[etni] Educational movies for the 11th and 12th grades

From: David Cactus <davidcactus01@xxxxxxxxx>
To: etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Sun, 7 Nov 2010 08:59:15 +0200
Shalom,

Hear are some more ideas for the older classes:

1) Hotel Ruwanda- This outstanding movie depicts the terrifying
genocide of the Hutu tribe against their Tutsi neighbors in 1994.
The world just stood by as this mass murder took place over 90 days.
The pace of the murders was even faster than that of the Nazis and
most of the killings were implemented by low tech weapons such as
machetes and yes, Israeli Uzis had been sold to the Ruwandan
government!

A Tutsi hotel manager who was married to a Tutsi woman managed to save
hundreds of lives though bribes, bluster and bravery. This is an
excellent film to show to 11th graders preparing for their trip to
Poland. I use it in conjunction with The Enemy.

2) Mississippi Burning- This film tells the story of the murder of
three Freedom Riders by the Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi in 1964. The
focus of the story are two FBI agents brilliantly played by Gene
Hackman and Willem Dafoe. For years the Ku Klux Klan carried out
murders of African American activiists with impunity. This changed
when they executed two white northern students along with a Black man.
Following strong pressure by Attorney General Robert Kennedy, the FBI
sent agents into Mississippi with instructions to solve the murders
and to break the Klan at almost any cost. During their war against the
Klan the FBI used illegal wiretaps, blackmail and intimidation to
achieve their goal. The FBI was eventually successful. However, the
film raises interesting ewthical questions as to how far a democracy
can go to defend itself against extremist elements. I use the Simon
and Garfunkel songs A Church is Burning and He was My Brother along
with the movie.

3) Ghosts of Mississippi- This film tells the story of the
assassination of African American activist Medgar Evans on June 12,
1963. Evans" murder took place on the same night that Kennedy made his
famous landmark speech for civil rights for all Americans. This was
just prior to Muartin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech at the end
of August 1963 and five months before Kennedy's assassination on
November 22, 1963.

Whoppi Goldberg as Evans' widow and James Woods who plays the part of
racist murderer Byron Delabeckwith are outstanding.
The story which shockingly opens with the murder of Medgar Evers
outside his home details the 25 year struggle of Merillee Evers to
bring her husband's killer to justice. In the movie the assistant
district attorney must overcome resistance of his wife, who eventually
leaves him, and threats to his own life and those of his children.

All the best,
David Curiel,
Eshel Hanasi
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[etni] Educational movies for the 11th and 12th grades

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