Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Here’s the very first James O’Keefe video, in which a young O’Keefe persuaded a university administrator to ban Lucky Charms as “offensive to Irish.” He went on to create Project Veritas, and later O’Keefe Media Group, both of which produce undercover videos on corruption and left-wing political bias.
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Happy International Women’s Day: Ten To Remember
March 8th is International Women’s Day, highlighting the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society. Listed below are ten women who fought for human freedom — some with words, some with pistols, and some with nothing more than raw courage — but all pivotal in their own ways. Why not learn about them through film? Suggestions below.
Ayn Rand
Decades after her death, Ayn Rand is still called “the most dangerous woman in America” — yes, dangerous to enemies of freedom. The characters she created in her novels are still fighting the good fight, as her books remain top sellers. The best film resulting from her works is We the Living. It’s a fitting tribute to the universally anti-authoritarian nature of her ideas that this film — first produced in fascist Italy as an attack on communism — was then banned at the angry insistence of the Nazis, who considered it antifascist. They were both right.
Harriet Tubman
Famed abolitionist and liberator Harriet Tubman, made 13 missions to rescue 70 slaves, risking not only life but torture. Devoutly Christian, Tubman was inspired by confidence that God was on her side, and was nicknamed “Moses.” She was recently celebrated in the film Harriet.
Jane Jacobs
In the 1950s, while the world went about its ordinary business, a little-known titanic intellectual and political battle took place in New York City. Strangely enough, it was a battle that would decide how most of us would live. It was between Robert Moses — the city’s “master planner,” who envisioned bulldozing NYC’s old neighborhood’s and erecting in their place miles and miles of skyskraper public housing — and on the other hand a minor journalist, Jane Jacobs, who had made some keen, and soon to be ground breaking Hayekian observations on spontaneous order in city development.
Her observations shook urban planning to the core and affected city design all over the world, likely including where you live. The story of her triumph is remembered in the delightful documentary Citizen Jane: The Battle for the City.
Ida Nudel
Back in the bad old days of the USSR, officially anyone who wanted to leave could do so, and this “fact” was often reported by Moscow’s sympathizers in the West. Unofficially, however, those who applied for emigration were often harassed, forced to accept “psychiatric treatment,” fired from their jobs, etc., so that their example might discourage others from trying. Being fired from a job might not seem so terrible; but in a country where the state is a monopoly employer, it means homelessness and starvation unless one has very loyal and generous friends.
Farewell Moscow tells the story of Ida Nudel, whose emigration application in 1970 earned her just this level of persecution. Nudel, a Jew, applied for emigration after unending antireligious harassment by the government. She was turned down but kept trying to leave, all the while making her desire to leave very public. Her relentless protests (along with that of other refuseniks) became such a public relations nightmare for the Soviets that they eventually let her go.
Marie Ragghianti
Andrew Jackson once said “One man with courage makes a majority.” As demonstrated here, the same could be said of one woman, in this case Marie Ragghianti, who single-handedly stood her ground against a cabal of corrupt officials, and at considerable risk to herself. Following her promotion to the Tennessee parole board, Marie soon discovered that it was part of her job to parole all felons then Governor Blanton recommended, regardless of the severity of their crimes or their criminal histories. She flatly refused and ultimately exposed the corruption, sending the Governor himself to prison.
Marva Collins
Frustrated with the failure of the public school system in Chicago, Marva Collins, a public school teacher, started her own private school. She had no money. The only students she could get were those already underperforming. At its inception “Westside Preparatory School” was a very modest operation: a one-room school, equipped with books discarded by the public schools, and run on a shoestring budget funded by Collins’s savings. It had only a slim chance of success. But Collins had seen first-hand what public school education was doing to the kids in her depressed neighborhood—the hopelessness, ignorance, and poverty—and was determined to do something about it. After a year, she decided to have her students take standardized tests to show their parents what she was accomplishing. Her students scored incredibly well: even the ones previously labeled “learning disabled” scored at least five grade levels higher.
The Marva Collins Story tells her remarkable achievement. The airing of this film touched off a backlash of criticism from Chicago public school teachers who considered it insulting to public school education. It is. All the more reason to see it.
