democracynow.org
Stories:
Acclaimed director and actor Robert Redford discusses his new film premiering at the Sundance Film Festival, "A Walk in the Woods," in which he co-stars with Nick Nolte. It is a comedy about walking the Appalachian Trail — and getting older. "What are you going to do with what time you have left? Are you just going to sit?" Redford asks. "One thing you don’t want to do is be a guy sitting in a rocking chair on a stoop somewhere in a bathrobe and say, 'I wish I would've, I wish I could’ve.’ So, you make the most of your life." He also talks about his plans to play former CBS news anchor Dan Rather in the upcoming political drama, "Truth," based on Rather’s 2005 memoir about how he was fired after reporting that George W. Bush received special treatment in the U.S. Air National Guard during the Vietnam War. "CBS wanted a relationship with the administration. They asked him to back off," Redford notes. "He said, 'I can't do that. My job is to tell the truth.’" Redford also discusses the attacks earlier this month on Charlie Hebdo magazine.
Image Credit: sundance.org/projects/a-walk-in-the-woods
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. We’re broadcasting from Park City, Utah, from Park City Television. Here in Park City, the 31st annual Sundance Film Festival is underway. We’re spending the hour with its founder, Robert Redford, the Oscar-winning director and acclaimed actor. I asked Robert Redford about his latest film, A Walk in the Woods, in which he co-stars with Nick Nolte. It’s a comedy about walking the Appalachian Trail—and getting older.
ROBERT REDFORD: The reason I was attracted to it, one, it was a comedy. I wanted to do a comedy. I hadn’t done a comedy in a long, long time, and I kind of missed it. And I was doing some very serious, dramatic work, which was fine. I just wanted to do a comedy. I had done comedy on Broadway and in earlier films, and I wanted to go back to that. I felt that a lot of the comedy in the last few years was making its way with kind of—it was lower-grade, lower-grade comedy. It was good, it was fun, but it was kind of one-dimensional, in that it was—I won’t say bathroom humor, that’s too negative, but it was a certain kind of quality. It was down there, it was low. And I thought I would like to do a comedy that had pathos mixed in with it. This comedy was about friendship, a friendship lost for 30 years and then regained. And that journey on the Appalachian Trail was how it was found again, by two guys that once were very close, had a parting of the ways, went in totally different directions, and came back together again because no one else would walk the trail with my character. So I was stuck with this guy I hadn’t seen in 30 years. And I just thought that’s a great story.
AMY GOODMAN: So, he has a titanium knee and a trick knee?
ROBERT REDFORD: Yeah, yeah.
AMY GOODMAN: Let’s go to a clip.
ROBERT REDFORD: That’s the least of it.
AMY GOODMAN: Let’s go to a clip of A Walk in the Woods.
BILL BRYSON: [played by Robert Redford] Hey, Stephen.
STEPHEN KATZ: [played by Nick Nolte] Bryson, hey.
BILL BRYSON: Hey, Steve-o. This is my wife.
STEPHEN KATZ: You’re the British nurse I’ve heard so much about.
CYNTHIA BRYSON: [played by Emma Thompson] Certainly hope so.
STEPHEN KATZ: Good to meet you. That’s a little bit like a bear hug.
BILL BRYSON: Are you limping?
STEPHEN KATZ: Well, it is a titanium knee, and this one’s a trick knee. You know, it’s [inaudible]—say, can I get that? I get this—I’ve got to eat every hour or so; otherwise, I get these—
BILL BRYSON: What? Episodes?
STEPHEN KATZ: No, no, they’re—
BILL BRYSON: Seizures?
STEPHEN KATZ: Seizures, that’s right.
BILL BRYSON: You get seizures?
STEPHEN KATZ: Mm-hmm, yeah. You know, I ate some contaminated phenylthiamines about 10 years ago. Totally changed my system, you know.
BILL BRYSON: I thought you said you were in shape.
STEPHEN KATZ: I am.
AMY GOODMAN: That’s Robert Redford and Nick Nolte, Emma Thompson, as well. And especially for our radio listeners who aren’t watching this on television, the part where you heard a candy machine working, that was Nick Nolte sort of revving up, getting some fuel before his walk.
ROBERT REDFORD: Yeah.
AMY GOODMAN: Isn’t it also a film about getting older?
ROBERT REDFORD: Yeah, I think so. I think it’s certainly about that. It’s about what—what are you going to do with what time you’ve got left? Are you just going to sit? And one thing you don’t want to do is be a guy sitting on a rocking chair on a stoop somewhere in a bathrobe and go, "I wish I would have. I wish I could have. I should have." You don’t want to have that. So you make the most of your life. And these guys hit a point where they see the end of the road. It’s not that far away. What are you going to do? One last shot, one last effort to break through monotony, break through convention. Are you still young enough and able enough to try something risky? That might change the whole picture. So I think that was the motivation.
AMY GOODMAN: Do you continue to try risky things?
ROBERT REDFORD: Yes.
AMY GOODMAN: What do you consider—
ROBERT REDFORD: To me, there’s—the only risk is not taking a risk, in my mind. I think risk is what moves things forward. You’re not going to make it all the time. You’re going to fail. You’re going to—you won’t achieve what you want to. But as long as you’re willing to take a risk to move things forward.
AMY GOODMAN: When have you failed and seen that as—
ROBERT REDFORD: Right now in this interview.
AMY GOODMAN: And seen that as—
ROBERT REDFORD: Oh, I have. We don’t need to go into it. There’s a lot of times in my life.
AMY GOODMAN: And seen it as, actually, in retrospect, because it’s very hard to feel it when you fail, but as an important turning point that actually led you in a direction you wanted to go in?
ROBERT REDFORD: Well, I think taking chances, again, is risk, taking a chance. I began my life—my early adult life, I thought I was going to be an artist. I had gone to Europe to study art. I saved up enough money to last for a year kind of on the bum. And that travel exposed me to a real education that I didn’t feel I was getting in the classroom. Getting out in the world and experiencing other cultures, other languages, different people with different views, that became my education. And so, I thought, to keep myself company, I would have a sketchbook. I would go to bars and hitchhike along the way, and I would sketch people. I was alone. And so, I thought I was going to be an artist. And I studied in Paris, and I came back to New York. And through a series of serendipitous turns, I ended up in a dramatic school. I wasn’t planning that. But what happened when I went into it was something clicked that I hadn’t expected, and my life took a different turn. And suddenly I was an actor.
AMY GOODMAN: Do you draw now?
ROBERT REDFORD: Pardon me?
AMY GOODMAN: Do you draw now? Do you paint?
