------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the July 12, 2001 issue of Workers World newspaper ------------------------- "LUMUMBA" FILM OPENS IN NEW YORK By G. Dunkel New York What makes Haitian-born director Raoul Peck's film "Lumumba" so powerful is not just its fine acting or its tautly scripted and tightly edited story--so filled with human drama and the beauties and scenes of Africa that you can almost smell the vegetables being sold on the sidewalks and the beer in the outdoor bars. "Lumumba," in less than two hours, intertwines all this with the political struggles of the Congo's first president, Patrice Lumumba, against Belgian colonialism and U.S. imperialism. It puts its art at the service of political truths that dramatically expose Belgian brutality and hypocrisy along with U.S. complicity, with a passion that compels them into memory. Lumumba's government survived only a few months, but it left deep roots. The hopes and expectations it bore are still an inspiration--as this films concretely points out--to Africa and the rest of the world. Johnnie Stevens, coordinator of a People's Video Network project to produce a video documentary on the life of South African hero, Communist and martyr Chris Hani, commented on "Lumumba": "This film contrasts the enthusiasm of the masses with the counter-revolutionary plotting of the U.S. and Belgium." "Lumumba" is currently playing only in New York, where it opened at the Film Forum in Manhattan and at B.A.M. films in Brooklyn. Since it has received excellent reviews in all the New York press and a very strong word of mouth, many shows are sold out. Its distributors say it will be in a limited, national distribution this summer. Readers with web access can find out more about its summer schedule at http://www.zeitgeistfilm.com/current/ lumumba/lumumba.html. The film is in French with subtitles. It contains scenes of the kind of extreme violence imperialism so often produces, making it a film not for young children. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) ------------------ This message is sent to you by Workers World News Service. To subscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
