Once upon a time, the word "libertarian" was barely known. The ideas it represented had not yet gained common currency, let alone blossomed into political significance. But in the 1970's, a small group of libertarian filmmakers began producing educational films as a way to spread the word. They called themselves WRI Education (World Research Inc.). Their short films were like … [Read more...]
Convention of States: Get Ready, It’s Coming Soon
America's Founders anticipated that the US federal government could one day become corrupt. And they knew that a corrupt government would never reform or restrain itself. So they crafted an escape clause in Article V of the US Constitution: the states could, if they deemed it necessary, propose Constitutional Amendments reining in the central government by calling a Convention … [Read more...]
Is Merrick Garland Recreating Kafka’s “Trial”?
In Kafka's bizarre novel The Trial, a man is vaguely accused of a crime, but he is not told what the crime is or the name of his accuser, only that he will likely be on trial very soon. The novel is a metaphor for the authoritarian citizen-state relationship, in which the citizen is completely at the mercy of unintelligible rules and unappealable bureaucratic decisions. It … [Read more...]
Raoul Wallenberg: Happy Angel Birthday!
Raoul Wallenberg, born on August 4th, 1912 in Sweden, a hero who saved thousand of Jews in WWII, has been nearly forgotten but you can remember him this day with a good film that he himself liked. When Hitler began rounding up the Jews in Hungary in 1944, Wallenberg faced down the Nazi death machine with nothing more than courage and paper, partly by mass manufacturing fake … [Read more...]
Anthem Film Festival: List of Nominees & Award Winners
The Anthem Film Festival is an annual screening of the latest libertarian films and documentaries. It is part of the larger FreedomFest event. Below is a list of Anthem Film Festival winners for the years 2011-2022. 2022 Award Winners For more details on these films, see the Anthem Film Festival homepage. Anthem Film Festival Grand Prize --Created Equal: Clarence … [Read more...]
Michael Apted: Libertarian Film Hero
Michael Apted -- born February 10th, 1941 -- was a British television and film director and producer. He directed four films of libertarian interest, including one of this website's top 25 list of most important libertarian films of all time. In 1992, Apted released the documentary Incident at Oglala, an inquiry into the alleged framing of AIM member Leonard Peltier by the … [Read more...]
Libertarian Filmmaker Training & Grants
The following is a list of libertarian filmmaker support opportunities in the form of training and grants. It includes assistance in filmmaking, screenwriting, video production, etc. Moving Picture Institute | Ongoing Opportunities Have you seen a libertarian film lately? Somewhere along the way, the Moving Picture Institute (MPI) may have had a hand in it. MPI supports … [Read more...]
American Revolution Films For Your July 4th
Time to get ready for your July 4th celebrations. And what better way to remember what it's all about than with a good film? Here are a few American Revolution films I recommend. Note: You may want to consider buying DVDs. Since just last year, two of the six films listed below are now out of print and only available used and in limited quantity -- expect these stories of … [Read more...]
Early Warning 1981 Film: It Predicted Davos Gang
The 1981 "end of days" film Early Warning now seems oddly prescient in some ways. As you can see in this clip, it predicted a future in which leaders from around the world would gather to strategize coordinated management of the world's population, taking advantage of crises ("never waste a crisis") to implement tracking numbers, measures to control public opinion, digital … [Read more...]
George Orwell: Happy Angel Birthday!
George Orwell (the pen name for Eric Arthur Blair) was born on June 25th, 1903. Few in history did more to warn the public about the dangers of totalitarianism. Several films based on Orwell's works are available, including three versions of 1984, and two of Animal Farm (1,2). The definitive film version of 1984 is the one released that very year, starring John Hurt. … [Read more...]