ROBERT REDFORD: I do. I keep—yeah. It’s the way I tell a story to myself. If I’m sitting in a restaurant and I’m alone—I used to be able to sketch—
AMY GOODMAN: Are you ever alone in a restaurant?
ROBERT REDFORD: Yeah, yeah, I am. What I would do would be, because I was alone, to keep myself company, I would sketch people I would see. I can’t do that now, because somebody’s looking at you. But it gave me great comfort. And I would sketch—there was a story being told at another table, and I would sketch the person or the couple or the group, and then I would imagine what their story was. And on the right-hand side of the page I would write what I thought their story was, to correspond to the picture. So, in my mind, I was putting the picture and the story together, in my mind. And so, that’s what I thought I was going to do with my life, ’til I became an actor.
AMY GOODMAN: Truth. Can you talk about this new film you’re working on?
ROBERT REDFORD: Truth is a story—it’s a wonderful story. It has elements of Greek tragedy to it. Dan Rather, well-known anchor, along with the two other anchors from the other networks—it was that moment in time where Dan was at the top of his game, and he fell from grace very quickly. His producing partner, Mary Mapes, they were producing incredible work. And he ran afoul of his bosses, CBS, at that time, who felt that he was pushing a little too hard against George Bush on his Air National Guard record, which was flawed and had holes in it. And he was beginning to pursue what the real truth behind that was.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you just remind people what that National Guard story was about?
ROBERT REDFORD: Well, it got complicated. It had to do with a memo. But what it was, was that the administration was covering up the fact that he didn’t show up, didn’t do a physical, didn’t show up, went to Alabama to campaign rather than showing up for duty, and all that kind of stuff.
AMY GOODMAN: Way back when he served in the National Guard.
ROBERT REDFORD: Way back, way back. And so, Mary Mapes was doing the research, getting the facts together, and Dan was putting it on the air. But CBS didn’t want it, because they wanted a relationship with the administration. They asked him to back off. He said, "I can’t do that. My job is to tell the truth." They said, "You can also tell it too much." So, anyway, there was a tension that ended up—because he did not stop. He said, "This is my job." So they fired him, and her. And that was a fall from grace that took place in a very short amount of time. So this film is just about that moment where he was at the top and then fell.
And I talked to Dan. I called him before I did the film. And he’s a hard character to play, for me, because he’s so well known. You know, you’ve got a public face that’s very well known. And you want to be careful. You don’t want to imitate that person. That could become a caricature. You also want to find the essence of the person, so you can be truthful to his type of person. So I called him and told him about this. I asked him if he was going to be uncomfortable with it. He said no. I said, "Well, then tell me something. What was it about you and Mary Mapes?" because Cate Blanchett plays Mary Mapes in this. "What was it?" And he says, "I’ll tell you what, Bob. It was about loyalty." He said, "She and I were loyal to each other. And we were loyal to our boss. The heartache, the tragedy was that we were—our faith in our bosses wasn’t acknowledged. There was no reciprocation for that. And so, we were fired. But we stayed loyal to each other. We’ve stayed loyal all these years to each other because that was the core of our relationship: loyalty to get to the truth. And we were kind of done in by our own bosses, who we were both very loyal to. We believed in them." I thought, that’s a great story.
AMY GOODMAN: Do you see—do you—
ROBERT REDFORD: It wasn’t my idea.
AMY GOODMAN: Are there any echoes of All the President’s Men in this?
ROBERT REDFORD: Maybe a little bit. I think in All the President’s Men, what attracted me to that story was showing what two reporters did that nobody knew anything about. Everybody knew about Nixon. Everybody knew all the headline stuff. But these two guys were doing something nobody else was doing. They were digging and digging.
HARRY ROSENFELD: [played by Jack Warden] There’s been a break-in at Democratic headquarters. They were bugging the place. Woodward, Bernstein, you’re both on the story. Now don’t [bleep] it up.
NARRATOR: Redford.
BOB WOODWARD: [played by Robert Redford] I’m Bob Woodward of The Washington Post. Mr. Markham, are you here in connection with the Watergate burglary?
MARKHAM: [played by Nicolas Coster] I’m not here.
NARRATOR: Hoffman.
CARL BERNSTEIN: [played by Dustin Hoffman] Hi, this is Carl Bernstein of The Washington Post, and I was just wondering if you can remember—
NARRATOR: All the President’s Men, the story of the two young reporters who cracked the Watergate conspiracy.
OPERATOR: White House.
BOB WOODWARD: Howard Hunt, please.
OPERATOR: He might be in Mr. Colson’s office.
BOB WOODWARD: Who’s Charles Colson?
CARL BERNSTEIN: Did you know a Howard Hunt?
SHARON LYONS: [played by Penny Peyser] Well, the White House said he was doing some investigative work.
CARL BERNSTEIN: What do you say?
NARRATOR: They stumbled into leads.
BENNETT: Certainly it comes as no surprise to you that Howard was with the CIA.
BOB WOODWARD: No, no surprise at all.
NARRATOR: They tripped over clues.
BOB WOODWARD: We’d like to see all the material requested by the White House.
LIBRARIAN: All White House transactions are confidential.
CARL BERNSTEIN: This whole thing is a cover-up that’s right under our noses.
NARRATOR: And piece by piece, they solve the greatest detective story in American history.
BOB WOODWARD: There is no way the White House can control the investigation.
BOOKKEEPER: [played by Jane Alexander] I don’t want to say anymore, OK?
CARL BERNSTEIN: You’ve been threatened, if you tell the truth?
BOB WOODWARD: Is there a cover-up?
DEEP THROAT: [played by Hal Holbrook] Can’t you understand what you’re on to?
BOB WOODWARD: Mitchell knew?
DEEP THROAT: Of course Mitchell knew.
BEN BRADLEE: [played by Jason Robards] Woodward, Bernstein, get in here!
NARRATOR: At times, it looked as if it might cost them their jobs.
BEN BRADLEE: You guys are about to write a story that says the former attorney general, the highest-ranking law enforcement officer in this country, is a crook.
NARRATOR: Their reputations.
RONALD ZIEGLER: Why is the Post trying to do it? I don’t know.
NARRATOR: Perhaps even their lives.
AMY GOODMAN: Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward.