Jesse Maloney
In her small desert town, there was no medical care for hundreds of miles. So Jesse Maloney, a nurse, treated patients under the advice of a remote doctor who came into town periodically. Occasionally, she had to perform emergency care on her own — there was no choice, as there was no one else who could help. The arrangement wasn’t conventional, but it worked. Enter the State. Jesse was charged with “practicing medicine without a license.” A woman of some confidence, she openly defied the charge because she believed that one should always do what is right — in this case treating those who would otherwise go without medical care — even when the law forbids it. Jesse tell her remarkable story.
Margarethe Cammermeyer
Colonel Margarethe Cammermeyer spent twenty-five years in the U.S. military. During that time, she was awarded the bronze star for her performance in Vietnam, won the Veterans Administration “Nurse of the Year” award, and earned ten promotions, rising to the rank of Chief Nurse of the Washington State National Guard. It was her ambition to become Chief Nurse of the entire National Guard, and to that end she completed a Ph.D. in Nursing Science. She was by all accounts a credit to the U.S. military. Nonetheless, she was promptly court marshaled and discharged after she revealed, in response to routine security clearance questioning, that she was a lesbian. The military at that time had a strict rule of discharging all gays and lesbians.
Her integrity, that sense of right, compelled her to do what she did next—fight back. That “never give up” attitude ultimately carried the day. Following her military discharge, dramatized here, she fought it in court, won, and was reinstated. Despite continued attempts by the Clinton administration to have her removed, she remained in her job until retiring three years later. She is celebrated in the film Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story.
The Sung Family Sisters
Thomas Sung, a Chinese immigrant, was inspired by Frank Capra’s George Bailey character to start a small bank to help his community. When the subprime crisis hit, out of 7,000 US banks, his was the only one to face criminal charges. Why? Because regulators thought a small bank in an immigrant community would be an easy target. But he had an ace in his back pocket: his three daughters — Jill, Vera, and Chanterelle — who just happen to be lawyers.
Part lucid documentary, part libertarian tearjerker, Abacus: Small Enough to Jail is an engaging film that tells their story and touches the heart.
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher did more to roll back the State—not only in Britain but, by her example, in other countries as well—than any other single politician of the twentieth century. Margaret: Death of a Revolutionary is a journey of truth-telling about what she accomplished…and what it cost her.
She is a misunderstood, underappreciated hero, the object of scorn, who would for a generation be unfairly characterized as the Iron Lady who favored unrestrained capitalism at the expense of the poor. That she saved her country from a socialist death spiral is little known; her popular history has largely been written by her enemies. At last, with this documentary, there is at least one cinematic telling of her story that sets the record straight. I think Thatcher herself would have enjoyed it immensely.
Virginia Walden Ford
If your son were getting sucked down in the spiral of poverty and crime by a second-rate public school system that can’t either teach or even keep kids safe, what would you do? Virginia Walden Ford fought to change the system by calling for educational vouchers. Her inspiring story is told in the film Miss Virginia.
George Washington: Happy Angel Birthday!
George Washington was born on February 22nd, 1732. Not only was he the first American action hero, he was the first person in history to turn down supreme power over most of a continent. At the end of the Revolutionary War, Washington was offered the opportunity to become king. In that pivotal moment, he took out something few had seen him wear, a pair of spectacles. “Gentlemen,” said Washington, “you will permit me to put on my spectacles, for I have not only grown gray but almost blind in the service of my country.” By the time he was done making the point that he and and his staff had not spent their lives and fortunes to establish another monarchy, but to give a birth to freedom, those calling for his kingship were reduced to tears…and thus ended what would otherwise have been a coup d’tetat. He is celebrated in the documentary George Washington: The Man Who Wouldn’t Be King.
Libertarian Date Night: Eight Romantic Films
Need a romantic film to share with your libertarian sweetheart on a special evening? Look no further. Here are eight libertarian-themed films sure to set the mood for a libertarian date night. These are my top picks from the romance category of this website.
Still Mine
WINNER: TOP 25 LIBERTARIAN FILMS
When a rural farmer builds a new home as a kindness to his ailing wife, a government bureaucrat threatens to tear it down for building code violations. Based on a true story. [Dir: Michael McGowan/ James Cromwell, Ronan Rees, Geneviève Bujold/ 102 min/ Drama/ Anti-regulation, Individualism]
“Based on a true story, the film equates rugged individualism with a stand for personal dignity and control of one’s own destiny.”
