Liz Garbus Movies
- 2008
Rory Kennedy, daughter of Robert F; Kennedy and niece of former President John F. Kennedy, profiles legendary White House journalist Helen Thomas in this documentary tribute to the woman who has build an entire career of keeping America informed about the latest happenings in Washington, D.C. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helen A. Thomas
- 2008
The first amendment of the United States Constitution clearly states that Congress will make no law "abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press," but the fact that the Bill of Rights protects free speech doesn't mean that everyone likes it. Expressing controversial or unpopular opinions has sometimes caused people to be silenced by others, and in the wake of the 9/11 terrorists attacks, some Americans have found that speech isn't always as free as they'd imagine. Shouting Fire: Stories From The Edge of Free Speech is a documentary in which filmmaker Liz Garbus explores both current and historic examples of cases in which the limits of free speech have been explored by public discourse or in a court of law. Along with such precedent-setting examples as the New York Times' legal battle to publish the Pentagon Papers and the right for American Nazis to march in a primarily Jewish neighborhood in Skokie, Illinois, Garbus presents the stories of Debbie Almontaser, the principal of a bi-lingual English-Arabic high school who lost her job after discussing the word "intifada" with students; Ward Churchill, a professor at the University of Colorado, who after sharing his views on how United States actions abroad may have led to the 9/11 attacks found himself at the center of a campaign to have him removed from the classroom; and Chase Harper, a California high school student who Christian-themed T-shirts decrying homosexuality were viewed by others as hate speech. Shouting Fire received its world premiere at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Award winning documentary filmmaker Rory Kennedy explores the human and political consequences of one of the most bitter scandals of the war in Iraq in this feature. In the 1960's, a prison was built in Abu Ghraib, an Iraqi city west of Baghdad, and during the regime of Saddam Hussein it became a center of torture and abuse where political dissidents were subjected to agonizing punishment or death. Following the United States invasion of Iraq in 2003, the prison was taken over by American military authorities, and was used as a holding facility for prisoners of war and suspected terrorists captured by U.S. forces. The prison's reputation as a site of widespread abuse rose again when journalists discovered photographs of Iraqi prisoners being tortured and humiliated in an ugly variety of ways by American soldiers, a scandal which had a major impact on international thinking about the war. Ghosts of Abu Ghraib offers an in-depth look at the story behind the abuse of Iraqi prisoners, featuring interviews with observers on both sides of the national divide. Ghosts of Abu Ghraib received its world premiere at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
While the subject of brain injury is challenging and sometimes frightening for doctors as well patients and their families, few such maladies are as misunderstood as the coma. Many factors come into play when a patient falls into a coma, and it's often difficult to predict what will happen if and when they regain consciousness. Filmmaker Liz Garbus explores the human side of a difficult medical situation in Coma, a documentary that follows four patients at the John F. Kennedy Medical Center's Center for Head Injuries. Each has suffered a coma following an accident of some sort, and as each struggles to regain the life they knew before, their doctors and loved ones must wrestle with tough choices and unhappy realities. Produced for the premium cable television network HBO, Coma was screened in competition at the 2007 Silverdocs Film Festival, a competition founded by the American Film Institute and The Discovery Channel. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 2006
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Actress Rosie Perez makes her directorial debut with this documentary about her heritage, Yo Soy Boricua, Pa'Que Tu Lo Sepas! (I'm Puerto Rican, Just So You Know!), which she co-directed with acclaimed documentarian Liz Garbus (The Farm: Angola, USA). Starting with the focal point of New York City's famed Puerto Rican Day Parade, Perez examines her culture, both from a deeply personal perspective, interviewing her sister and cousin about their sense of pride in their background and exploring the journey of her own family from the island to New York City, and from a broader perspective, looking at the island's rich, neglected history. The film explains how Spanish conquistadors nearly wiped out the island's indigenous