ROBERT REDFORD: Yeah, Bernstein and Woodward, yeah. And to me, it was about their relationship. One guy was a Jew, the other guy was a WASP; one guy was a Republican, the other guy was a liberal. They didn’t like each other. One guy was a good writer, the other guy wasn’t so good. Didn’t like each other, but they had to work together. And I thought, that, to me, is a great story. I wasn’t interested in anything other than what these guys did at a certain time that nobody else was doing, and what was their relationship like. That, to me, is what All the President’s Men was. Now, if you want to liken that to Truth, I don’t know that you can, other than that it’s about the media, and it’s about hard work. But aside from that, I don’t think there’s much correlation, because Dan was well known. These guys weren’t.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, Robert Redford, I want to thank you very much for being with us.
ROBERT REDFORD: No, thank you.
AMY GOODMAN: And I want to end with this question. "Je Suis Charlie," the—what took place in France, the whole idea of freedom of the press, freedom of speech, but also the backlash, the concern about Islamophobia and communities under siege, whether we’re talking about in France or here at home, the Black Lives Matter movement, your thoughts on where we are today?
ROBERT REDFORD: Well, I mean, now we get down to democracy. I mean, I think it’s very important to listen to other people’s points of view, to be open, to be tolerant. I think what happened in Paris is tragic. I feel a, really, responsibility, because I spend a lot of time there. But I think it has to do with not acknowledging a segment of society. It sounds to me—I don’t know enough about it, but it seems that it had a lot to do with the Muslim population that was sort of cast aside. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but it seems like that was at the core of what was going on. Well, if it had been more inclusive, had that community been more included, given jobs, made feel a part of the social environment they were in, I am not sure this would have happened. So I’m all for diversity and democratic behavior. That might not have happened.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, Robert Redford, I want to thank you very much for being with us.
ROBERT REDFORD: Thank you. Thanks you. Stay on the air.
AMY GOODMAN: The Oscar-winning director, acclaimed actor, Robert Redford, founder of the Sundance Film Festival, now in its 31st year here in Park City, Utah. That does it for the broadcast. If you’d like a copy of today’s show or any of the Sundance broadcasts, you can go to our website at democracynow.org. On Friday, January 30th—that’s tomorrow—I’ll be speaking at Dolly’s Bookstore on Main Street here in Park City at 1:00 p.m.
|
As we broadcast from the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, we spend the hour with its founder Robert Redford, the Oscar-winning director, actor and longtime environmentalist. Our conversation begins with last week’s vote by nearly half of the Senate to refuse to formally acknowledge the existence of man-made climate change. "I think the deniers of climate change are probably the people who are afraid of change. They don’t want to see change," Redford says. "Too many in Congress are pushing us back into the 1950s." He also responds to the attempt by the new Republican majority in Congress to approve construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. "I had a lot of experience with oil," he says, noting that he once worked in the oil fields. "I think it should stay in the ground. We’re so close to polluting the planet beyond anything sustainable."
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman. We’re broadcasting from the Sundance Film Festival in its 31st year. And we’re joined once again by the Sundance founder, Robert Redford. Yes, the acclaimed Oscar-winning director, the actor, the environmentalist.
Welcome back to Democracy Now!, Bob.
ROBERT REDFORD: Good to see you, Amy.
AMY GOODMAN: It’s great to have you with us. Well, we’re going to jump right into it, because just a week ago the Senate refused to formally acknowledge the existence of human-induced climate change. Forty-nine Republicans voted against a measure noting human activity significantly contributes to climate change. They voted no. Your response?
ROBERT REDFORD: Well, that’s no surprise. I think it’s pretty obvious what’s going on. I think the deniers of climate change are probably people who are afraid of change. They don’t want to see change. They want to hang onto—they want to hang onto the way things were. And my feeling about the deniers and a lot of other issues that are out there is that too many—too many in Congress are pushing us back into the 1950s. That’s what it feels like. They’re pushing us back in time, rather than forward in time. And I think—why is the reason? Maybe they’re afraid of not being able to be included. I don’t know what it is. But it’s kind of sad, because it’s so polarized and so mean-spirited.
AMY GOODMAN: Your sense of the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell?
ROBERT REDFORD: My sense of him? I don’t think much of him. What I do think of him, probably I shouldn’t be talking about. No, I’ll tell you, where he really crossed with me was when Obama was elected and he announced, as the minority leader—he said, "Our chief objective is to go against him on everything he tries to do." And when he said that, I said, "And this guy is going to be a speaker? This feels like un-American." It felt like an un-American thing to do and say. And from that point on, he’s been relentless in denying and going against. Not great for the American public. A bad representative, in my mind.
AMY GOODMAN: And one of their first acts is to push for the Keystone XL pipeline. It’s very strange to be here with you now, because just a few years ago we were talking about this very subject. President Obama still hasn’t ruled on it, but the Republicans and some Democrats—joined by some Democrats—are pushing forward on the Keystone.
ROBERT REDFORD: Well, it’s the same old—it’s the same old same old—in other words, all about jobs. But the bigger picture is not being looked at. The bigger picture is not being told. In other words, let’s just start with the idea of a pipeline going that many miles, 1,200 miles, whatever it is. And there’s never been a leak in a pipeline? Leaks already: Montana, San Jose, California. Show me—why don’t you look at the history of pipelines? My suggestion would be: Don’t listen to these guys, because they’re pushing something that’s about yesterday. But look at the history. Look at the history of pipelines, wherever, all over. Find out how many leaks. How secure have they been? How have they destroyed certain communities with their leaks and so forth? There’s never been a leak? So those issues aren’t being addressed. Then there’s the job issue, you know, and there’s dispute on that. And I say, look at the history. But mainly, look at the facts. Don’t listen to the argument we should have it. Just say, "Hold on. Let’s look at the history of pipelines. Let’s look at the facts"—but the true facts, not the ones hyped up by the GOP.
AMY GOODMAN: They also often say that we need this oil to move forward in America.
ROBERT REDFORD: Well, we also need alternative energy, too. I mean, I think that’s the future. I don’t think oil is the future. I think it should probably stay—and this is going to be an unpopular view, but I think—because I worked on an oil field as a kid. I worked in the Chevron oil fields in California. So I’ve had a lot of experience with oil. I think it should stay in the ground now. And I think that we are so close to polluting the planet beyond anything sustainable. I think we better start—say, let’s stop this argument about alternative energy is not going to produce enough jobs. To me, that’s a mistake, because it would produce an industry, and an industry would produce jobs. So I think somebody’s got to speak up for the fact that alternative energy is the way of the future, not oil, certainly not coal and gas. So that’s my feeling.
AMY GOODMAN: And your thoughts on the oil barons, the Koch brothers? It’s just been announced that they and their allied groups will pour $900 billion [sic] into the next election, doubling what they did in the last election—$900 million into the next election.
