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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us March 4, 2006 2006 AIFF Selections Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room Directed by Alex Gibney, “Enron” is the inside story of one of history’s greatest business scandals, in which top executives of America’s seventh largest company walked away with more than a billion dollars while investors and employees lost everything. Based on the best-selling book “The Smartest Guys in the Room” by Fortune reporters Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind and featuring insider accounts and incendiary corporate audio and videotapes, Gibney reveals the almost unimaginable personal excesses of the Enron hierarchy and the utter moral vacuum that posed as corporate philosophy. The film comes to a harrowing dénouement as we hear Enron traders’ own voices as they wring hundreds of millions of dollars in profits out of the California energy crisis. As a result, we come to understand how the avarice of Enron’s traders and their bosses had a shocking and profound domino effect that may shape the face of our economy for years to come. The film was nominated for the 2006 Independent Spirit Awards Best Documentary, the 2005 International Documentary Association’s Best Documentary and the 2005 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize. Darwin’s Nightmare “Darwin’s Nightmare” is a clear-eyed examination of the underbelly of globalization and was named Best Documentary at the American Film Institute/ Discovery Channel SilverDocs Festival and the European Film Awards. Feeling more like sci-fi/horror than documentary, the film is the stranger-than-fiction tale of two relentless killing machines: the Nile Perch which, over the course of a few decades, ate through everything that used to live in Tanzania’s Lake Victoria; and the foreign capitalists who introduced that non-native fish in order to sell it to European consumers. Losing out to both of these were the local Tanzanians who once lived off the lake’s bounty, and now, literally, are left with bones and rotting carcasses. Director Hubert Sauper has been making award-winning documentaries for the last 12 years. “The old question, which social and political structure is the best for the world, seems to have been answered,” he observes. “The ultimate forms for future societies are ‘consumer democracies,’ which are seen as ‘civilized’ and ‘good.’ In a Darwinian sense the ‘good system’ won. It won by either convincing its enemies or eliminating them. In Darwin’s Nightmare, I tried to transform the bizarre success story of a fish and the ephemeral boom around this ‘fittest’ animal into an ironic, frightening allegory for what is called the New World Order.” The Death of Kevin Carter Each day, Kevin Carter left the security of white South African suburbia to capture nightmarish images that provoked outrage and contributed to the global condemnation of apartheid. Yet Kevin’s most evocative image came from Sudan, where he photographed a starving girl being stalked by a vulture. Back in Johannesburg, Kevin rejoiced as Nelson Mandela was elected president, but he soon found himself haunted by the decisions he made as a photojournalist — and as a human being. Winning the Pulitzer Prize was vindication that his work had been worthwhile, but it did little to ease Kevin’s torment. Only weeks after being bestowed with the honor, Kevin carried out a terrible act of desperation — an act that, 10 years later, seems to embody the anguish of an entire nation: whether to be a witness or a savior. Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin On the evening of VE Day, May 5, 1945, Norman Corwin presented a radio program that galvanized and electrified the nation. The broadcast, “On a Note of Triumph,” marked the end of a long national struggle. Today, Corwin is 93 years old and teaching a regular schedule of classes at USC. Although he has always had his admirers and still collects a regular steady stream of honors, few outside the radio industry are familiar with this visionary from the “golden age of radio.” This film recounts the course of “On A Note of Triumph,” demonstrating the lasting effect it has had on our culture. It also takes a close look at a man who continues to hold the banner for a rare mix of high journalistic standards and artistry. God Sleeps In Rwanda “God Sleeps In Rwanda” is narrated by Rosario Dawson of Rent and Sin City fame. In the 1994 Rwandan genocide as many as 1 million lost their lives in 100 days. With the focus of killing on men, the country was left nearly 70 percent female. This handed Rwanda’s women an extraordinary burden and an unprecedented opportunity. Stepping into roles traditionally held by men, Rwandan women changed their world. In a culture that historically prohibited women from performing even the most rudimentary of tasks, they are now becoming heads of households and business owners, mayors, legislators and ministers of state. The movement is not just political but also deeply personal. The film won the Best Short Documentary at the Tribeca Film Festival, the Golden Gate award for best of documentaries, shorts, animation and others at the San Francisco International Film Festival. Street Fight “Street Fight” chronicles the bare-knuckles race for mayor of Newark, N.J. between Cory Booker, a 32-year old Rhodes Scholar/Yale Law School grad, and Sharpe James, the four-term incumbent twice his age. The film follows Booker as he campaigns through Newark’s housing projects and squares off against an old-style political machine — the kind now vanished from most of America — which uses police and code inspectors to crush opponents. By election day, the climate becomes so heated that the federal government is forced to send in observers to watch for cheating and violence. The battle sheds light on important American questions about democracy, poverty and — perhaps most important — race. In a surprising twist for an election between two African-Americans, the mayor accuses Booker of not being “really black,” causing voters to examine how we define race in this country. “We tell our children to get educated,” one Newarker says, “and when they do, we call them white. What kind of a message does that send?” “Street Fight” tells a story of democracy that is very different from those stories presented in campaign films like The War Room or Journeys with George. In Newark, elections are not about spin-doctors and media consultants staging photo ops. In Newark, it is said, elections are won and lost in the streets. Membership passes for the 2006 AIFF are available now. Member film and party tickets will be available on-line and by mail in early March and at the AIFF box office at the Varsity Theatre March 20. Tickets go on sale to the general public March 22. For more information on Ashland Independent Film Festival, how to become a member or the AIFF in general, visit www.ashlandfilm.org. 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