Does the United States need a Truth and Reconciliation process of its own? -- The question is raised by the powerful new film by Kenneth Brady, entitled “The Time Is Now.” -- This is a film that aspires to change lives. -- UFPPC will screen “The Time Is Now” at 6:30 p.m. on Thurs., Nov. 2, at First Congregational Church in Tacoma (209 South “J” St., between Group Health and Wright Park).[1] -- See below for some reviewers’ comments.[2,3] -- No charge for admission; the public is welcome. -- The showing of the film will be followed by a brief discussion; after a break, UFPPC will hold a meeting....
1.
WHAT: “The Time Is Now” (2006)
WHO: A film by Kenneth Brady
WHEN: Thursday, November 2, 2006 -- 6:30 p.m.
WHERE: First Congregational Church, 209 S. “J” St., Tacoma, WA
One summary of the film reads: “’The Time is Now’ sheds light on episodes of American foreign policy that link our government to war crimes and the arming and training of terrorists, both at home and abroad. And it connects these horrors to each of us, with an intimacy, that is both comforting and at the same time unsettling.”
2.
SEE ‘THE TIME IS NOW’
By Carl Manaster
Daily Kos
July 23, 2006
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/7/23/15529/3466
At last week's DemocracyFest here in San Diego, Kenneth Brady screened a couple of scenes from his new movie, “The Time is Now.” Today I finally had a chance to see it in its entirety.
“The Time is Now” is a very dark, very personal account of our Cold War crimes and a call to action for a U.S. Truth and Reconciliation Commission to face up to these crimes. Ken points to documents that FISA has made available to us -- documents about Chile, about East Timor, about Cambodia and Laos and more. About Kissinger and the School for the Americas (now the "Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation"). About how the events we brought about in these countries had nothing to do with democracy, nothing to do with containing Communism, and everything to do with United Fruit Company, Pepsico, and a variety of American mining companies and others. Protecting big business profits is where it's at.
I don't think there is a lot here that will surprise Kossacks, but it's a powerful telling and it's a story that needs to be heard by many more people. I think, too, that the call to action is entirely appropriate: we must face the crimes and the criminals in our past, must make amends with our victims, if we are to move beyond them. Although I am not entirely comfortable with the notion of amnesty for hateful evil men like Kissinger, I consider it more important to move on than to punish evildoers. And I recognize the reality that he will go unpunished regardless of whatever truth-telling he may be compelled to do.
Probably the Commission will need more than the year Ken proposes for it; almost certainly we should consider such Commissions for atrocities in our history such as the extermination of Native Americans and slavery -- and for the racism that continues to underlie so much of our public policy. We should be doing the same for the ongoing harm our policies cause in the Middle East. But what Ken proposes is a good start.
Please check out this movie; order a few copies for friends. I did.
3.
"THE TIME IS NOW" -- A CALL FOR TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION
By Joao Da Silva
School of Americas Watch
July 23, 2006
http://www.soaw.org/new/article.php?id=1345
Director Kenneth Brady is a bold man. On the one hand, he has taken the unusual risk of creating a critical documentary about recent U.S. political history without the exploitation of gory stock footage which has become a too-often used resource to inspire shock and awe amongst viewers and therefore simplify the task of capturing their attention. On the other, he takes on the challenge of exposing himself by connecting life-changing moments of his own life to recent dramatic historical events in which the U.S. government has played a significant role. In “The Time Is Now,” the personal becomes political, and vice versa. The film follows a very similar formula of other one-person films such as Spalding Gray’s “Swimming to Cambodia” and Anna Deavere Smith’s “Twilight” but at times seems to play itself out more as an act of protest on film than a mere narration of thoughts and events.
The subjects in the film vary from the events of 9/11 of 2001 to the training of terrorists and assassins on U.S. soil in the School of The Americas (SOA), thus exposing the contradictions of the U.S. governments very much publicized “War on Terror.” The film has adequately been described as having a “hypnotic” effect on the viewer; the photography and lighting provide the film with a slightly dark but beautiful aesthetic and Brady’s voice and presence make one feel as though you are both in the same room. Like two old friends having a revealing conversation which could change both of your lives. “The Time Is Now” is not only an exposé of the war crimes committed by the U.S. abroad and at home, but also a call to action, a proposition. Brady proposes that we, and the press release for the film says it best, “bring about a change in U.S. policy by outlining a plan for a U.S. Truth and Reconciliation Commission; which endeavors to work in coalition with organizations who promote justice, democracy and accountability for war crimes past and present.”
The Time Is Now is out now on DVD and can be ordered at:
http://www.thetimeisnowthemovie.com
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