Remarkable Howard Zinn Documentary on the Sundance channel

G_j

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Thu May-19-05 12:37 PM
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Remarkable Howard Zinn Documentary on the Sundance channel

Edited on Thu May-19-05 12:38 PM by G_j

"What can I say that will in any way convey the love, respect, and admiration I feel for this unassuming hero who was my teacher and mentor, this radical historian and people-loving 'trouble-maker,' this man who stood with us and suffered with us? Howard Zinn was the best teacher I ever had, and the funniest."
� Alice Walker
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www.sundancechannel.com

HOWARD ZINN: YOU CAN'T BE NEUTRAL ON A MOVING TRAIN

Thursday 05.19.2005
07:30PM

Thursday 05.19.2005
04:30AM

Saturday 05.28.2005
03:30PM

Tuesday 05.31.2005
09:00AM

DVD
HOWARD ZINN: YOU CAN'T BE NEUTRAL ON A MOVING TRAIN
directed by Deb Ellis
and Denis Mueller

YEAR
2004

77 MINS, Color/B&W

Teacher, activist, historian and author. Howard Zinn's personal journey took him from a bookless working-class flat in New York to a prestigious position at Boston University. For the past-half century, Zinn has been one of the leading voices of the American left, voicing opposition to American power abroad, championing civil rights at home and chronicling the history of working people. In a profile in courage and conviction, documentarians Deb Ellis and Dennis Mueller tell the inspiring story of Zinn's life and teachings. TVPG (AC) Stereo

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MOVIE REVIEW
'Zinn' displays the courage of his convictions
By Wesley Morris, Globe Staff | June 25, 2004

http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2004/06/25/zinn_displays_the_courage_of_his_convictions/

If Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" leaves you hungry for another movie about someone fighting the government on behalf of truth, justice, and the average American, "Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train" might hit the spot. It's a brisk introductory documentary that makes a useful omnibus profile of the antiwar activist, historian, and author of "A People's History of the United States."
<snip>

If Zinn weren't such a compelling, compassionate figure, and if his dedication to ideas of governmental honesty and human equality weren't so ineffable, it'd be easier to dismiss Deb Ellis and Denis Mueller's film as a commercial for a peacekeeping professor's lifestyle. (Zinn, who's still a professor at Boston University, has a warm, cozy-looking house.)

But the film, which won the audience documentary award at this year's Provincetown Film Festival, remembers to show Zinn at work, particularly the years he spent in the throes of the Vietnam War. There's footage of him talking to the press about negotiations with the North Vietnamese to free three American airmen held hostage. Zinn, who has a slight, rangy build, and a bright, almost cheerful, demeanor, is unique among peace protesters: During World War II he was a bombardier in the Air Force, participating in air raids in Europe. So his stance against war has an empirical advantage. In 1968, on the streets of Hanoi, he was on the other end of a US bombing campaign.

<snip>
The ideas are generous and inclusive rather than divisive: Zinn wants history to be seen and to be experienced from every possible perspective. And he so passionately wants people to use their conviction to change the world that you might feel bad just sitting there watching a movie about it.

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Free radical
Historian Howard Zinn makes history
BT MATT ASHARE

http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/movies/reviews/documents/03931538.asp

<snip>

....if Fahrenheit 9/11 unveils the problem, then You Can�t Be Neutral on a Moving Train offers the hope that there indeed are solutions.
<snip>

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