26-08-2014, 10:04 PM
I also teach the assassination in my Documentary Film and Film and Society
courses at San Francisco State University. I do so by showing PRIMARY (which I'm in; I discuss
the film and the actual experience of being there) and the Zapruder film (three times) and parts of RUSH TO JUDGMENT and JFK. We discuss
cinema-verite, other forms of documentaries, whether the Z film has
been altered, and how Stone combines documentary footage with
the docudrama form. I show the brilliant sequence of Garrison analyzing
the Z film in JFK, which is a rare example of detailed film analysis in
a mainstream feature film. Then we talk about how the Z film has
been altered (with information from Doug Horne et al) and what that means. All this explores the issues from various points of
view using cinema as a way into the subject. The students are keenly interested
and receptive.
The old resistance I felt and still feel from members of my generation to even
discussing the subject seems not to affect the younger people, who are
more openminded and skeptical about official stories and less brainwashed by the media. The students
are always deeply impressed by S. M. Holland giving his account of
witnessing the assassination from the bridge and by his honesty
and integrity in questioning the official account. This is a very good and hopeful sign.
courses at San Francisco State University. I do so by showing PRIMARY (which I'm in; I discuss
the film and the actual experience of being there) and the Zapruder film (three times) and parts of RUSH TO JUDGMENT and JFK. We discuss
cinema-verite, other forms of documentaries, whether the Z film has
been altered, and how Stone combines documentary footage with
the docudrama form. I show the brilliant sequence of Garrison analyzing
the Z film in JFK, which is a rare example of detailed film analysis in
a mainstream feature film. Then we talk about how the Z film has
been altered (with information from Doug Horne et al) and what that means. All this explores the issues from various points of
view using cinema as a way into the subject. The students are keenly interested
and receptive.
The old resistance I felt and still feel from members of my generation to even
discussing the subject seems not to affect the younger people, who are
more openminded and skeptical about official stories and less brainwashed by the media. The students
are always deeply impressed by S. M. Holland giving his account of
witnessing the assassination from the bridge and by his honesty
and integrity in questioning the official account. This is a very good and hopeful sign.