population, and made Spanish the official language and Catholicism the official religion. The U.S. eventually took over the island during the Spanish-American War, making it a commonwealth, in which residents pay taxes and can serve in the military, but can't vote in national elections. The U.S. prized the island for its sugar plantations and its strategic proximity to the Panama Canal, but a vast percentage of its residents live in poverty to this day. The documentary takes an honest look at how residents of the island were used as guinea pigs by pharmaceutical companies, at how the U.S. government utilized forced sterilization in an effort to control the island's population, and at the bloody struggle for independence led by Pedro Albiza Campos. Operation Bootstrap, a government program to move islanders to the mainland, is also explored. Perez also celebrates the Puerto Rican poets, artists, and musicians that have impacted American culture, along with the island's unique influence on our language. The film had its New York premiere at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
A hotly contested political race generates a wealth of drama in this documentary from filmmaker Marshall Curry. Sharpe James is a veteran politician who has been mayor of Newark, NJ, since 1986; by the admission of his own spokespeople, James is a "machine" politician who uses muscle and influence to get things done, and while he's enjoyed the fruits of his success, his administration has been accused of having a long history of corruption. In 2002, Cory Booker, a lawyer who was a member of the Newark City Council, announced he was running for mayor, and it didn't take long for the contest to get ugly. Booker was a graduate of Yale Law School, a Rhodes Scholar, and an advocate of more open and honest government, and James and his staff wasted no time in attacking his qualifications and personality in public. While both candidates were African-American, James chose to play the race card, questioning if Booker was "black" enough and suggesting the church-going Baptist was actually a Jew. James's campaign staff didn't stop at verbal attacks, and as Marshall Curry began covering the James and Booker campaigns, he found himself frequently attacked by James's supporters (with his camera running and in full view of other reporters), and a number of local businessmen stated for the record that they were supporting James for fear of reprisals later on. The film that resulted from Curry's efforts, Street Fight, received a 2005 Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 2003
One of several similarly-themed specials broadcast by the Lifetime cable network in the early 21st century, Together: Stop Violence Against Women was hosted by actress Angie Harmon and her professional-athlete husband Jason Sehorn. Using the first-person stories of four women (identified only by their first names) who have suffered domestic abuse, the special demonstrated how it was possible to survive and persevere under such adverse conditions. Lest anyone accuse the producers of male-bashing, the special was careful to include testimony from several men who have helped, supported, and provided encouragement to abused women, among them campus lecturer Jason Katz and Brooklyn district attorney Charles Hynes. Taking into consideration the mature nature of the special's content, Lifetime originally scheduled Together: Stop Violence Against Women in a late-night time slot. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Angie Harmon, Jason Sehorn, (more)
Shanae was arrested for murder at the age of 12, after stabbing a friend to death. Megan's mother was a drug-addled prostitute, and after being placed in, and escaping from, nearly a dozen foster homes, Megan committed a violent crime. These girls are the subjects of Liz Garbus' documentary, Girlhood. Garbus encountered the girls at the Waxter Juvenile Facility in Baltimore while making a television documentary about the boys incarcerated there. Garbus, director of the acclaimed prison documentary, The Farm: Angola, USA, examines the disparate fates of these girls and their very different treatment at the hands of the juvenile justice system. While Shanae, the victim of a horrendous violent crime herself as a child, has difficulty coming to grips with the murder she's committed, she's clearly an intelligent, charismatic, and, most importantly, motivated girl. The juvenile justice system serves her well, because she's deeply involved in forging her own path. Megan, a pretty girl with a devilish gleam in her eye, tries to get by on charm, but she doesn't have Shanae's focus. Having been abandoned by her mother, with whom she has a very complicated relationship, Megan is desperate for attention and affection. While Shanae sublimates her anger and hurt and moves on with life, for Megan everything is right on the surface. The system essentially gives up on trying to control her and turns her loose to fend for herself. Girlhood was shown at the 2003 Tribeca Film Festival and at the South by Southwest Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
