still in prison and he released a statement the other day, in a note smuggled out of jail, saying that the only person keeping him in prison is President Obama. It's my understanding that he is losing his mind in solitary confinement. I think President Obama is trying to have it both ways. On the one hand he gave a speech that for many liberals probably resonated very strongly for them. You have an American president who won a Nobel Peace Prize who is a constitutional law professor, who is engaged in policies that, if John McCain had done it, liberals would have been screaming impeachment in the streets, but instead there's this cheerleading of the counterterrorism policies of the administration. I think a lot of it is just liberals and democrats have completely checked their conscience at the coatroom of the Obama presidency for five years and I hope it doesn't... (audience claps) ... fundamentally dishonest about it. I find it fascinating that there's a whole parade of Bush-era officials, former CIA director Michael Hayden, Jack Goldsmith who was a lawyer for the White House, who had been very sharp, and I think accurate in their critique of the Obama administration's counterterrorism policy. I take what they say with a grain of salt. Michael Hayden's fond of pointing out that the liberals went after us for warrantless wiretapping and the constitutional law professor president doesn't even seek an indictment against an American who wants to bump someone off in an operation in a country that isn't engaged in shooting at U.S. forces. I do think we are in a time of incredible partisan dishonesty and it doesn't serve the country. I've never gotten more hate mail in my life than I've received under the Obama presidency and it's from liberals. I get called a terrorist sympathizer almost every day, or a simplistic view that if you have a criticism of a democratic president therefore you want the republicans to win. I'm not a democrat or a republican, I'm a journalist and I'm going to be the same journalist under democrats or republicans. To use Sarah Palin's phrase I think there was an attempt to put lipstick on a pig with that speech and I think that the president is sincere when he says that civilian deaths are going to haunt him. I don't think he's an evil man in a lair plotting the destruction of the world. But I think he wants to assert the right to bomb in any country that he and his administration through largely secretive processes, determine there be a threat to U.S. persons. Six hundred days after Anwar al-Awlaki was killed, President Obama finally said that the United States did it. There had never been a confirmation other than leaks that the U.S. actually did the drone strikes that killed these four American citizens. Three in Yemen, Anwar al-Awlaki and Samir Khan who is a Pakistani American whose family is living in North Carolina. Jude Mohammed was killed in Pakistan and actually was indicted unlike the other three. And then Anwar al-Awlaki's son and that's the one I find most egregious. Anwar al-Awlaki they admitted directly targeting. But the other three Americans they used the phrase "not specficially targeted." Which is sort of Orwellian. What does that actually mean? It could mean that they were killed in one of these signature strikes where they are looking at patterns of travel or connections--did someone go into a mosque with someone we're watching? Were they with a group of military-age males? I do think that the president owes it to the American people to explain why this teenager was killed and to do it without relying on some bizarrely carefully legalistally phrased term like "not specifically targeted."

    Kelly Jane Torrance: When Bush was in power we saw mass demonstrations and people protesting. But this has disappeared during the Obama administration. You mentioned warrantless wiretapping. The Patriot Act was renewed under Obama, under a Democratic Congress. We are just not hearing about this. Why do you think that is? Is it because it's a team town, you are on one team or the other?
    Jeremy Scahill: I think that is part of it. I'm one of the few people left of the spectrum that believes that there is a real story with Benghazi and that it should be thoroughly investigated. The U.S. ambassador was butchered. And I don't think we understand the full scope of what happened there. But what has taken place is that this carnival of crazy has taken over and conflated it with the birther stuff and the scary black man who is president narrative. But there is a real story to be investigated there. And a lot of liberals are acting as if it's all just nutty conspiracy theory. This should be investigated. It isn't about whether you are liberal or conservative, democrat or republican. Particularly for journalists, it should be about what is the truth. And I have deep respect for some conservative journalists. I don't like their views of the world but I think they're good journalists. And they have been covering the story in a meaningful deliberate way. And I think that all of us have to back away from this almost obscene cultish partisanship that particularly surrounds this administration, although it's also true when republicans are in power, they fold up the ranks around these people. But to answer your question, Thomas Drake is here who had his career ruined, for blowing the whistle on things that were being done in the name of the American people and with our tax dollars, that he felt was necessary to expose. And they tried to ruin him. And John Kiriakou is in prison right now at a time when Jose Rodriguez, one of the architects of the torture program, is running around on book tour being featured in documentaries and treated as a legitimate member of society. A guy who helped set up the archipelago of black sites. But the tone was set when President Obama said, "We need to look forward and not backward." I'm going to try that the next time I get pulled over for speeding (audience laughs).

