Forwarded Message From: Eddie Becker <eddie_becker at yahoo.com> Date: Tue, 12 Oct 2004 08:00:06 -0700 (PDT) To: Eddie Becker <eddie_becker at yahoo.com> Subject: Vietnam Doc. "Hearts and Minds" screens at AFI Silver & Film Forum NYC & DVD
IF THE FIRST CASUALTY OF WAR IS TRUTH, THE LAST IS MEMORY. ˜Peter Davis ˆ Director of Hearts and Minds.
DC Premier. On Saturday, October 16, at 7:30 p.m. SILVERDOCS and Discovery Times Channel present: The Washington Premiere of the new 35mm Restored Print of the Academy Award-winning HEARTS AND MINDS. Following the special advance screening, the films Director Peter Davis will be joined for an on-stage discussion of the film by Bobby Muller, president of the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, who, as a wounded Vietnam War veteran, appeared in the 1974 film. Other notable political experts (some of whom were featured in the film) have been invited to participate in the panel discussion. An audience Q&A will follow Regular run at AFI Silver Theatre - two-week engagement from Friday, October 22 through Thursday, November 4. http://www.afi.com/silver/new/nowplaying/2004/v1i13/heart.aspx REVIEW EXCERPTS:
"IT'S A TRIBUTE TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE THAT THEIR LEADERS PERCEIVED THEY HAD TO BE LIED TO" "Today the film has not lost any of its punch. Now the punch is packed with new meaning. "Quagmire," "hearts and minds" and "liberating the people" are all back. A little more than a year ago, Ari Fleischer, President Bush's press secretary, said, "Slowly but surely, the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people are being won." Mr. Davis said after a special screening for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, "We were lied to in both wars." The Gulf of Tonkin incident was used to justify deeper American involvement in Vietnam, he said, just as fears about weapons of mass destruction were used to justify invading Iraq. In addition, as with Vietnam, Mr. Davis said, "we did not trouble ourselves to learn about Iraq," or at least the policy makers did not. "It is a short trip between Saigon and Baghdad," he said. ----------------------------------------- "If John Kerry's combat record and Bush's lack of one an increasing part of the current presidential campaign, and the poorly-planned occupation of Iraq heading into quagmire territory, this landmark 1974 documentary acquires a newfound immediacy. Acclaimed filmmaker and journalist Peter Davis‚s Hearts and Minds illustrates in human and at times graphic terms the horrors and lessons of the Vietnam conflict. Edited from over 200 hours of footageˆincorporating newsreels, telecasts, even scenes from Hollywood war moviesˆthe film captures the experience of war through multiple perspectives, depicting its effects on the diverse range of actors and participants (from „doves‰ to „hawks,‰ military advisors to bombing victims, GIs to bargirls) that make up the societies of Vietnam and America. Premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 1974, Davis‚s film˜highly anticipated at the time given his reputation for provocative telejournalism on politically sensitive subjects˜quickly drew media attention for its unflinching examination of the then-recent conflict and its implications for America‚s role in the world. The resulting public interest led to the film‚s review being read aloud to both houses of the U.S. Congress, the only movie thus discussed as part of the Congressional Record. The film went on to win an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. In light of current international events, Hearts and Minds once again prompt us to examine the underlying assumptions of our culture and its far-reaching political effects. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will present the film in a newly struck 35mm print from a recent restoration. 112m." "FIRST AN UNDECLARED WAR, THEN AN UNSEEN FILM" "It was a fluke that Hearts and Minds was made at all. Hollywood was no more eager in the 1970s than it is today to bankroll political controversy. Nonetheless, Bert Schneider made so much money for Columbia with Easy Rider and Five Easy Pieces that the studio gave him a big budget with no strings. Schneider turned around and gave a million dollars, no strings, to CBS documentary producer Peter Davis, best known to that time for Hunger in America and the controversial Emmy-winning 1971 Selling of the Pentagon. Work on Hearts and Minds began in 1972." Davis's groundbreaking work in television journalism and documentary filmmaking include such highly acclaimed series as Middletown for PBS (10 Emmy nominations, 2 Emmies; DuPont Citation; First Prize Sundance Festival) and, by far his most famous and controversial TV documentary, The Selling of the Pentagon for CBS News, a film that was both highly lauded (Peabody, Emmy, Polk, Saturday Review, Writers Guild awards) and condemned by both the Defense Department and Nixon‚s White House, culminating in a Congressional investigation. Winning Hearts and Minds "SO WE MUST BE READY TO FIGHT IN VIETNAM, BUT ULTIMATE VICTORY WILL DEPEND UPON THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF THE PEOPLE THAT ACTUALLY LIVE OUT THERE." Lyndon Johnson "Hearts and Minds, Examines the American consciousness that led to involvement in Vietnam. Includes interviews with General William Westmoreland, former Secretary of Defense Clark Clifford, Senator William Fulbright, Walt Rostow, and Daniel Ellsberg as well as American Vietnam veterans and Vietnamese leaders. Presidents Eisenhower, Truman, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon are show in rare footage." A RIALTO PICTURES RELEASE. Running time: 112 minutes. WHO: Peter Davis, Academy Award-Winning Director, HEARTS AND MINDS Robert Muller, Vietnam War Veteran featured in HEARTS AND MINDS Other panelists t/b/a WHAT: SILVERDOCS, AFI Discovery Channel Documentary Festival SPECIAL ADVANCE SCREENING of HEARTS AND MINDS WHERE: AFI SILVER THEATRE AND CULTURAL CENTER 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, Maryland General information: 301-495-6720 WHEN: Saturday, October 16, 7:30 p.m. Hearts and Minds will be shown in New York City at the Film Forum from October 22-November 4, 2004, http://www.filmforum.com/films/hearts.html And at the Film Forum in New York, director Peter Davis will introduce the 7:30 SHOW ON Friday, October 22, Following the screening, Mr. Davis will be joined by cinematographer Richard Pearce and Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation president Bobby Muller (who appears in the film) for a Q&A. For more information, see http://www.filmforum.com/films/hearts.html Check the Rialto Pictures web site for more theatrical screening from around the country. http://www.rialtopictures.com/hearts.html Hearts and Minds is also available on DVD. Contact Rialto Pictures, http://www.rialtopictures.com for special group shows. The DVD of the film was made from a new digital transfer supervised by the director and the cinematographer. The disc includes commentary by director Peter Davis. An accompanying booklet contains several printed essays about the film. For more information about individual sales of the DVD, check out The Criterion Collection Web site. http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=156