Toronto Socialist Action Presents

Rebel Films

Friday, March 26 - 7 p.m. Capitalism: A Love Story 2009, 127 minutes. A documentary directed, written by and starring Michael Moore. The film centers on the financial crisis of 2007-2010 and the recovery stimulus, while putting forward an indictment of the current economic order in the U.S. and capitalism in general. Topics covered include Wall Streets' "casino mentality", for-profit prisons, Goldman Sach's influence in Washington, the poverty-level wages of many airline pilots, the large wave of home foreclosures, and the consequences of "runaway greed". Commentary by Socialist Action co-editor Barry Weisleder will be followed by an open discussion period.

Thursday, April 1 - 7 p.m. War Made Easy 2008, 72 minutes. This study reaches into the Orwellian memory hole to expose a 50-year pattern of government deception and media spin that has dragged the United States into one war after another from Vietnam to Iraq. Narrated by actor and activist Sean Penn, the film exhumes remarkable archival footage of official distortion and exaggeration from LBJ to George W. Bush, revealing in stunning detail how the American news media have uncritically disseminated the pro-war messages of successive presidential administrations.

Friday, April 9 - 7 p.m. The Age of Stupid 2009, 92 minutes. British film by Franny Armstrong, director of McLibel and founder of 10:10, and first-time producer Lizzie Gillett. The film is a drama-documentary-animation hybrid which stars Pete Postlethwaite as a man living alone in the devastated world of 2055, watching archive footage from around 2008 and asking "Why didn't we stop climate change when we had the chance?"

Friday, April 16 - 7 p.m. American Casino 2009, 89 minutes. This new documentary by Andrew and Leslie Cockburn is about the mortgage crisis in the US and the effect that it has had on African-Americans living in Baltimore. They explain how sub prime mortgages were repackaged and spread across the financial system, creating more risk and putting the US financial system in jeopardy. The Cockburns argue that the mortgage companies were essentially engaged in predatory lending. Families who thought their mortgages would cost $800 a month suddenly found that they cost $2000 a month. The results were devastating. Entire neighborhoods were hollowed out and some of the Baltimore residents interviewed in the film (all of whom had jobs) wound up homeless. Commentary by Socialist Action member Christian Whittall, followed by open discussion period.

Friday, April 23 - 7 p.m. Crude: The Real Price of Oil 2009, 105 minutes. This is an inside look at one of the largest and most controversial legal cases on the planet, the infamous $27 billion "Amazon Chernobyl" case in Ecuador. CRUDE is a real-life high stakes legal drama set against a backdrop of the environmental movement, global politics, celebrity activism, human rights advocacy, the media, multinational corporate power, and rapidly-disappearing indigenous cultures. Presenting a complex situation from multiple viewpoints, the film examines a complicated situation from all angles while bringing an important story of environmental peril and human suffering into focus.

Each of the films in this series will be preceded by a brief introduction,  and will be followed by a commentary, and an open floor discussion period.

OISE, 252 Bloor St. West, Room 2-212 at the St. George Subway Station. Everyone welcome. $4 donation requested.