    Kelly Jane Torrance: I wish we had more journalists that were willing to engage with other journalists no matter what their views, in an adult and intelligent conversation.
    Jeremy Scahill: I thought it was fascinated when Medea Benjamin had the audacity to disrupt the president. She was asking questions of the president that are never asked by the White House Press Corp. The elite journalists don't ask those questions. It was a local reporter, Ben Swann, who asked President Obama about the killing of the American teenagers. At all these press conferences, with few exceptions, there are just softballs lobbed at the guy on these issues. And these are life and death issues that should be debated. I'm sure there are people who disagree with things I said in the film. I want to have that debate. I don't want to be talking about Michelle Obama's bangs... It's all chuckles and games when Obama jokes about drone strikes at the correspondents association dinner ... I brought up the Thomas Drake case because I'm against what the Justice Dept did to James Rosen, the seizure of the records of the Associated Press. Our constitutional law professor, Nobel Peace Prize Winning President is overseeing a serious crackdown on whistleblowers and sending chills through the national security reporting community by targeting reporters who are aggressive in their reporting.

    Audience Question: Why didn't you discuss Blackwater more in the film especially the connection with JSOC?
    Jeremy Scahill: When you are making a film and you don't want it to be ten hours long, a lot of stuff gets left on the cutting room floor. Part of it was that I wanted to shine a light on a different aspect of this; I had spent years of my life on the Blackwater beat and I was quite frankly sick of having them in my life. Part of it is looking at how the Obama administration was continuing some of the core programs of the Bush-Cheney apparatus and how there was very little public outcry over the very same policies being implemented by this White House. I did a lot of reporting on the role of Blackwater under the Obama administration but I don't think it would have been appropriate to use minutes of the film doing it when we had to cut other stuff out that was new and that I hadn't been working on for five years.

    Audience Question: What did you discover really had happened in Gardez?
    Jeremy Scahill: My FOIA request is now going on its third anniversary of not being replied to for the Gardez raid. I did an omnibus request for all of the documents on it, attempting to see if there were any disciplinary actions taken against the individuals who had done the raid. This was a particularly gruesome raid where pregnant women and an Afghan senior police commander were killed. These things happen all the time in Afghanistan. Someone who is a rival of another family will feed false intelligence to American military or U.S. officials. Maybe they're trying to settle a grudge, maybe they're vying for a position--saying this guy who is a commander is really a terrorist. My understanding from talking to people who wouldn't go on camera is that the Americans had been told that it was a preparation for a suicide bombing or that there were IEDs being manufactured in this compound or cluster of houses. So when the JSOC team went in to do the raid, they believed they were heading into a hostile area and that anything goes. I have a moral problem with that but if you look at how things operate in Afghanistan, that's happening all the time. The difference here is that instead of realizing that they had been fed bad intel and ended up killing all these people and owning it--I don't think any of them would have been court martialed for that. It would have been--we got fed bad intel, someone came out of the house, we thought it was a Taliban guy and wanted to take them out before they took us out. That happens. The difference here is that they actually covered it up and tried to remove their rounds from the scene, and dug bullets out of the women's bodies and then lied--said it was actually an honor killing, or they had stumbled on a Taliban massacre, or portrayed themselves as heroes. My understanding is that nothing actually concrete happened to the men that did that. I think that some of them were reassigned, some were sent back to the U.S., I understand some are still in Afghanistan as operators. We'll see, but hopefully I'll end of up a FOIA request before I croak.