ROBERT REDFORD: Money is the name of the game. I mean, I think money is what moves the ball, and they’re moving the ball in their direction. I think it’s the wrong direction. It’s very narrow-minded. But they have the money to do it, so—it’s a free country.
AMY GOODMAN: So, some people might be saying right now, why am I talking to this famous actor, an Oscar-winning director, about issues like the environment and money in politics?
ROBERT REDFORD: Well, because I’ve been an—I guess you could call me an activist, since 1969. I’ve been involved in the environment from the standpoint of wanting to draw attention to what an alternative could be, rather than what we’ve been having. And I remember when I was at a conference in Vail, Colorado, and they talked about where all the energy was going. All the effort and the energy and the money was going to oil, gas, coal, and nothing was being contributed to the alternative energy.
And I thought, why? This stuff is going to run out. It’s not infinite. It’s going to run out. And it’s costly. And it pollutes our planet. If somebody doesn’t start thinking about what we’re going to develop for our survival—because I think we are a development-oriented society—it’s going to be a question of what we develop for our survival and what we preserve for our survival. And I think there’s been little to no talk about preservation, because those people that you’re talking about, the McConnells and people like that, they’re living so far in the past, they’re living so much in the past, seems like they’re afraid of the future.
AMY GOODMAN: That’s Robert Redford, Oscar-winning director, actor, environmentalist and founder of the Sundance Film Festival, now in its 31st year. His best-known films include Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President’s Men and The Sting. I spoke to Robert Redford last night here in Park City, Utah, at Sundance Film Festival headquarters. We’ve been broadcasting from Park City Television all week. Coming up, I ask Redford about the history of what’s now one of the largest independent film festivals in the country. It started with just 150 people attending the first year. Now it’s well over 45,000 people. We discuss the festival’s commitment to diversity and promoting women, people of color and young people—on both sides of the camera. I also talked to Redford about his new film premiering here at Sundance, which is a rare occurrence. It’s called A Walk in the Woods. We also talk about his documentary about the Colorado River. All that and more, coming up.
[break]
AMY GOODMAN: That’s "No KXL" by Bethany and Rufus. They were singing at a rally in downtown Manhattan ahead of the Senate’s vote on construction of the Keystone XL pipeline last November. Senate Democrats ultimately defeated the legislation by a single vote.
|
We play excerpts from a spoof video standoff between Robert Redford and Will Ferrell about efforts to conserve the Colorado River, which provides much of the American West with water. Redford also discusses the documentary, "Watershed," that he narrated and made with his son, Jamie Redford. The Colorado River flows nearly 1,500 miles from its source in the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of California. Along the way, most of its water is diverted by dams for agriculture and municipal uses, and now the river rarely reaches the Sea of Cortez. Redford notes the Native American and Mexican communities in the southern portion of the watershed "are being starved out. They’re having to move away because they can’t have agriculture there."
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman. We’re broadcasting from Park City Television in Park City, Utah, where the Sundance Film Festival is underway. Today we’re spending the hour with the man who founded Sundance, the Oscar-winning director, actor and longtime environmentalist, Robert Redford. As we continued the interview, I asked Robert Redford about his 2012 documentary, Watershed, about the Colorado River, which he made with his son, Jamie Redford, and also narrated. The Colorado River flows nearly 1,500 miles from its source in the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of California. Along the way, most of the water is diverted by dams, so that it now rarely reaches the sea. I asked Redford why he chose to focus on the Colorado River system, which provides much of the American West with water.
ROBERT REDFORD: I made a documentary about the Colorado River when I found out the Colorado River, which is an iconic trademark of America, you know, doesn’t reach its destination, doesn’t reach the Sea of Cortez. And a lot of people didn’t know that. They didn’t know why. And the seven states use that one water source. And when you add things like golf courses, when you add second-home development, and you add all that stuff, plus the fact that people need the water to survive, it’s a weight. So I thought it would be good to do a documentary that just illustrates what the deal is. And so, that’s why I did.
AMY GOODMAN: So I want to turn to a clip that’s on one of your websites about the Colorado River, and it’s a kind of conversation between you and Will Ferrell.
ROBERT REDFORD: Will Ferrell. That was supposed to be funny.
AMY GOODMAN: OK. Let’s let the audience judge.
ROBERT REDFORD: The Colorado River is one of the most loved and hardest-working rivers in the world. But we’ve overused it. Most years, the river dries up even before it reaches the sea. By adding just a small amount of water to the river’s flow, we can help bring life back to the wetlands and marshes in the delta. So, please, would you join me and RaiseTheRiver.org and find out how you can get involved?
WILL FERRELL: Hello there. Hello there. I’m William Ferrell. Recently we’ve been hearing some talk of a little problem in the Colorado River Delta. We got old Sundance riding around, trying to raise the Colorado River and restore its flow. And I say, "Do we really need more river?" I mean, hell, we’ve got plenty of ocean. Let’s move it. Let’s reconnect these things the old-fashioned way, the American way. The way to fix this thing is to send money, so myself and some other scientists can begin the process of moving a small portion of the ocean back toward the wet part of the river, from there to there. Now go to MoveTheOcean.org and send us your money.
ROBERT REDFORD: Hello, Mr. Ferrell. Thank you for your attention. But let’s keep the focus on the wetlands and the wildlife and the people of the delta region.
WILL FERRELL: You’re concerned about the migration patterns of the rufous-sided towhee? You know what I’m concerned about? Surfers. Specifically, American professional surfers. They suffer from a lack of adequate surfable coastline in North America and are forced to travel great distances to enter surf competitions in places like Fiji, Hawaii, Brazil—really far away, OK? We owe it to these fine men and women to move the ocean a few hundred miles in, creating more beach, more waves. Hey, Kelly, how would you feel about more ocean?
KELLY SLATER: Yeah, it sounds great. Love it.
WILL FERRELL: See? He’d love it.
KELLY SLATER: Move the ocean!
WILL FERRELL: Move the ocean.
KELLY SLATER: It was singing?
WILL FERRELL: I don’t think they want—I don’t think they want it sang. MoveTheOcean.org.
KELLY SLATER: MoveTheOcean.org
ROBERT REDFORD: Hello, Mr. Ferrell. I understand very well that you’re one of America’s most beloved entertainers. And you sure are in my book. And that’s—that’s good. Good for you. That’s why I’m sending you this message: Seek help, Will. Soon. You need it.
WILL FERRELL: Think about it, 400 miles of new oceanfront property, live-work space, tiki bars, high-rent condominiums. MoveTheOcean.org. Send me money instead.
AMY GOODMAN: So, Will Ferrell wants to move the ocean, you want to raise the river. Explain how you raise a river.