–Chicago Sun Times
Flirting
The flirtations of two unusual teenage boarding school students blossom into love despite difficult circumstances. [Dir: John Duigan/ Noah Taylor, Thandie Newton, Nicole Kidman/ 99 min/ Romance, Comedy/ Australia/ Individualism]
“This movie is joyous, wise and life-affirming, and certainly one of the year’s best films.”
–Roger Ebert
“One of the psychological factors undermining personal independence is inordinate risk-aversion. So it’s nice to see a film that puts risk-taking in its proper place, as a necessary part of a worthwhile human existence. The film has a strong individualist undertone. Great film for a libertarian date night.”
–MissLiberty.com
The Scarlet Pimpernel
WINNER: TOP 25 LIBERTARIAN FILMS
Posing as a useless dandy, an English gentleman — loathed by his wife for his foppish silliness — secretly risks all to save innocent lives from the guillotine of the French Revolution. Based on the Baroness Orczy novel, The Scarlet Pimpernel. [Dir: Harold Young/ Leslie Howard, Merle Oberon, Raymond Massey, Nigel Bruce/ 98 min/ Action-Adventure, Romance/ Britain/ Democide]
“This film has a tremendous script, including some of the campiest lines ever written. These are delivered with flair by Leslie Howard, who shines in his dual roles of comedic fop and classy gallant. Likewise, Raymond Massey is superb as an almost vampire-like evil agent of ‘The Terror.’ Not a moment is wasted in this tightly directed classic film.”
–MissLiberty.com
Key Largo
A convicted mobster plots to return to his former glory by bringing back Prohibition, and the profitable criminal enterprises it spawned – but he will have to get past a WWII veteran to do it. Key Largo credits: [Dir: John Huston/ Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Lauren Bacall / 100 min/ Drama, Romance/ Legalize Drugs]
“The entire series of events takes place in a hotel, a crucible as it were, in which ultimate good is pitted against ultimate evil, trapped together by a hurricane that howls violently outside and tears at the hotel, as though God himself were pitching in. And within this crucible is one of the finest casts ever assembled: Edward G. Robinson, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Lionel Barrymore, and Claire Trevor (who won for this Best Actress in a Supporting Role), all guided under the legendary hand of director John Huston.”
–MissLiberty.com
Loving
A married interracial couple’s determination to reside in their home state of Virginia, in violation of Virginia laws against interracial marriage, leads to the legal overturning of all such laws in sixteen states. Based on a true story. Loving credits: [Dir: Jeff Nichols/ Ruth Negga, Joel Edgerton, Will Dalton/ 123 min/ Drama, Romance/ Government as Bigot, Sexual Liberty, Social Tolerance]
“Loving captures at once the tension of man’s morally principled stand against the state, love’s intimacy and the immeasurable toll government control exacts upon the best people…It’s a hard, moving and elegiac movie and it ranks with Black or White and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner high among Hollywood’s greatest interracial-themed films.”
–Scott Holleran
“Historical drama on interracial marriage is Oscarworthy.”
–Rolling Stone
Don Juan DeMarco
A young man’s romantic delusion renews his psychiatrist’s passion for life. [Dir: Jeremy Leven/ Johnny Depp, Marlon Brando, Faye Dunaway/ 92 min/ Romance, Comedy/ Psychiatry & Force, Individualism]
“This is a romantic film in every sense of the word: it’s about love, about making an adventure of life, and about the liberating effect that such an imaginative attitude has on people. You’ll laugh, and be touched. Perfect for a libertarian date night.”
–MissLiberty.com
Strictly Ballroom
WINNER: TOP 25 LIBERTARIAN FILMS
When a talented renegade defies the authority of the Australian Dance Federation by dancing to his own steps, there’s only one thing it can do—stop him! [Dir: Baz Luhrmann/ Paul Mercurio, Tara Morice, Bill Hunter/ 94 min/ Musical-Dance, Comedy, Romance/ Australia/ Individualism]
“Ballroom dance might seem an unlikely subject for a film of interest to libertarians, but it’s just the backdrop here. Underneath is the story of an innovator’s rebellion, the innovator in this case being a talented young dancer who wants to ‘dance to his own steps.'”