    Audience Question: What does the other side think of these issues and why do they think it is justified?
    Jeremy Scahill: We give that point of view. The argument that the White House makes to journalists is that the president is pursuing the least bad option available to deal with threats around the world. I know that there are people plotting to blow up airplanes, and plotting to poison water supplies. These things are real. The question for me is: What is the most effective way to address these threats? If you are actually creating more enemies than you are killing terrorists then you should rethink the policy. But I believe that the White House strategy is they want to preempt those actions. If there is even a whiff of a plot around someone they made a determination that it is better to take them out than to let them continue plotting. We call it dirty wars because this White House has effectively convinced a lot of people, particularly liberals that this is a clean way of waging war and that these civilian deaths are actually miniscule in number and that the civilian death toll is widely exaggerated. I don't think they even know who they are killing in many of these cases. Which is why I do think the signature strike policy, the idea that you are going to precategorize military age males in certain regions of Pakistan and Yemen, the two countries where they are doing this, as terrorists, and then posthumously once you kill then, declare that they were actively plotting in some way against the U.S.--we are killing people whose identities we don't know against whom we don't necessarily have any concrete evidence. It's precrime, it's like Minority Report. My response is: Have you actually done an analysis on who you have killed and what the impact of signature strikes have been in the countries you claim to be taking the fight to the terrorists? Are you actually taking the fight to legitimate terrorists or are you creating more enemies through your policy? I think that's a debate we should have in this country.
    Audience: Have you asked the administration these questions?
    Jeremy Scahill: Yes. I have tried to ask them about specific cases. They will send you their boilerplate answer that is just their talking points on drone strikes in general. There's very little that you can get out of them. They're not going to tell you something worth anything.

    Kelly Jane Torrance: Is that part of their strategy, do they think it is easier to kill a bunch of people on the other side of the world that we don't know than to risk another 9/11? Most presidents would consider it embarrassing for something like that to happen on their watch.
    Jeremy Scahill: The Republicans would have eaten Barack Obama alive if there was another significant attack on U.S. soil. There were probably political considerations when they were viewing it through the lens of Obama's political legacy. I think, for them, the idea that you can portray it as a smarter war where you're not deploying U.S. troops, where you're using drones and you're targeting individuals in rather lawless parts of the world, there's an attempt to portray it as a smarter, more effective counterterrorism policy that maximizes deaths of terrorists, minimizes civilian deaths, doesn't subject large scale numbers of American soldiers to being killed or maimed on the battlefield. I think that is the perspective. But a part of it is political. To me that is a bit scandalous too, that there are political motivations for the policy.