ROBERT REDFORD: Raising the river is just raising the issue of the river, I think. You know, the river not making its way to the Sea of Cortez, what’s the harm in that? Well, I’ll tell you: The harm is that the communities and the cultures that exist in the lower part of the basin are being starved out, they’re having to move away, because they can’t have agriculture there, because they don’t have the water. The water is being used up for other things. Had that water been allowed to continue on the way down, then there’s huge communities of Native Americans, Mexicans, who wouldn’t be starved away. They would be able to thrive. So I think that’s a story that needs to be told. People need to know a story like that.
|
We speak with director, actor and Sundance Film Festival founder Robert Redford about the festival’s history, now celebrating its 31st anniversary. Sundance is now among the largest film festivals in the country, with some 50,000 attendees. However, it looked very different when it began more than three decades ago. "The first year, there was maybe 150 people that showed up. We had one theater, maybe 10 documentaries and 20 films, and now it’s grown to the point where it’s kind of like a wild horse," Redford says. We also discuss the festival’s efforts to promote women, people of color and young people — on both sides of the camera. This comes as the latest "Celluloid Ceiling" report from researchers at San Diego State University has found men directed 93 percent of the 250 highest-grossing films of 2014. Women directed just 7 percent, a decrease of 2 percent compared to 1998.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: So you have a film, Robert Redford, that is premiering here at the Sundance Film Festival, and that’s pretty rare for you. I mean, you’re constantly—
ROBERT REDFORD: It’s very rare. Wasn’t my idea.
AMY GOODMAN: —premiering in Hollywood.
ROBERT REDFORD: It wasn’t my idea.
AMY GOODMAN: So, talk about this film that—well, you were supposed to do this with Paul Newman?
ROBERT REDFORD: Once upon a time, yeah.
AMY GOODMAN: And you chose the person who most reminded you of Paul Newman to replace him?
ROBERT REDFORD: No, no, it was originally—look, the history of this project goes back about 14 years—that’s how far—right after 2000. When I read the book by Bill Bryson, I literally laughed out loud, and I saw it as a possible third picture for Paul and I to do, because it had the same—it had the same tone, but a different environment. So I thought, "Well, that would be good." But then, as time went on, getting a script, that took a long time; getting a director, that took a long time; and then Paul’s health declined. And so, pretty soon it was obvious that he couldn’t do it. He said, "I can’t do it."
So the first thing that came to my mind was Nick Nolte, because I think that Nick—Nick and I are roughly the same age. I think we started—I personally think he’s a good actor, and I think he’s smart. He’s really interesting. Maybe a little undisciplined, but that’s sort of what makes it fun. So, he and I, I think, had very similar backgrounds when we were both young. I was—I was off the rails when I was young, and I pulled it together.
AMY GOODMAN: How did you pull it together?
ROBERT REDFORD: I just got—I came back from Europe. I went to Europe to study art, and it was a dark period. And I came back, and I decided I really needed to focus on a healthier life, got married, had children, started a career. That’s what did it.
AMY GOODMAN: Before we talk more about the film, mentioning Paul, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, it’s where you got the name for this festival?
ROBERT REDFORD: Well, yeah. I did not want it. I didn’t want it. I thought it was too self-serving. And so, the group that I was involved with, we were looking for a name for the area. And Sundance came up, and I said, "Well, it’s a great name, but I don’t want to use it, because it looks like it’s self-serving, because of the film." They said, "Well, it’s just a great name. It’s just a great name," and tried to use all kinds of reasons why it should be used. "If you get up to the top of the mountain, the sun dances on the snow." And I said, "Ugh, I don’t think it’s a good idea." But I was outvoted. I think it is a great name. I was just afraid of there being too much association, that I was looking to capitalize on the film. I said, "What if the film is a disaster?"
AMY GOODMAN: Can you believe that the Sundance Film Festival is 31 years old?
ROBERT REDFORD: No.
AMY GOODMAN: Do you think of it as one of your children?
ROBERT REDFORD: You know, it’s interesting. I think of it—because it started—it was a big idea back in 1985. It was a big idea with a small start, because there was no support. There was only one theater in Park City. Sundance, the place, is not here in Park City; it’s 40 miles away, higher up in the mountains, tucked away. It’s where our lab programs are. That’s where the development process is. That’s where our nonprofit, Sundance Development, for the documentaries and the film and the theater and so forth, music. Park City works out for us because they have something we need, which is theatrical distribution capability, and we give them something they need, which is a venue to attract people. So, the first year, there was maybe 150 people that showed up. We had one theater, maybe 10 documentaries and 20 films. And now it’s grown to the point where it’s kind of like a wild horse. I can’t begrudge it. I mean, that was the dream. It started as just a hope. Then, when it became a reality, it started to have its own momentum.
AMY GOODMAN: And the point of it? Since you certainly, you know, have great acclaim in Hollywood, you didn’t need another venue, as all the creative ways you participate in the film industry, as director, as an actor. So why Sundance? You had it made.
ROBERT REDFORD: Well, it wasn’t so much about me. It was what I saw happening with the industry. During the '60s and ’70s, particularly during the ’70s, studios controlled film. And in those days, many studios would allow smaller films to be made under their banner. And I was very fortunate because some of the stories that I wanted to tell, about the country that I grew up in, went into the gray area. You know, during the Second World War, which is my first memory, it was a lot of red, white and blue. You know, we were—there were a lot of slogans, and we were supporting the soldiers off to war. I had family that was in the war, family that had died in the war. So when it was over, there was such a lot of propaganda about what a wonderful country we were to have this and to have that. I thought, it is a great country, and I'm pretty lucky to live in it, but as I grew up and heard slogans like "It doesn’t matter whether you win or lose, but it’s how you play the game," and I realized that was a lie. Everything mattered, just if you won or not. And I realized that this was a country that is very much about winning.
And so, I decided I wanted to make a—I wanted to make a film about what I would call the grayer area of America, where it’s more complex, issues are more complex. So, the first one was Downhill Racer. And I was able to do that because I was doing a larger film at Warner Bros. And then The Candidate. I wanted to do a film about—back in 1970, that said we elect people not by substance, but by cosmetics, and it’s how you look, and that had a lot to do with it. And I wanted to make that point—a person not at all qualified, but he looked like he was, but he wasn’t. And so, it was about that. And then other films about the American West, the settling of the American West by mountain men, then All the President’s Men. So those were films that I was allowed to make if I was doing a larger film.
