Keyword: Hollywood

Film as a Catalyst for Social Change

Director/producer, Edward Zwick talks about his film Blood Diamond and how iconic images in movies can prompt mainstream audiences to think about issues at a deeper level. Zwick argues that movies highlighting social issues do not create change on their own, but contribute to change as an aggregate of broader voices.

Trailer: Battle in Seattle

'Battle in Seattle' is the story of the 1999 WTO Protest that took place on the streets of Seattle. The movie was written and directed by Stuart Townsend and stars South Africa's Charlize Theron. The official 'Battle in Seattle' movie premiered on September 19, 2008. Read a review of the movie here and visit the movie's official website here.

Battle in Seattle: Hollywood Hypes Up WTO Activism

Picture: Townsendtheronblogspot.com David Solnit - What really happened at the 1999 WTO demonstrations in Seattle? On television, it looked like vandalism and random violence. On the streets, it looked like part festival, part uprising, part police riot. Now there’s a movie version. Activist and author David Solnit was there—organizing in the streets and speaking up on the set. My stomach clenched the first time I heard that actor Stuart Townsend was making a mainstream movie about the 1999 shutdown of the WTO ministerial...

John Cusack's War Inc.

John Cusack talks about his new movie War Inc., a comment on corporate profiteering that has become the hallmark of the war in Iraq. He refers to the war as a "disastrous free-market utopian enterprise", and labels the free market of today, nothing more than a "vast protectionist racket". Privatisation has gone too far argues Cusack, pointing out that there are as many contractors as there are soldiers in Iraq where everything is outsourced, including torture. This,...