    Audience Question: It sounds like you are opposed to targeted killings. Should the drone program be moved from CIA to the military?
    Jeremy Scahill: I do not believe that the U.S. has the right to assassinate people around the globe in the way that's it's been done through both the Bush and Obama administrations. I think terrorism and terrorism plots are crimes and that they should be dealt with as crimes. We rush to militarize our solution to most of our problems in this country. War on crime--we have a paramillitarization of law enforcement, war on drugs--it's being paramilitarized and in some ways militarized. When the Bostom Marathon bombing happened you had calls for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to be sent to Guantanamo and treated as an enemy combatant. We get into a mob mentality where we're going to round up the pitchforks and torches and go out and mete out citizens justice against people. And if that's the kind of country we want to be then we should change the way we portray ourselves to the world and say that in certain cases we embrace enthusiastically mob violence or calls for just bumping people off without even having to present evidence against them. The thing about moving the drone program from the CIA to the military is in a way a sort of dog and pony show. The military can conduct operations under Title 50 of the U.S. code. They can conduct covert operations. The real question is if the drone program is going to remain a Title 50 activity meaning that it is covert and the U.S. can deny it or is it going to be clandestine where the planning of the mission will be kept secret and once the action has taken place the U.S. will ultimately own it? There's propaganda going on to imply that the military is going to be more accountable than the CIA. There are other factors at play. My personal belief on the issue of drones is that we focus too much on that one bit of technology. The most devastating strike in terms of civilian deaths that we know of in Yemen was the first missile strike that Obama authorized and it was not a drone strike. It was a cruise missile attack with cluster bombs which are like flying land mines. I think far more people have been killed in non-drone strikes under the Obama presidency than in drone strikes, through night raids, cruise missile attacks, AC130 attacks. People are right to focus in part on the drone issue. If we don't have a real discussion in this country about our views on assassination and the assertion that the U.S. can conduct these operations in any country it pleases, then we're just debating little bits and pieces of the technology and not actually cutting to the heart of the issue which is what do we think is an effective security policy? I think there should be a moratorium on these strikes in the spirit of George Ryan, former governor of Illinois when he implemented a moratorium on the death penalty. It wasn't because he was a flaming member of Amnesty International. It was because DNA evidence was presented to suggest that innocent people were being sentenced to death. When you are in a situation where there are potentially hundreds if not thousands of people who have been killed whose identities we don't know, we haven't had a real debate on the policy. All of us should be discussing this as a nation.
    Kelly Jane Torrance: In the past assassination used to be on well known political figures. But now it's people we don't know about. It's hard to get Americans to care.

    Audience Question: You've been talking about strikes policy. One thing that came right before Obama's big speech was the codification of all these policies into the playbook which is still classified. One idea is that instead of having strikes against anyone who threatens U.S. interest, that it will be people who threaten U.S. persons. Do you think that this will any effect on how strikes are carried out and do you thnk we will ever see the actual playbook?
    Jeremy Scahill: I think the president's speech probably reflects what he wants the policy to be. But when you start to drill down and you look at what military officials are saying about the signature strikes potentially continuing on for a decade plus, the New York Times which has been doing very good reporting on this issue, suggested that the signature strikes are going to continue on for several years, even beyond the drawdown in Afghanistan. The refining of the language to threatening U.S. persons--U.S. persons in theory could have their security threatened in any number of these plots. I think Obama is implementing a doctrine saying that when someone like me is in power, I'll really babysit this issue, and that's okay. But I don't want to leave that as the policy for the next president. So what they've done is institutionalize the assassination program and creating a framework where you can preclear regions or people for being taken out either in drone strikes or raids. I think we're going to look back a decade from now and realize that this administration made possible a continuation of the Bush-Cheney mentality the next time a Republican is in office. I imagine Dick Cheney fly fishing somewhere sort of salivating--even though he pretends to be against Obama, I think he's happy that Obama saved the day for them. Because he did clean it up and continue the program going forward.

    Dirty Wars opens on June 7 at Landmark's E Street Cinema.



    We Need to Hear From YOU

    We are always looking for film-related material for the Storyboard. Our enthusiastic and well-traveled members have written about their trips to the Cannes Film Festival, Karlovy Vary Film Festival, London Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto Film Festival, Austin Film Festival, Edinburgh Film Festival, the Berlin Film Festival, the Palm Springs Film Festival, the Reykjavik Film Festival, the Munich Film Festival, and the Locarno Film Festival. We also heard about what it's like being an extra in the movies. Have you gone to an interesting film festival? Have a favorite place to see movies that we aren't covering in the Calendar of Events? Seen a movie that blew you away? Read a film-related book? Gone to a film seminar? Interviewed a director? Taken notes at a Q&A? Read an article about something that didn't make our local news media? Send your contributions to Storyboard and share your stories with the membership. And we sincerely thank all our contributors for this issue of Storyboard.



    Calendar of Events

    FILMS

    American Film Institute Silver Theater
    AFI DOCS (formerly Silverdocs) runs from June 19-23. See above.

