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...]
Ayn Rand: Happy Angel Birthday!
Ayn Rand was born on February 2nd, 1905. Novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter -- Rand did what no one had done before: she took the ideas of classical liberalism into the world of stories and dreams, portraying the entrepreneurial heroes of our unprecedented prosperity as just that, and to the absolute horror of enemies of freedom. Decades after her death, Ayn … [Read more...]
John Hurt: Libertarian Film Hero
John Hurt -- born January 22nd, 1940 -- was an English actor whose career spanned over half a century. He made three films of libertarian interest, all of them focused on the dangers of totalitarian states, and all of them among the most dead-on libertarian films ever made. Two are included in this website's top 25 list and the third is included in other libertarian top … [Read more...]
Aaron Swartz, Internet Wunderkind, Died On This Day
On January 11th, 2013, Aaron Swartz — the wunderkind genius who contributed much to the early development of the Internet, including Reddit, Creative Commons, RSS, and more — committed suicide. He was just 26. Aaron Swartz was driven to take his own life by aggressive prosecutors enforcing tragically defective technology law, law that is still on the books. Aaron’s story is … [Read more...]
Happy Veterans Day!
Freedom isn't free. Here's a sweet short film as thanks to the armed forces, who have held at bay those who would take our freedom from us. Happy Veterans Day! … [Read more...]
The Berlin Wall: Eight Films To Honor the Dead
The infamous Berlin Wall was socialism itself: concrete and razor wire in the name of humanity, guard towers and machine guns in the name of human progress. It's ostensible purpose was to protect vulnerable East Germans from invasion, but as a practical matter it was simply a way of preventing the slave populations of the USSR from escaping to the West. By the time it … [Read more...]
Four Halloween Films For Libertarians
Happy Halloween! Nothing is scarier than unrestrained government, of course, so here are four Halloween films on the subject. Enjoy! Ghostbusters (1984) This popular classic tells the story of an entrepreneurial ghost-removal service -- Ghostbusters -- that runs into opposition from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other creatures of evil. It seems that … [Read more...]
Nestor Almendros: Libertarian Film Hero
Nestor Almendros -- born October 30, 1930 -- is best known for his cinematography. He was indeed the favorite cameraman for directors Eric Rohmer and Francois Truffaut and was nominated for four Academy Awards for cinematography (Sophie's Choice, The Blue Lagoon, Kramer vs. Kramer, and Days of Heaven). However, he also directed two powerful documentaries that together blew a … [Read more...]
Margaret Thatcher: Happy Angel Birthday!
Margaret Thatcher was born on October 13th, 1925. She did more to roll back the State than just about any other politician of the last century, both at home and abroad. She is celebrated in the excellent documentary Margaret: Death of a Revolutionary. “SHUT your eyes and think of Margaret Thatcher (twin-set, hair-do, hand bag, smells nice) and Fidel Castro (combat fatigues, … [Read more...]
Cameron Hawley: Libertarian Film Hero
Cameron Hawley -- born September 19, 1905 -- was an American fiction writer. Although he published only a few books, two of them were turned into films: Cash McCall and Executive Suite. Both films are unusual for their Randian tone and strongly pro-capitalism character. Cash McCall, the better of the two, took the top prize of Best Libertarian Picture at the First International … [Read more...]