But then it changed. In 1980, the industry began to be more centralized, and they were following the youth market, because that’s where the money was, which I understand. But it looked like it was going to be at the expense of some of those other films that were more about the humanistic side of cinema, stories about America, American way of life, complex stories. And so, in my mind, I thought that was very valuable. I thought that’s a wonderful use of film. You can have the big blockbusters. You can have—with technology coming along, creating more special effects possibilities, you knew that they were going to use that, and that’s great. But I felt it was going to be at the expense of giving up those other kinds of films, so that’s what led to Sundance.
And I thought, "Well, what if we can start a development process where young artists can have a voice, but we can help them develop their skills so they can at least get their films made?" That was the labs that started in 1980. Then, once that happened and we started a development process at Sundance, suddenly we realized that we were helping them develop their skills so that they could get their films made, but there was nowhere to go, because the mainstream had not allowed any space for them. And that led to the idea of a festival. So, originally, it was just an idea that maybe we can have a community of filmmakers coming together and share each other’s work. And maybe if we were lucky, somebody will come, and somebody else will come.
AMY GOODMAN: You talk about diversity in all sorts of ways. There’s a big discussion at Sundance in promoting women, for example, in the film industry—
ROBERT REDFORD: Very much so.
AMY GOODMAN: —on both sides of the camera. One of the women who talks about how important Sundance has been in her life is Ava DuVernay. In 2012, she won best director, the first African-American woman to win best director. That was—
ROBERT REDFORD: Yeah, she’s on our board.
AMY GOODMAN: Right?
ROBERT REDFORD: Yeah.
AMY GOODMAN: And now the controversy over Selma. I mean, she has been nominated—the film, for best film, for the Oscars. As for best director, she didn’t get it. David Oyelowo did not get nominated for best actor. And it led to this hashtag, #OscarsSoWhite. And many have cited the 2012 survey conducted by the L.A. Times that found Oscar voters are 94 percent white, 76 percent male and an average age of 63 years old. Your thoughts about this?
ROBERT REDFORD: I’m older than that. That’s my first thought. I don’t occupy myself with what the Academy is doing or what its criteria is. I’m a member of the Academy, but I don’t really occupy myself with what its thinking is, because if it gets controversial, I don’t know that I know enough about what prompts it. I do believe in diversity. I think diversity is healthy. I think diversity in film is really healthy. And I remember—
AMY GOODMAN: Do you think the Academy needs to diversify?
ROBERT REDFORD: Yeah, I do, yeah. I think it’s only healthy. I mean, there was a while when you didn’t have any women directing. Now you have women stepping up, which I think is really important. I think the future would be quite well—do quite well with focusing on women and young people. I think the youth of tomorrow, I think we need to spend time thinking about them, particularly on the environment. You know, if we’re going to be polluting this planet, what are we doing for the new generation? What are we giving them to work with? And the same thing in film. You know, young people have new ideas, and you want to create space for them to develop. And women, I think, have a lot to bring [inaudible]. The country needs more nurturing, that’s for sure.
AMY GOODMAN: That’s Robert Redford, Oscar-winning director, actor, environmentalist, founder of the Sundance Film Festival, now in its 31st year. I spoke to him Wednesday night here in Park City, Utah. Here at Sundance in 2013, for the first time, women directed 50 percent of films in the U.S. dramatic competition. That stands in stark contrast to Hollywood, where women filmmakers actually appear to have lost ground over the last 17 years. The latest "Celluloid Ceiling" report from researchers at San Diego State University found men directed 93 percent of the 250 highest-grossing films of 2014. Women directed just 7 percent, a decrease of 2 percent compared to 1998. Again, that was 17 years ago. Sundance alumni Laura Poitras, director of Citizenfour, and Gillian Robespierre, director of Obvious Child, and Ava DuVernay, director of Selma, were among just 17 women directors whose films broke into the top 250 highest-grossing films this past year. When we come back, we speak to Robert Redford about his new film here at Sundance, A Walk in the Woods. Stay with us.
[break]
AMY GOODMAN: That’s "Glory" from the film Selma. The song sung by John Legend and Common has been nominated for an Academy Award. The film Selma has been nominated for best film.
|
Headlines:
Gorbachev: Ukraine Crisis Could Turn into All-Out War
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev is warning the confrontation in Ukraine could turn into an all-out war between Russia and the West. Gorbachev accused the West of dragging Russia into a new Cold War. "I can no longer say that this Cold War will not lead to a 'Hot War,'" he said. "I fear that they could risk it." More than 5,000 people have been killed in fighting between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. On Wednesday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew traveled to Kiev to give Ukraine a $2 billion loan guarantee. Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk met with Lew and thanked the United States for its support.
Arseniy Yatsenyuk: "We are together. We are defending the free world, and we are defending freedoms and liberties of every human being in Ukraine and in the entire world. So, this is the right way — this is the right way to do. And I would like to reiterate once again that the United States is one of the strongest allies of Ukraine."
Two Israeli Soldiers, U.N. Peacekeeper Killed in Hezbollah-Israel Clashes
Two Israeli soldiers and a Spanish United Nations peacekeeper were killed on Wednesday in an exchange of fire between Hezbollah and Israel in one of the most violent clashes between the two sides since the 2006 war. The soldiers were killed when Hezbollah fired five missiles at a convoy of Israeli military vehicles in the occupied Shebaa Farms. The U.N. peacekeeper died in Lebanon when Israel responded with airstrikes and artillery fire. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on Israeli television after meeting with security chiefs.
Benjamin Netanyahu: "Whoever is behind today’s attack will pay the full price. For some time, Iran, via Hezbollah, has been trying to establish an additional terrorist front against us from the Golan Heights. We are taking strong and responsible actions against this attempt. The Lebanese government and the Assad regime share responsibility for the consequences of the attacks emanating from their territories against the state of Israel."
U.N. Condemns Israeli Killing of Spanish Peacekeeper in Lebanon
At the United Nations, Chilean Ambassador Cristián Barros, who is serving as president of the U.N. Security Council, condemned the killing of a U.N. peacekeeper.
Cristián Barros: "The members of the Security Council condemned, in the strongest terms, the death of a UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) Spanish peacekeeper, which occurred in the context of fire exchanged along the blue line. The members of the Security Council expressed their deepest sympathy to the family of the fallen peacekeeper and to the government of Spain."
State Department Questioned over Israeli Occupation of Shebaa Farms
Wednesday’s attack by Hezbollah on Israel took place in the occupied Shebaa Farms, a disputed tract of land occupied by Israel, but claimed by both Lebanon and Syria. In Washington, State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki was asked by the Associated Press’s Matt Lee about the U.S. stance on the land.