    A series of films by Olivier Assayas ends in June. Titles are Summer Hours, Demonlover, Boarding Gate and Clean.

    "Visionario: The Films of Guillermo del Toro" concludes in June with Pan's Labyrinth, Julia's Eyes, The Orphanage and Mama.

    "Ten Years of Film Movement" is a series of 15 international films originally distributed by Film Movement. Titles in June are Mother of Mine, How I Ended This Summer, A Screaming Man, Somers Town, XXY, King of Devil's Island and Shun Li and the Poet.

    Mel Brooks is the subject of the AFI Life Achievement Award Retrospective. June's films are High Anxiety, To Be or Not to Be, Spaceballs, The Elephant Man and 84 Charing Cross Road.

    A series of films by Howard Hawks which began in February continues in June with Part II. Titles are Gentlemen Prefer Blonds, Land of the Pharaohs, Hatari!, Rio Bravo, Man's Favorite Sport?, Redline 7000, and El Dorado.

    Special engagements in June include The Long Day Closes (Terence Davies, 1992) in a new 35mm print, The Graduate (Mike Nichols, 1967) in a new 35mm print, Nothing But a Man (Michael Roemer, 1966) in a new 35mm print and two films by Robert Bresson: The Devil Probably (1977) and A Man Escaped (1956). and We Won't Grow Old Together.

    The 2013 DC Caribbean Film Festival which began in May concludes June 2. See titles below.

    Freer Gallery of Art
    The 18th Annual Made in Hong Kong Film Festival begins with The Bullet Vanishes (Law Chi-Leung, 2012) on June 7 at 7:00pm and June 9 at 2:00pm. Vulgaria (Pang Ho-Cheung, 2012) is on June 14 at 7:00pm and June 16 at 2:00pm. Motorway (Soi Cheang, 2012) is on June 21 at 7:00pm and June 23 at 2:00pm. Cold War (Leung Longman and Sunny Lok, 2012) is on June 28 at 7:00pm and June 30 at 2:00pm. More in July.

    National Gallery of Art
    "Jean Rouch in Africa" is a short series of films by the French ethnographer. On June 15 at 2:00pm is the short film Les Maitres Fous (1954) shown with the feature length Jaguar (1956-67). On June 15 at 4:30pm is Petit a Petit (1970).

    "For Art's Sake: Britain's Seventh Art Productions" is a series of films on music, painting, theater and other art forms. On June 9 at 4:30pm is In Search of Haydn (Phil Grabsky, 2012) with a sneak peak at a work in progress In Search of Chopin. Seventh Art's producer and director Phil Grabsky will introduce the progam. On June 23 at 2:00pm is In Search of Beethoven (Phil Grabsky, 2009). On June 23 at 4:30pm is Manet: Portraying Life (2013) shown with Making War Horse (2012). On June 29 at 12:45pm is Leonardo Live (Phil Grabsky, 2012).

    Ballet-related films will complement the new exhibit "Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes, 1909-1929: When Art Danced With Music." On June 5, 12, 19, and 26 at 12:30pm are filmed performances of dances originally premiered by Diaghilev's Ballets Russes including The Rite of Spring, The Firebird, Afternoon of a Faun, Prodigal Son and Le Train Bleu.

    Special events in June include "Black Maria: Selections from the Festival" on June 8 at 3:30pm, the Washington premiere of Journal de France (Claudine Nougaret and Raymond Depardon, 2012) on June 16 at 4:30pm, Hunky Blues (Peter Forgacs, 2009 on June 29 at 2:30pm and Gebo and the Shadow (Manoel de Oliveira, 2012) on June 29 and June 30 at 4:30pm.

    "Selections from the Flaherty Seminar 2012" is on June 22 at 2:00pm. Moana of the South Seas (Robert Flaherty, 1926) is followed by selections from the Flaherty Seminar 2012 including The Creation as We Saw It (Ben Rivers, 2011), Coal Spell (Sun Xun, 2008), Three Men and a Fish Pond (Laila Pakalnina and Mamris Maskalans, 2008) and others.

    Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
    The Hirshhorn's "Summer Camp" series this year is devoted to dogs (not the Old Yeller kind) and Dr. David Wilt discusses the deranged dog genre before each screening. On June 6 at 8:00pm is The Breed (Nicholas Mastandrea, 2006); on June 13 at 8:00pm is Man's Best Friend (John Lafia, 1993); and on June 20 at 8:00pm is Cujo (Lewis Teague, 1983).

    National Museum of African Art
    A series of films about music, all shown at noon on Wednesdays. On June 5 at noon is Soul Power Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, 2008) documenting the 1974 music concert in Kinshasa, Zaire. On June 12 at noon is Living the Hipline (2007), a musical portrait of street life in West Africa. One June 19 at noon is La vie est belle (1987), featuring Soukous musician Papa Wemba. On June 26 at noon is Footsteps in Africa (2008), a music journey of the Saharan desert nomads of Mali.

    National Museum of the American Indian
    On June 15 at 7:00pm is People of the Kattawapiskak River (Alanis Obomsawin, 2012), a documentary about the housing crisis of the Cree in Northern Ontario.

    Museum of American History
    Two skateboarding films are shown in June. On June 21 at 6:30pm is Bones Brigade: An Autobiography (Stacy Peralta, 2012); some of the original members of the Bones Brigade will discuss the film after the screening. On June 22 at 6:30pm is Waiting for Lightning (2012) about pro skateboarder Danny Way, featuring his jump over the Great Wall of China. Discussion follows.

    Smithsonian American Art Museum
    On June 27 at 6:30pm is a program of films by Nam June Paik and his contemporaries.

    Washington Jewish Community Center
    On June 4 at 7:30pm is Nono, the Zigzag Kid (Vincent Bal, 2012), based on an award-winning novel by David Grossman and starring Isabella Rossellini.

    On June 9 at 3:00pm is Love Free or Die (Macky Alston, 2012), a documentary about Gene Robinson, a gay bishop in New Hampshire.

    On June 18 at 7:30pm is Yossi (Eytan Fox, 2012), a followup to Fox's previous film Yossi and Jagger.

    Goethe Institute
    "50 Years of French-German Friendship" which began in May, continues in June. On June 3 at 6:30pm is Swann in Love (Volker Schlondorff, 1984), inspired by the Marcel Proust novel. On June 24 at 6:30pm is Good Bye, Children (Louis Malle, 1987). One more in July.

    On June 26 at 6:30pm is One, Two, Three (Billy Wilder, 1961) starring Jimmy Cagney.

    The Goethe Institute is one of the locations for the "EuroAsiaShorts," a festival of short films from Europe, Asia and the US. On June 10 at 6:30pm are films from China and Germany. See below.

    On June 19 at 6:30pm is Soil Sample Kazakhstan (Stefan Kaegi, 2010), a documentary theater piece with an introduction by Stefan Kaegi.

    National Air and Space Museum
    On June 1 at 6:30pm is Hubble 3D (Toni Myers, 2012), a documentary about the repair of the Hubble Space Telescope. A lecture follows at 7:30pm with Kimberly Arcand and Megan Watzke, authors of a recently released book about the universe.

    Strathmore
    On June 13 at 8:00pm the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra accompanies West Side Story (Robert Wise, 1961). Marin Alsop conducts.

    French Embassy
    On June 11 at 7:00pm is Rengaine (Rachid Djaidani, 2012) about a Christian black man who wants to marry an Arab woman and the opposition of her family.

    The Japan Information and Culture Center
    On June 19 at 6:30pm is Tug of War (Nobuo Mizuta, 2012), a comedy based on a real event.

    The National Theatre
    The 2013 Summer Cinema series features the films of Jimmy Stewart. On June 17 at 6:30pm is Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock, 1955); and on June 24 at 6:30pm is The Philadelphia Story (George Cukor, 1940). More in July and August.