–MissLiberty.com
Ninotchka
ACADEMY AWARD NOMINEE: BEST PICTURE
A stolid female Soviet agent is sent to Paris on business and is seduced by capitalist ways. [Dir: Ernst Lubitsch/ Greta Garbo, Melvyn Douglas, Ina Claire/ 108 min/ Comedy, Romance/ Anti-Socialism]
“This delightful romantic comedy is listed in almost every reckoning of the greatest films, reflecting both its terrifically witty script and a wonderful performance by Greta Garbo as the grim unfeminine agent of the Soviet state. It is indeed a great film, one of those classic movies everyone should see. One of my favorite bits of dialogue occurs between Ninotchka and a porter at a train station:
Ninotchka: ‘Why do you want to carry my bags?’
Porter: ‘That is my business.’
Ninotchka: ‘That’s no business. That’s social injustice.’
Porter: ‘That depends on the tip.'”
–MissLiberty.com
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 FBI. During the 1970s, the American Indian Movement (AIM) was organized to reform and resist the reservation system that had been imposed on Native Americans over the previous centuries. Two FBI agents were killed in a conflict with AIM, and the film suggests the agency framed Peltier to settle the score and pacify the movement.
This was followed in the same year by Thunderheart, a fictionalized thriller inspired by the Leonard Peltier case, in which a part-Sioux FBI agent turns against his superiors after discovering a deadly operation by his agency to squelch Native American resistance to government control. Newsweek said about the film: “Stylishly balancing thrills, mysticism and political outrage, Director Michael Apted has produced his most absorbing movie since Coal Miner’s Daughter.” The film succeeds as both semi-factual expose and fictional whodunit.
Two years later, in 1994, Apted released the documentary Moving the Mountain, which tells the story of a few of the Tiananmen protestors who escaped—sometimes, ironically, because they were identified from wanted posters by ordinary people who helped them instead of turning them in. These escapees, interviewed here, tell their tales of courage, hope, and pain. Curiously, no trailer for this film is available online and it is not available on Amazon streaming or even DVD.
Finally, in 2006, Michael Apted released his greatest libertarian film, Amazing Grace, a terrific telling of the story of William Wilberforce, a British member of Parliament who led an arduous but ultimately victorious life-long battle to abolish the slave trade. Wilberforce’s story is faithfully and warmly told here. Ioan Gruffudd (a.k.a. Horatio Hornblower) gives a fine performance in the leading role, and is supported by (at the time this film was made the little-known actor) Benedict Cumberbatch, as William Pitt.
Michael Apted died in 2021, at age 79. National Review noted in its tribute to him that he was “a director who is interested in learning rather than imposing his pre-decided views on the material” and that he “had the discipline not to impose liberal ideology on his films.” In other words, he was that rare thing in the film industry: an honest person.
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Power’s War (2015)
ANTHEM FILM FESTIVAL WINNER: GRAND PRIZE
A documentary examination of historical events in Klondyke, AZ, where a family was killed by law enforcement agents for draft evasion after refusing to participate in WWI. [ Power’s War credits: Dir: Cameron Trejo/ 70 min/ Documentary, History/ Anti-Draft]
External Reviews
“Separated from the rest of the world, the Powers family was dimly aware of The Great War, which they, like many Americans, viewed as none of their business…But on June 5th, 1917, all American men between 21 and 31 were ordered to register for the draft, and the aggressively patriotic set out to arrest ‘slackers’ who ignored the law…leading to the bloodbath…Trejo’s film, Power’s War, is both a labor of love and a triumph of creative documentary filmmaking.”
–Henry’s Western Round-Up
“On February 10, 1918, lawmen looking for the draft dodgers surrounded the Power cabin. The resulting shootout, the largest in Arizona history, has been largely forgotten. The complete story will not be told in this review. That would take away from the need to watch this excellent documentary.”
–SBI
“Trejo spent more than three years researching and filming Power’s War, which includes interviews with several living descendents of those involved as well as authors and historians, including Thomas Cobb, who wrote the fiction book based on the shootout, With Blood in their Eyes, and Heidi Osselaer, an Arizona State University faculty associate who served as the film’s historical consultant.”
–Eastern Arizona Courier
How to See It
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AZCentral: Arizona’s deadliest Old West shootout
Book: Shoot-Out At Dawn: An Arizona Tragedy (Graham County)