Matt Lee: "OK, just on — a technical question: There are some who have made the argument that this area, Shebaa Farms, is Israeli-occupied Lebanon; what’s the U.S. position on this, on the status of this — of this area?"
Jen Psaki: "I’d have to check with our legal team on the specific status, Matt. I’m happy to do that."
Greek Government Rehires 600 Cleaning Staff Laid Off Due to Austerity
In a symbolic move, the new Greek government has hired almost 600 laid-off government cleaners, mostly women, who had been protesting outside the finance and economy ministries. They were laid off in 2013 as part of an austerity measure to meet demands by international lenders for the Greek bailout. Greece’s new finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, announced the decision.
Yanis Varoufakis: "One of our first moves will be the immediate cutting of costs at the ministry — for example, the number of advisers — and this spending cut will fund the rehiring of the cleaning ladies at the ministry. It will be a symbolic first move."
Attorney General Nominee: NSA Surveillance is "Constitutional and Effective"
On Capitol Hill, attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch will return today for day two of her confirmation hearing. If confirmed, Lynch will become the first African-American woman to serve as attorney general. During Wednesday’s hearing, Lynch described the National Security Agency’s spying programs as "constitutional and effective" and defended the government’s surveillance operations.
Loretta Lynch: "Recent events, however, have underscored the importance of this as an issue in the war on terror. And so I would hope that we could move forward with any proposed changes to FISA with a full and complete understanding of the risks that are — that we are still facing. And if any changes need to be made, again, after full and fair consideration with this committee, with the Intelligence Committee, and the discussions that we need to have, making sure that we can still provide law enforcement with the tools that they need."
Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont questioned her about torture.
Sen. Patrick Leahy: "Do you agree that waterboarding is torture and that it’s illegal?"
Loretta Lynch: "Waterboarding is torture, Senator."
Leahy: "And thus illegal?"
Lynch: "And thus illegal."
Republican Senators Question Loretta Lynch on Immigration Policy
Republican senators repeatedly questioned attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch about her views on immigration policy.
Sen. Jeff Sessions: "In the workplace of America today, when we have a high number of unemployed, we’ve had declining wages for many years, we have the lowest percentage of Americans working, who has more right to a job in this country? A lawful immigrant who’s here, a green card holder or a citizen, or a person who entered the country unlawfully?"
Loretta Lynch: "Well, Senator, I believe that the right and the obligation to work is one that’s shared by everyone in this country regardless of how they came here. And certainly, if someone is here, regardless of status, I would prefer that they be participating in the workplace than not participating in the workplace."
Supreme Court Stays 3 Oklahoma Executions to Conduct Review of Lethal Injection
The U.S. Supreme Court has stayed the execution of three Oklahoma death-row prisoners until the court hears a challenge to the state’s lethal injection formula. One of the prisoners, Richard Glossip, had been scheduled to die tonight.
Study: Foreign Intervention in Civil War 100x More Likely in Oil-Rich Nations
A new academic study has concluded foreign governments are 100 times more likely to intervene in civil wars if the troubled state is an oil-rich nation. Petros Sekeris of the University of Portsmouth said his research shows "clear evidence that countries with potential for oil production are more likely to be targeted by foreign intervention if civil wars erupt." In related news, Royal Dutch Shell has signed an $11 billion deal with Iraq to build a massive oil plant in Basra.
Snowden Documents Expose Canadian Effort to Monitor Millions of Internet Users
The CBC and The Intercept have revealed Canada’s leading surveillance agency is monitoring millions of Internet users’ file downloads in a secret program codenamed Levitation. The secret operation taps into Internet cables and analyzes records of up to 15 million downloads daily from popular websites commonly used to share videos, photographs, music and other files. The report is based on documents provided by National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden.
16 Million Children in the U.S. Now Live in Families on Food Stamps
A new report has found more 16 million children in the United States live in families that receive food stamps. The figure has almost doubled since 2007 before the economic crisis began. According to the Southern Education Foundation, more than half the children attending public school now qualify for federal programs for free or reduced-price lunches — it is the highest percentage in at least 50 years.
Raúl Castro: U.S. Must Return Guantánamo Before Normalization of Relations
At a summit of Latin American leaders in Costa Rica, Cuban President Raúl Castro called on President Obama to use executive powers to ease the decades-long embargo against Cuba.
Raúl Castro: "President Barack Obama could use his wide-ranging executive authority to modify substantially the application of the blockade. It’s in his hands to do this without a decision from Congress."
Castro also said Cuba will not be able to normalize relations with the United States until Washington returns to Cuba the land being used for the Guantánamo prison and naval base.
Chilean Intelligence Officers Sentenced for Killing Americans After ’73 Coup
Two former Chilean intelligence officials have been sentenced in the murders of Charles Horman and Frank Teruggi, two U.S. citizens who were killed shortly after the 1973 coup led by Gen. Augusto Pinochet. Retired army intelligence officer Pedro Espinoza was sentenced to seven years in prison. Rafael González, who worked for Chilean Air Force intelligence, was sentenced to two years of police supervision. The Horman case inspired the 1982 Costa-Gavras film, "Missing."
Australian Inquiry Confirms Police Shot Dead Hostage in Cafe Siege
Australia authorities conducting an inquest into the deadly siege at a cafe in Sydney last month have concluded one of the hostages — Katrina Dawson — was killed by police bullet fragments. Jeremy Gormly of the New South Wales State Coroner described the findings.
Jeremy Gormly: "Ms. Dawson was struck by six fragments of a police bullet or bullets, which ricocheted from hard surfaces into her body. I will not detail the damage done to Ms. Dawson other than to say that one fragment struck a major blood vessel. She lost consciousness quickly and died shortly afterwards."
St. Louis Meeting over Police Accountability Breaks Out into Brawl
In St. Louis, a brawl broke out at a public meeting last night as local residents gathered to discuss a plan to set up a board to review complaints against the police. The proposal was drawn up after 18-year-old Michael Brown was fatally shot by a police officer in nearby Ferguson, Missouri, last August. People angry at what they say is mistreatment at the hands of the police began shouting and scuffling when a member of the police officers’ union began speaking out against the proposal.
Jeff Roorda, St. Louis Police Officers Association: "Who wants to be the next Darren Wilson, hung in effigy in the town square because of defending his life?"
Antonio French, St. Louis alderman: "What citizens want, especially in the wake of what we’ve seen in St. Louis in the last few months, is a new level of accountability."