    National Archives
    On June 22 at noon is Our Nixon (2013), a documentary of the home movies taken by White House aides John Erlichman, H.R. Haldeman and Dwight Chapin. A panel discussion follows the screening, part of AFI Docs Film Festival.

    West End Cinema
    The "Czech That Film Festival" will show four Czech films on Wednesdays at 7:00pm in June. On June 5 at 7:00pm is Flower Buds (Zdenek Jirasky, 2011), winner of the 2011 Czech Lion for Best Film. On June 12 at 7:00pm is the comedy Men in Hope (Jirí Vejdelek, 2011). On June 19 at 7:00pm is Innocence (Jan Hrebejk, 2011), winner of two 2012 Czech Lion awards and nominated for six more. On June 26 at 7:00pm is Alois Nebel (Tomáš Lunák, 2011), based on the graphic novel. Winner of the 2012 European Film Award for Best Animated Feature Film and the Czech entry for 2012 Best Foreign Language Oscar.

    Interamerican Development Bank
    On June 12 at 6:30pm is Inocente (Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine, 2012), a documentary about a homeless teenager determined to become an artist. Discussion follows the screening.This film won an Oscar for Best Short Documentary.

    The Avalon
    This month's Greek film, Christmas Tango (Nikos Koutelidakis, 2011), is on June 5 at 8:00pm. The "Czech Lions" film for June is Lidice (Petr Nikolaev, 2011) on June 12 at 8:00pm. The French Cinematheque film is In the House (Francois Ozon, 2012) on June 19 at 8:00pm and the June film for "Reel Israel" is Playoff (Eran Riklis, 2011) on June 26 at 8:00pm, inspired by the life of Ralph Klein, Israel's most famous basketball coach.

    Italian Cultural Institute
    On June 7 at 7:00pm is the documentary Medici con l'Africa (Carlo Mazzacurati, 2012) about Doctors with Africa, which works with African health institutions.

    On June 12 at 7:00pm is La Scoperta dell'Alba (Susanna Nicchiarelli, 2012) with the filmmaker present for discussion.

    Wolf Trap
    On June 22 at 8:30pm is a sing-along for Grease (1978), projected on huge screens with lyrics included.

    Divas Outdoors
    On June 7 at 8:15pm is Queen Bee (1955) starring Joan Crawford, shown at the Hillwood Estate Museum and Gardens.

    The Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital
    On June 7 at 7:00pm is Three on a Match (Mervyn Le Roy, 1932) with Margaret Talbot (daughter of Lyle Talbot and author of book about him "The Entertainer") in person along with "Movie Mom" Nell Minow. A book signing and discussion follows the screening.

    Bloombars
    On June 4 at 7:00pm is Louise-Michel (2008), a black comedy featuring Yolande Moreau. Discussion afterwards. On June 7 at 7:00pm is Out of Respect: A Story of Five (Tess Gallun, 2010), a documentary about 5 homeless LGBTQ young adults searching for jobs, housing and support. Filmmaker Tess Gallun participates in a Q&A discussion via Skype.

    Workhouse Arts Center
    The "Dinner and a Movie" event for June is Blue Hawaii (Norman Taurog, 1962) on June 7 at 8:00pm.

    American University
    On June 20 at 6:30pm is The Band's Visit (Eran Kolirin, 2007), about a ceremonial band from Egypt and its visit to Israel. See the website for RSVP information. Location: 4400 Massachusetts Ave., NW Abramson Family Founders Room.

    Busboys and Poets
    On June 17 at 6:30pm is Belarusian Dream (Ekaterina Kibalchick), a documentary about Belarus after the 2010 presidential elections. At the 14th and V location.

    Alliance Francais
    On June 7 at 7:00pm is Le Bal des Actrices (Maiwen, 2009), about an actress and director studying her peers.



    FILM FESTIVALS

    AFI DOCS
    The AFI DOCS Documentary film festival (formerly Silverdocs) takes place June 19-23 at the AFI's Silver Theater and other locations. See above.

