Filme, die die Welt bewegen - jeden Dienstag für 5 Franken
“Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man’s original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress had been made, through disobedience and through rebellion.”
-Oscar Wilde
Resistance is an immediate, direct action, often on a personal level. Rebellion is a more deliberate reaction against a norm, or controlling environment. Revolution is a large-scale fundamental change in a system.
These acts of human struggle evoke strong emotion, be it empathy, shock or rage. They can be an attempt to be heard, to be included or simply the manifestation of pure survival. These aspects of counteracting oppression are repeated over and over in history and are an inescapable part of human nature. They create life-changing circumstances (even for those not directly involved) and almost always force one to take sides: who hasn’t rooted for the underdog? Who doesn’t feel excited when someone successfully “sticks it to ‘the man’” or “fights the power?”
It is therefore quite natural for us to identify with revolution, rebellion and resistance as part of a story and makes for compelling and exciting drama when portrayed in cinema. The carefully selected choices in our series take place in different countries, different times and range in scale from the personal to the societal to the political levels and represent different facets of defiance and change: social revolution in a political setting (Milk, Chicago 10), revolution on the level of controlling governments (Battle of Algiers) and a powerful, personal stand (Hunger). One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and La Faute à Fidel! show wit and charm at the small group level while Robin Hood: Men In Tights is simply the hilarious side of rebellion. Three of the films (Battle of Algiers, Persepolis, and Paradise Now) as well as our Wednesday film (the comedy Four Lions) are different views of defiance and change in the Islamic world and two (Persepolis and Women Without Men) deal with aspects of women seeking change in a male dominated environment. Many of the accompanying short films also characterize the theme, to include Black Panther, which documents the radical, African-American Black Panther party’s militant stance in 1960’s USA.
We invite you to come witness stories about struggle for change, adaption, hope for improving one’s position in life or the lives of others, and the refusal to yield to an oppressive system. Come witness the indomitable human spirit.
The Revolution Starts NOW!
Doug Robinson
