NOMINATIONS CLOSE FOR BEST POLITICAL FILMS OF 2005
December 31 was the last day to nominate films for Political Film Society awards for 2005. During the year, two films were nominated for the category DEMOCRACY for promoting increasing consciousness of the need for more political decisionmaking by the people rather than by elites: Downfall and Machuca. On February 1, members will select the best of the two films. The remaining categories had many more nominees. Accordingly, Political Film Society rules require that each list must be reduced to the five best in each category.
Select the best five from the category EXPOSÉ, fact-based films that raise political consciousness:
| FILM TITLE |
ACCEPT |
DROP |
UNDECIDED |
CONTENT |
| Assisted Living |
( ) |
( ) |
( ) |
How the elderly are forgotten by American families |
| Before the Fall |
( ) |
( ) |
( ) |
Training of German youth to become SS officers |
| Crash |
( ) |
( ) |
( ) |
How racism still permeates American thinking |
| Downfall |
( ) |
( ) |
( ) |
How Hitler & Himmler died |
| Good Night & Good Luck |
( ) |
( ) |
( ) |
How McCarthy was hoisted by his own petard |
| The Great Water |
( ) |
( ) |
( ) |
How Tito's Yugoslavia brainwashed orphaned youth |
| In My Country |
( ) |
( ) |
( ) |
Work of South Africa's Truth Commission |
| Innocent Voices |
( ) |
( ) |
( ) |
U.S. support for mass killings in El Salvador |
| Lord of War |
( ) |
( ) |
( ) |
Former USSR weapons sold to anyone with cash |
| Machuca |
( ) |
( ) |
( ) |
Pinochet's brutal coup in Chile |
| Munich |
( ) |
( ) |
( ) |
srael's death squad kills Munich massacre perpetrators |
| The Ninth Day |
( ) |
( ) |
( ) |
How Catholic priests resisted the Nazis |
| North Country |
( ) |
( ) |
( ) |
The first successful sexual harassment lawsuit |
| Paradise Now |
( ) |
( ) |
( ) |
What motivates Palestinian terroristst |
| Turtles Can Fly |
( ) |
( ) |
( ) |
Saddam Hussein's mistreatment of the Kurds |
Vote for the top five films that raise consciousness of the need for improvements in HUMAN RIGHTS:
| FILM TITLE |
ACCEPT |
DROP |
UNDECIDED |
CONTENT |
| Caché |
( ) |
( ) |
( ) |
How French mistreat immigrants |
| The Constant Gardener |
( ) |
( ) |
( ) |
Drug companies use Africans to test unsafe drugs |
| The Great Raid |
( ) |
( ) |
( ) |
Barbarity of forced female circumcision |
| The Great Water |
( ) |
( ) |
( ) |
Brutality against Yugoslav orphans for telling the truth |
| In My Country |
( ) |
( ) |
( ) |
Horrors of apartheid in South Africa |
| Innocent Voices |
( ) |
( ) |
( ) |
Recruitment of child soldiers in El Salvador |
| Machuca |
( ) |
( ) |
( ) |
Allende's Chile improves conditions for the poor |
| The Ninth Day |
( ) |
( ) |
( ) |
Nazi mistreatment of Gentiles as well as Jews |
| North Country |
( ) |
( ) |
( ) |
Sexual harassment stopped at an iron mine |
| The War Within |
( ) |
( ) |
( ) |
Abuse of a terrorist suspect creates a terrorist |
Vote for the top five films that raise consciousness of the need for PEACE:
| FILM TITLE |
ACCEPT |
DROP |
UNDECIDED |
CONTENT |
| Before the Fall |
( ) |
( ) |
( ) |
Cruelty of SS training of German youth |
| Downfall |
( ) |
( ) |
( ) |
Hitler's minions continue war despite imminent defeat |
| In My Country |
( ) |
( ) |
( ) |
Confession, not vengeance, heals South Africans |
| Jarhead |
( ) |
( ) |
( ) |
Irrelevance of U.S. Marine Corp training |
| Munich |
( ) |
( ) |
( ) |
Revenge violence as counterproductive |
| Private |
( ) |
( ) |
( ) |
Palestinians refuse to be intimidated by Israelis |
HOW TO VOTE IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN ALL THE FILMS
The three voting choices have special meanings. If you mark ACCEPT, you are saying that you agree, after seeing the film, that the content merits a possible award. If you mark DROP, you have seen the film and believe that the content is unworthy of consideration for an award. If you mark UNDECIDED, you have not seen the film or just have no opinion regarding the merits. The deadline for all e-mail ballots is January 31, 2006. Return to polfilms@aol.com.