    The EuroAsia Shorts Film Festival
    Short films from Asia, Europe and the U.S. are shown at various locations. This year's theme is "the future." At the Goethe Institute on June 10 are films from Germany and China. At the KORUS House on June 11 at 6:30pm are films from Korea and Spain. At the Japan Information and Cultural Center on June 12 at 6:30pm are films from Japan and Italy. At the Letelier Theater on June 13 at 6:30pm are films from France and Vietnam. At the Italian Embassy on June 14 at 6:30pm are films from all the countries and on June 15 at 8:00pm is an open-air screening. See the website for more details.

    The Thirteenth Annual DC Caribbean Film Festival
    Titles include Festival of Lights from Guyana, Akwantu: The Journey from Jamaica, Three Kids from Haiti, Between Friends from Trinidad and Tobago, Holding on to Jah from Jamaica, Silent Music from Antigua and Barbudo, Toussaint Louverture from Haiti and The Condemned from Puerto Rico.

    BuddhaFest
    Six films are shown as part of BuddhaFest. The Opening Night film is One Track Heart: The Story of Krishna Das on June 20 at 7:00pm. Other titles are The Highest Pass with filmmaker Adam Schomer present to take questions, Digital Dharma: One Man's Mission to Save a Culture with director Dafna Yachine taking questions, This Dewdrop World, an Uncommon King, and Closing Night film Raw Faith.

    Crystal Screen Outdoor Films
    Movies begin after sunset at 1851 S. Bell Street in Crystal City. This summer's theme is "blockbusters." On June 3 is E.T. The Extraterrestrial, on June 10 is The Social Network, on June 17 is The King's Speech on June 24 is Crash, with more in July and August.

    NoMa Summer Screen
    This 13-week outdoor film series is held from May 22-August 21. All films are subtitled and shown at dark on Wednesdays. This year's theme is "Outlaw Heroes." On June 5 is The Princess Bride, on June 12 is The Italian Job (2003), on June 19 is Goonies and on June 26 is The Breakfast Club.

    U Street Movie Series
    Films are shown at sundown on the field at Harrison Recreation Center, 1330 V Street, NW between 13th and 14th Streets. On June 19 is TBA.

    Rosslyn Outdoor Film Festival
    This outdoor film festival is held at Gateway Park near Key Bridge at 1300 Lee Highway. All films begin at dusk; bring a blanket. "Summer School" is this year's theme. On June 7 is Risky Business (1983), on June 14 is Can't Buy Me Love (1987), on June 21 is Easy A (2010), and on June 28 is 10 Things I Hate About You (1999). More in July and August.

    Capitol Riverfront Outdoor Movies
    Movies are shown at 250 M SE Canal Park at sundown with "Marvel vs. DC Comics" as this summer's theme. On June 6 is Green Lantern, on June 13 is Iron Man, on June 20 is Batman and Robin, and on June 27 is The Hulk. More in July and August.

    Movies on the Potomac
    Films are shown approximately 20 minutes after sundown at the Plaza, National Harbor. Bring a lawn chair. The films for "Animation Fascination" are Brave on June 2, The Lorax on June 9, Madagascar 3 on June 16 Hotel Transylvania on June 23, and Rise of the Guardians on June 30.
    Movies on the Square (Rockville)
    Films are shown at 8:30pm at the Rockville Town Square on Wednesday nights. Bring a lawn chair or blanket. On June 12 is The Lorax, on June 19 is Skyfall, and on June 26 is The Dark Knight Rises. More in July and August.



    TALKS WITH ACTORS

    Shakespeare Theater
    On June 3 at 7:30pm Christopher Plummer, winner of numerous awards (Oscar, Emmy, Tony, Golden Globe) will appear at the Sidney Harman Hall to talk about his career on stage and screen with Michael Kahn, Artistic Director of the Shakespeare Theatre Company.



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