Filmmaker Liz Garbus (The Farm: Angola, USA) documents the extraordinary story of Edith Hahn in The Nazi Officer's Wife. Using old newsreel footage, personal photos, and interviews with Hahn, her daughter Angela, and various acquaintances, with narration by Susan Sarandon and Julia Ormond (who reads excerpts from Hahn's autobiography), the film explores how Hahn, a Jewish woman living in Vienna during the Nazi takeover of Austria, survived. The film begins the tale with Hahn's childhood, including her education, the death of her father, and her college romance with a half-Jewish intellectual. As the Nazis grew in power, and Hahn's sisters fled for Palestine, he insisted that they would be safe in Vienna. Soon, Hahn, a law student, found herself in a slave labor camp. By the time she returned to Vienna, her mother had been sent to a concentration camp in Poland. Certain to be deported herself, Hahn chose instead to remove the yellow star from her clothing and go into hiding. Finding help from the unlikeliest of sources (including two prominent members of the Nazi party,) Hahn took on a new identity as a young Aryan woman, and left Vienna, traveling to Munich, in the heart of the Third Reich, where she got a job working as a nurse's aide for the Red Cross. There, visiting a museum, she met a bright and well-spoken Nazi, Werner Vetter, who approached her. Soon, against Hahn's better judgment, the two had started a romance, which eventually led to an unlikely marriage and a child. All the while, Hahn kept up her disguise to all but her husband, even suppressing her own vital personality, and taking on the role of a subservient Aryan housewife. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Susan Sarandon, Julia Ormond, (more)
Liz Garbus (The Farm: Angola, USA) directed this documentary that takes a close look at death row inmate Wanda Jean Allen. What sets this film apart from the average examination of a death row appeal is that the convicted killer is a lesbian African-American. If the state of Oklahoma goes through with the sentence, she will become the first black woman to be killed by the state in almost a half century. Garbus interviews both Allen's legal team, as well as the parents of the victim. Since Allen certainly committed the act she has been convicted of, the legal drama hangs on if new evidence concerning Allen's mental state will sway the clemency board. This film was screened at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wanda Jean Allen, David Presson, (more)
- 2002
This ambitious, multipart cable documentary series detailed five different stories, from five different parts of the world, of how individuals dealt with HIV. Episodes included "Thailand," set in a Buddhist monastery that had been converted into an AIDS hospice; "Uganda," in which music therapy was used to comfort AIDS orphans; "Russia," wherein a drug-using couple tried to regain custody of their son; "Brazil," documenting that country's free AIDS drug-therapy program; and "India," in which an infected couple worry about transmitting the HIV virus to the wife's unborn child. The guiding force behind the series was Rory Kennedy, youngest daughter of the late senator Robert F. Kennedy. Narrated by Elton John, Pandemic: Facing Aids debuted June 15, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1998
- NR
This documentary about life among the 5,000 inmates of America's largest maximum security prison, Louisiana State Penitentiary, was the co-winner (with Frat House) of the Documentary Grand Jury award at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. Filmmakers Jonathan Stack and Liz Garbus worked closely with their guide, prisoner-turned-author Wilbert Rideau, the editor of a prison magazine. The film focuses on the stories of six prisoners, including nervous newcomer George Crawford; elderly Eugene "Bishop" Tannehill, who visualizes a future of eternal salvation; long-time death row inmate John Brown; and dying wife-killer Logan "Bones" Theriot, whose life was so linked to the prison that he overruled his family's wishes by choosing to be buried on the prison grounds. This film had its origins in Stack's earlier documentary, Damned in the USA, which a right-wing religious group had attempted to suppress. Joining Stack in his legal battle against the group was New York lawyer Martin Garbus, who won the case. Garbus introduced Stack to his daughter, Liz Garbus. The two teamed up, found Rideau, and then spent a year on-location, shooting in high-resolution Beta and Sony tape (transferred to 16 mm). Curtis Lundy provided the jazz score for the 93-minute film, narrated by Bernard Addison. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
