"Golf War" director speaks, gives filmmaking workshop

BOSTON, MA -- MIM and RAIL hosted a film workshop led by "Golf 
War" director Jen Schradie on January 20th and 21st. Jen is a good 
model for activists want to get information out to a broad 
audience in a creative manner. She gave up a stable job in order 
to go to the Philippines for three months to make the "Golf War" 
and now works full time promoting and distributing it. Her 
presentation demystified independent documentary filmmaking, since 
she taught herself the necessary skills. The aspiring activist 
filmmakers who attended the workshop got a lot out of it.

Jen stressed that would-be activist filmmakers should find 
something they are passionate about and "take Nike to task -- Just 
Do It!" She pointed out that political organizing skills can 
translate into producing skills. The workshop included some useful 
information about how to get money to support the production and 
distribution of independent films. Jen discussed the importance of 
not letting a film with an important political message sit on a 
shelf.

MIM and RAIL activists in attendance were inspired to use this 
newfound information to work on political movies to support our 
organizing work. What we lack is money for a camera. The good news 
is that the costs of producing films have dropped dramatically in 
recent years. It is now possible to purchase a digital camera for 
a few thousand dollars and edit the film on a personal computer. 
Anyone interested in helping out with this project by donating 
money, time, or equipment should contact us.

Post-film discussion focused on self-determination, filmmaking

On the 21st, Boston University Friends of RAIL (FoRAIL) screened 
"The Golf War" with Jen Schradie in attendance. FoRAIL gave Jen an 
honorarium (from university funds allocated to student groups) to 
help promote "The Golf War" around the country. The event 
succeeded in drawing a wide variety of participants, some of whom 
also attended the workshop. It brought together activists, 
Filipino students, and artists to support this revolutionary 
movie.

After the moving viewing, a comrade "passed the bucket" asking 
people to donate money to ensure future viewings. Jen again 
emphasized the importance of grassroots organizing fundraising -- 
activist filmmakers don't have a blank check from Dreamworks SKG 
to travel around and promote their movie! We agree that people 
need to put their money where their mouths and hearts are.

Much of the discussion revolved around the question of 
"development." Currently, the Philippines is largely controlled by 
foreign interests, mainly the United $tates, who suck huge profits 
and resources from the Filipino people. These interests dictate 
what kind of "development" takes place, not the Filipino people 
themselves. True national self-determination requires that the 
Filipino people can decide for themselves -- without imperialist 
and military coercion -- what development should mean for the 
Philippines. Development, industry and agriculture should serve 
the long-term interests of the vast majority of Filipinos, not 
imperialist-backed, corrupt lackeys.

Another audience member asked about the difficult role of the 
documentary filmmaker. The question came from a scene where 
village participants were being bribed by government officials 
with food and music and duped into signing and accepting phony 
documents that would serve the land developers interests. The 
participant wanted to know where the director should draw the line 
between being "objective" and getting involved in a situation on 
the people's behalf. Jen said that she makes a policy of getting 
involved and not pretending to be objective. She correctly pointed 
out that the act of filming is subjective. A filmmaker makes 
qualitative changes to a situation by her mere presence. 

We agree that filmmakers must take sides. In his "Talks at the 
Yenan Forum on Art and Literature," Mao Zedong emphasized that the 
fundamental question facing artists is, "For whom?" Some artists 
blatantly admit to making art for themselves; some consciously 
hire their talents out to bourgeois propagandists; others delude 
themselves into thinking they are making "art for art's sake," 
when in reality such activity only props up the status quo. 
Revolutionaries, though, clearly choose the side of the oppressed 
masses, and view their artwork as a contribution to (and 
subordinate to) the revolutionary struggle.

ITAL Edited by MC206 END