1/20/07: At the Sundance Film Festival this year, actor Robert Redford said in his opening speech that after 9/11, “We put all our concerns on hold to let the leaders lead. I think we’re owed a big, massive apology.”
Redford’s Sundance Institute organizes the festival every year, and his opening speech has always stayed away from political or controversial subjects. Redford’s turnaround is indicative of the repulsion so many people feel at the whole direction the Bush regime has taken the world.
This year, the Sundance Film Festival is featuring numerous films
pertaining to the Iraq war and political
resistance. The BBC reported:
Festival opener Chicago 10 recounts the demonstrations
surrounding 1968’s Democratic National Convention, which saw protestors
clash with the National Guard.
Protestors clashed with Chicago police and the National Guard
Using a cutting-edge blend of historical footage and animation,
director Brett Morgen’s film examines the trial of the famed “Chicago
Seven,” who were convicted of inciting riots.
Morgen, who took the stage to a standing ovation after
the screening, said one of his goals in making the film was to
“mobilise the youth in the country to get out and stop this war”.His film is one of many referencing the Iraq conflict at this year’s Sundance festival.
Ghosts of Abu Ghraib deals with the abuses that occurred
in an Iraqi prison in 2003, while No End In Sight is an examination of
the Bush administration’s conduct in the country.