Detroit Officer Who Shot 7-Year-Old Dead in House Raid is Cleared of Charges
Charges are being dismissed against a Detroit police officer who fatally shot Aiyana Stanley-Jones, a seven-year-old girl, during a botched 2010 raid at her home. Aiyana was shot while she was sleeping on the couch with her grandmother. The officer, Joseph Weekley, was originally charged with involuntary manslaughter and careless discharge of a firearm causing death. Weekley was tried twice in court. Both times ended with a hung jury.
South Carolina Court Clears "Friendship Nine" for 1961 Lunch Counter Protest
A South Carolina court has tossed the convictions of a group of African-American civil rights activists known as the Friendship Nine who were arrested for sitting at a whites-only lunch counter in 1961. Found guilty of trespassing, they became the country’s first demonstrators to choose to serve jail time rather than pay a fine for sitting at an all-white lunch counter, launching the "jail, no bail" strategy. Clarence Graham was one of the nine who took part in the action.
Clarence Graham: "In 1961, when we were downtown, it wasn’t for any glory. We were not looking for any hero worship. We were simply 10 students who was tired of the status quo, tired of being treated like second-class citizens, tired of being spat on, kicked, called the N-word, drinking out of the colored water fountain. We got tired of that."
Judge John C. Hayes III announced the decision to clear the men. Hayes is the nephew of the judge who handed down the original sentence.
____________________________
"Civil Rights: From Sundance, to Selma, to South Carolina" by Amy Goodman
PARK CITY, Utah—On March 21, 1915, a motion picture was screened for the first time inside the White House. President Woodrow Wilson sat down to watch D.W. Griffith’s “The Birth of a Nation.” The film, considered one of the most nakedly racist of all time, falsifies the history of Reconstruction, depicting African-Americans, freed from slavery, as dominant, violent and oppressive toward Southern whites. Wilson said of the film, “It is like writing history with lightning, and my only regret is that it is all so terribly true.” The film would serve as a powerful recruiting tool for the Ku Klux Klan.
One hundred years later, another film was screened at the White House, this time at the invitation of the first African-American president. The film was “Selma.” The film’s director, Ava DuVernay, watched it with the First Couple. I met DuVernay here at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, where, in 2012, she was the first African-American woman to win the festival’s Best Director award, for an earlier film. We sat down for an interview at Sundance Headquarters, where she recounted her feelings after the screening: “It was beautiful to be in the White House in 2015 with a film like ‘Selma,’ knowing that in 1915 the first film to ever unspool at the White House was ‘The Birth of a Nation.’”
“Selma” is the story of one of the key moments in the civil-rights movement, the 1965 marches from Selma to Montgomery, best remembered for “Bloody Sunday” on March 7, when the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge was violently attacked by Alabama State Police. A young John Lewis, then a leader of SNCC, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and now a long-standing member of Congress, was one of the march organizers. Police beat and bloodied him, fracturing his skull. DuVernay’s film puts that march into historical context. Said DuVernay: “‘Selma’ is a story of justice and dignity. It’s about these everyday people. That’s what I loved about it. ... It’s about the power of the people.”
The story is also about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who played a central role in organizing the marches that followed Bloody Sunday. DuVernay told me: “There’s been no major motion picture released by a studio, no independent motion picture, in theaters, with King at the center, in the 50 years since these events happened, when we have biopics on all kinds of ridiculous people. And nothing on King? No cinematic representation that’s meaningful and centered. So, it was just something I couldn’t pass up.”
“Selma” gained national attention, not only because the film is an Oscar nominee for best picture, but also because DuVernay was not nominated for best director, prompting a furor on social media under the Twitter hashtag “#OscarsSoWhite.” A 2012 survey conducted by the Los Angeles Times found Oscar voters are 94 percent white and 76 percent male, and the average age is 63 years old.
The film also has drawn controversy because of its depiction of President Lyndon Johnson as a reluctant supporter of voting rights, sometimes even an obstructionist, who had the FBI monitor and harass King. “I’m not here to rehabilitate anyone’s image or be a custodian of anyone’s legacy,” DuVernay told me. She went on: “We have to work without permission. Especially as women in this industry. Who are we asking for permission to do what we want to do? That should be eradicated. You need to set a path and start walking.”
Far from Sundance, but not so far from Selma, a real-life drama unfolded this week in a South Carolina courtroom, as the 1961 convictions of a group of civil-rights activists were overturned. The Friendship Nine were young African-Americans who sat at a whites-only lunch counter in Rock Hill, S.C. They were sentenced to 30 days of hard labor. On Wednesday, Circuit Court Judge John C. Hayes III overturned their convictions, saying, “We cannot rewrite history, but we can right history.” Judge Hayes is the nephew of the judge who sentenced the men 54 years ago. Sixteenth Circuit Solicitor Kevin Brackett thanked the men, for himself, for his daughter and for making the state of South Carolina and the nation a better place.
Over in Selma, on the weekend of March 7, people from around the world will gather to mark the 50th anniversary of the historic “Bloody Sunday” march. Barack Obama, president of the United States, will be there as well. Change happens, slowly, but it happens. Could the birth of a new nation be at hand?
Denis Moynihan contributed research to this column.
Amy Goodman is the host of “Democracy Now!,” a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on more than 1,200 stations in North America. She is the co-author of “The Silenced Majority,” a New York Times best-seller.
© 2015 Amy Goodman
Distributed by King Features Syndicate____________________________
207 W 25th Street, 11th Floor
New York, New York 10001 United States
____________________________
"Sunday Bloody Sunday (Remastered) by U2
Yes...
I can't believe the news today
Oh, I can't close my eyes
And make it go away
How long...
How long must we sing this song
How long, how long...
'cause tonight...we can be as one
Tonight...
Broken bottles under children's feet
Bodies strewn across the dead end street
But I won't heed the battle call
It puts my back up
Puts my back up against the wall
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
And the battle's just begun
There's many lost, but tell me who has won
The trench is dug within our hearts
And mothers, children, brothers, sisters
Torn apart
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
How long...
How long must we sing this song
How long, how long...
'cause tonight...we can be as one
Tonight...tonight...
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Wipe the tears from your eyes
Wipe your tears away
Oh, wipe your tears away
Oh, wipe your tears away
(Sunday, Bloody Sunday)
Oh, wipe your blood shot eyes
(Sunday, Bloody Sunday)
Sunday, Bloody Sunday (Sunday, Bloody Sunday)
Sunday, Bloody Sunday (Sunday, Bloody Sunday)
And it's true we are immune
When fact is fiction and TV reality
And today the millions cry
We eat and drink while tomorrow they die
The real battle just begun
To claim the victory Jesus won
On...
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Sunday Bloody Sunday...
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LQZLPV6xcHI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>____________________________
No comments:
Post a Comment