Thursday, July 22, 2010

Submission Update & Films That Make Us Think

Some of you have emailed to inquire about my progress on getting Stefan Jarl’s documentary Submission: In Defense of the Unborn to an American audience, so today, an update. The DVD is in the hands of the person in charge of documentaries at HBO. I have been told the decision can take up to three months. Several knowledgeable sources have confirmed that art cinemas no longer show documentaries, nor do regular cinemas for that matter. Why not? What makes multi-plex owners think citizens will not pay to see serious movies? Instead, the local cinema shows mostly junk, churned out by the American movie industry. We are fortunate here in Wellfleet to have WHAT and Jeff Zinn, son of one of my heroes, Howard Zinn. During the off-season, Jeff chooses to show documentaries and films that make us think and "edgy drama" that makes us think during high season. In Wellfleet, being made to think is seen as a positive. For at least nine months I have been active in trying to stop the local utility company from polluting our single-source aquifer with up to five herbicides, which I learned from Stefan’s film will indeed be toxic due to the “cocktail effect.” I had not heard of the documentary Blue Gold: World Water Wars, available since winter. Netflix characterizes it as “dark and cerebral.” I’m renting Blue Gold. How about you?