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Monday, May 14, 2007
Early Eugenics Theorist In the News
Cesare Lombroso, an Italian criminologist who died in 1909, believed that criminality could be identified by physical characteristics. In keeping with his popular early eugenics theory, Giovanni Passannante's skull and brains were kept preserved and on display in a criminology museum in Rome until recently when activists sought to have his remains buried. Passannante was an anarchist who tried to assassinate King Umberto I of Savoy in 1878. Read the full story by Peter Kiefer from the weekend edition of The New York Times. Interested in the history of pseudosciences like eugenic and physiognomics? THE FACE OF EVIL examines this history of attempting to identify and categorize the physiognomy of evil through physical traits.
Our acclaimed release RED HOOK JUSTICE was filmed over the course of nearly two years, as the filmmakers were granted unique access to film the daily activities of the Red Hook Community Justice Center, for in-depth look at the defendants and staff who are part of this increasingly influential experiment.
As reported on CNN, James Crosby, the former head of Florida’s Department of Corrections (DOC) who was fired by Governor Jeb Bush in February after the string of scandals involving brutality, sex abuse, and corruption, has pleaded guilty to accepting over $100,000 in kickbacks. Our acclaimed film AMERICA'S BRUTAL PRISONS features stories about of Florida guards drenching inmates with burning pepper spray, kicking a prisoner to death, and testimony from a female guard who claims sexual assault and harassment by fellow guards. Crosby ran the prison in which the aforementioned man was kicked to death--after which he was promoted to run the entire DOC.
And, The Chicago Tribune reported that the infamous Burge Report was finally published. It stated that former Chicago Police Cmdr. Jon Burge led the torture of criminal suspects for two decades, coercing dozens of confessions with fists, kicks, radiator burns, guns to the mouth, bags over the head and electric shock to the genitals. Our film THE END OF THE NIGHTSTICK was an early investigation into these charges of institutional racism, torture and the cover-up, and also tells the story of a resistance movement, as local activist groups, including the Task Force to Confront Police Violence, refuse to let testimonies of police violence remain buried.
The Chicago Tribune reports that the Cook County Judge Paul Biebel Jr., who launched a probe into allegations of torture by former Chicago police Cmdr. Jon Burge and officers under him, ruled Friday that a report prepared by special prosecutors should be made public. In the mid-'70s through early '80s the Chicago police used electroshock, oxygen deprivation, hanging on hooks, the bastinado and beatings of the testicles. The torturers were white, and their victims black or brown.
Our long-popular film THE END OF THE NIGHTSTICK investigates the torture, institutional racism, violence and cover-up. It also tells the story of a Chicago grassroots movement that refused to let testimonies of police violence remain buried.
As reported in the New York Times and elsewhere, Bernardo Provenzano, the alleged boss of all bosses of the Sicilian mafia, was arrested near Corleone, Italy after 43 years on the run. Under the heavy hand of Mr. Provenzano , the Corleonese family dominated organized crime in Sicily for 30 years, and mounted an attack on the state that culminated in the 1992 murders of top anti-Mafia prosecutors, Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, and their bodyguards, in separate attacks.
Our 2006 release EXCELLENT CADAVERS (U.S. Theatrical Premiere July 12) -- a powerful, mind-boggling documentary -- is based on the eponymous book by Alexander Stille about the Sicilian Mafia, Falcone and Borsellino. Their work galvanized public outrage as Mafia foot soldiers testified in court that they threw bodies into vats of acid to liquefy them. The violence they described was embodied by the no-holds-barred photographs of death in the streets, made by Letizia Battaglia, who appears in the film.
Hundreds of legal noncitizens were swept up in the weeks after 9/11, held for months in a much-criticized federal detention center in Brooklyn as "persons of interest" to terror investigators, and then deported. This week, as reported in the New York Times, one of them is back in New York and another is due today - the first to return to the United States.
Set in a bare room that functions variously as interrogation room, prison cell and home, our acclaimed film PERSONS OF INTEREST consists of a series of intimate encounters with twelve detainees and family members, who share their stories. Video Librarian gave the film, " * * * * (4 out of 4 stars!) Editor's Choice! Highly Recommended! Sure to generate intense feelings of shame, revulsion, and sadness... while also sparking fruitful discussion."
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