Tuesday - Thursday, September 7 - 9 - 7pm

The Sundance Channel presents:

Ford Transit *Milwaukee Premiere

(Hany Abu-Assad, Palestine/Netherlands, 80 mins., English & Arabic w/Eng. St., Beta SP, 2003)

FIPRESCI Award - Thessaloniki 2003
Spirit of Freedom Award - Jerusalem Film Festival

White Ford vans once belonging to the Israeli army were given to former collaborators as a source of income after the Oslo agreements. Thousands of these vans drive all over Palestine today employed as taxis. Director Hany Abu-Assad (RANA'S WEDDING) followed cab driver Rajai in Ramallah and Jerusalem, along roadblocks and short cuts. His passengers make up a heterogeneous company with divergent opinions about the situation in Palestine and views of the conflict with Israel.

Free and open to the public

Wednesday & Thursday, September 22 & 23 - 7pm

Haiti: Dreams of Democracy

(Jonathan Demme & Jo Menell, UK, 52 min., Eng., French & Creole w/Eng. St., VHS, 1987)

The first in Demme's highly original, impressionistic documentary portraits of the Caribbean nation and its vibrant culture: a colorful report on post-Duvalier Haiti, featuring lively performances by musicians and street theatre groups. The film focuses on popular music and songs that reflect the way in which Haiti's distinctive culture confronts the political realities of this impoverished nation.

showing with:

Dreamers: The Painters of Haiti *Milwaukee Premiere

(Jorgen Leth, Denmark, 58 min., Eng., French & Creole w/Eng. St., VHS, 2002)

Director Jorgen Leth (THE FIVE OBSTRUCTIONS), an outstanding figure in Danish cinema, introduces us to the colorful, fanciful and joyous work of elderly Haitian painters, capturing with great integrity the spirituality and un-worldliness of these aged artists who have for decades painted from their inner vision, and have gained recognition as masters of the naif .

Prior to the Thursday show will be lecture given by ethno-cultural illustrator and African diaspora traveler Gerald Duane Coleman entitled Haiti: Art and Spirits . For more information, contact UWM Union Sociocultural Programming, 414-229-6997 .

Free & open to the public

Tuesday - Thursday, September 28 - 30 - 7pm

The Corporation

(Mark Achbar, Jennifer Abbot & Joel Bakan, Canada, 145 min., 35mm, 2004)

Winner - Audience Award - Sundance Film Festival

Based on the book The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power , this complex, exhaustive and highly entertaining documentary invites CEOs, whistle-blowers, brokers, gurus, spies, players, pawns and pundits on an engaging and visually dynamic quest to reveal the Corporation's inner workings, curious history, controversial impacts and possible futures. Featuring interviews with Noam Chomsky, Michael Moore, Howard Zinn and many others. " Brilliant! Hilarious and chilling!" SF BAY GUARDIAN

[$4 Student, $5 General]

Wednesday & Thursday, November 3 & 4 - 7pm

Deadline *Milwaukee Premiere

(Katy Chevigny & Kirsten Johnson, USA, 92 min., DV Cam, 2004)

Filmmakers in person on Thursday, November 4th .

In January 2003, Republican Governor George Ryan granted blanket clemency to all 167 people on death row in Illinois, commuting their sentences to life without parole. With astounding access to special clemency hearings, the death row prisoners, exonerated men and Gov. Ryan himself, directors Chevigny and Johnson bring us directly into the emotional and legal storm surrounding Ryan's extraordinary decision. ".An example of social activism at its best," HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

$4 Student, $5 General

Tuesday & Wednesday, November 9 & 10 - 7pm

Persons of Interest

(Alison Maclean & Tobias Perse, USA, 63 min., Beta SP, 2003)

After September 11th , more than 5,000 Arab or Muslim immigrants were taken into custody and held indefinitely on the grounds of national security. A uniquely compelling film that gives voice to the human cost of the U.S. government's anti-terrorism campaign, PERSONS OF INTEREST consists of a series of encounters with 12 detainees and family members, in a bare room that functions variously as interrogation room, prison cell and home. The detainees share their stories, show photographs, read letters written in jail, re-enact their prison experience - even sing.

Free & open to the public

Thursday, November 11 - 7pm

The Weather Underground

(Sam Green & Bill Sigel, USA, 92 min., 35mm, 2002)

Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn in person.

The voices of former Underground members speak publicly about the idealistic passion that drove them to "bring the war home" and the trajectory that placed them on the FBI's most wanted list. Exploring the Weathermen in the context of other social movements of the time, and examining the U.S. government's suppression of dissent in the 1960s and 1970s, this academy award nominated film makes for, "[O]ne of the most thought-provoking documentaries of recent times. " WASHINGTON POST

Free & open to the public

Wednesday & Thursday, November 17 & 18 - 7pm

S21: Khmer Rouge Killing Machine *Milwaukee Premiere

(Rithy Panh, Cambodia / France, 105 min., Khmer w/Eng. St., 35mm, 2003)

In 1975-79, the Khmer Rouge waged a campaign of genocide on Cambodia's population. 1.7 million Cambodians lost their lives to famine and murder as the urban population was forced into the countryside to fulfill the Khmer Rouges' dream of an agrarian utopia. In S21 two survivors are brought back to the notorious Tuol Sleng prison (code-named "S21"), now a genocide museum where former Khmer Rouge are employed as guides. " [U]nderstated and unforgettable. " J. Hoberman, VILLAGE VOICE

[$4 Student, $5 General]

Tuesday, November 30 - Thursday, December 2 - 7pm

Imelda *Milwaukee Premiere

(Ramona S. Diaz, USA, 103 min., English & Tagalog w/Eng. St., 35mm, 2003)

"Thank God, when they opened my closet, they found shoes not skeletons," remarks former Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos, subject of filmmaker Ramona Diaz's provocative new documentary. Marking the first time that Mrs. Marcos has agreed to tell her story, IMELDA details her controversial rise from humble provincial origins with a combination of guile, ambition and beauty to become one of the richest and most powerful women in contemporary world history. "Sharp, fascinating, disturbing...makes us laugh and think." VOGUE

$4 Student, $5 General

Tuesday - Thursday, December 7 - 9 - 7pm

Empathy *Milwaukee Premiere

(Amie Siegel, USA, 92 min., 35mm, 2003)

An intriguing blend of documentary and fiction, EMPATHY explores the tricky intimacy between psychoanalysts and their patients. Psychological melodrama alternates with historical essay and rigorous cinema verité in Amie Siegel's feature film debut: a witty, voyeuristic and sharply incisive intervention into the intellectual, emotional, and sexual power dynamics between therapist and subject, actor and director, viewer and audience. "A weaving reflection. Playful and delightful." BERLINER ZEITUNG

[$4 Student, $5 General]