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e-culture: Topical film and discussion events in Houston
March 10, 2006
Please join us for these free film events and help spread the word.
The Weather Underground
Sunday, March 12, 6:00pm
FREE
Houston Institute for Culture, 5555 Morningside, Suite 204 (Upstairs from Brian O'Neill's)
The Free History Project produced this remarkable story of The Weather Underground.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the polarization of the political situation in the United States was becoming acute with the Vietnam War abroad and civil rights at home being but the most obvious issues. For the youth political movement, the seemingly ineffectual methods of peaceful protest and resistance led to the rise of an idealistic faction that wanted a more extreme approach that the establishment could not ignore. This faction, called the Weather Underground, attempted to team up with the Black Panthers to confront the US government. Their tactics started with street riots and escalated to bombing government targets. Thorough archival footage and interviews of the veterans of both sides of this conflict, this film covers the resistance movement's campaign of selective violence through this period until changing times and disillusionment brought it to an end.
Audience discussion is welcome.
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Rammed Earth Construction
Tuesday, March 14, 7:00pm
FREE
University of St. Thomas Anderson Auditorium, 3815 Mt. Vernon Street (In the main quad, two blocks west of the intersection of Alabama and Montrose.)
Modern home construction is very energy- and capital-intensive. To minimize environmental impact, some architects and engineers are recalling older construction techniques using local materials to build cheaper, healthier, more comfortable houses. Rammed earth is a construction method using clay and timber, which saves energy and produces beautiful structures. Rammed Earth Construction projects are explored in Germany, France, and Morocco.
Audience discussion is welcome. This film is cosponsored by the University of St. Thomas Department of Modern and Classical Languages.
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The New Rulers of the World
Wednesday, March 22, 7:00pm
FREE
University of Houston, Bauer College of Business, Melcher Hall Room 170 (Take I-45 South, exit Spur 5, turn right at UH entrance 1, then right on Calhoun; Melcher Hall is on the left.)
In this extraordinary investigative film, award-winning journalist, John Pilger, uncovers the realities of globalization by taking a close look at recent history and labor issues in Indonesia.
In order to examine the true effects of globalization, Pilger turns the spotlight on Indonesia, a country described by the World Bank as a model pupil until its globalized economy collapsed in 1998. The film examines the use of sweatshop factories by famous brand names, and asks some penetrating questions: Who are the real beneficiaries of the globalized economy? Who really rules the world now? Is it governments or a handful of huge companies? The Ford Motor Company alone is bigger than the economy of South Africa. Enormously rich men, like Bill Gates, have a wealth greater than all of Africa.
Pilger goes behind the hype of the new global economy and reveals that the divisions between the rich and poor have never been greater - two thirds of the world's children live in poverty - and the gulf is widening like never before.
The film looks at the new rulers of the world -- the great multinationals and the governments and institutions that back them -- the IMF and the World Bank. Under IMF rules, millions of people throughout the world lose their jobs and livelihood. The reality behind much of modern shopping and the famous brands is a sweatshop economy, which is being duplicated in country after country.
The film travels to Indonesia and Washington, asking challenging questions seldom raised in the mainstream media and exposing the scandal of economic globalization, including revealing interviews with top officials of the World Bank and the IMF.
Audience discussion is welcome. This film is cosponsored by Global Studies at the Bauer College of Business, Globalization Forum and Globalization Working Group.
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M a r k @houstonculture.org
Houston Institute for Culture
Havens Center
1827 W. Alabama Street
Houston, Texas 77098
HOUSTON INSTITUTE FOR CULTURE SEARCH info@houstonculture.org