Hollywood and Politics

Just as a lot of Swedish filmmakers feel “colonized” by Bergman, I feel that Hollywood is a colonizing force in America. It is a big fat semi-truck, stuck on a one-lane road, and no one can get by it. In the 60s and 70s, Cassavetes led the way to the Easy Rider and Last Picture Show rebellions, which in- cluded early films by Scorcese, Coppola, Friedkin, McBride, among others, but, films like Northern Lights couldn’t even be distributed. We were too humble, sort of shambling Robert Frosts in the back room of Spagos. And today, the young people don’t even have the moral force of a Bob Young or a Victor Nunez to guide them. This doesn’t mean they don’t have political preferences. Everyone knows what’s wrong today and how to fix it and there are endless documentaries about it, some of which are interesting, most of which are propaganda. But in narrative cinema, careerism seems to have no governor. Fame. Fortune. Great. We’ll go for it. But the films are so terrible, that all they can do is bring down what little force of taste remains. What an irony, that the real artists in Hollywood are from Mexico. Inniaritu, Cuaron and del Toro outrank the few Aronofskys, Van Sants and Soderberghs in my book. So, I’ve spent a lot of time saying things like this and writing them in Res Magazine and other places. So, what are politics in Sodom and Gomorrah? Tom Bower is heavily into SAG, but SAG is a thorn in the side of people who have to make their films for 50 cents and Scotch tape. But they lord it over us nonetheless, oblivious to what “art” is supposed to supply to people. So, what is a panel about Hollywood and politics? What is cinema in a town where bagmen and union guys, wearing trench coats, interfere with the few good directors and film projects that there are going to be in any age? I don’t have any answers. But these are my thoughts on a rainy, Bay Area morning.

From a text by Rob Nilsson

Panelists:

Michelle Anton Allen is an actress who has created environmental guerilla street theater pieces for environmental and human rights campaigns. She recently produced and co-starred op- posite Stacy Keach in Imbued, directed by Rob Nilsson.

Tom Bower is a well-known actor, most recently in Appaloosa. He has served on the National Board of Directors of Screen Actors’ Guild; was architect of Global Rule One and cre- ated the SAGIndie Outreach Program. Rob Nilsson is an independent filmmaker. Among his awards is the Camera d’Or at Cannes for Northern Lights (co-directed with John Hanson). He created the “Direct Action” style of digital filmmaking.

John Stout is an officer at Fredrikson & Byron law firm. He co-chairs the Media, Entertainment and Sports Group. He is Founder of the Minnesota Film Board. He has producer numerous films including Prairie Home Companion.

Moderated by:
Richard Breyer: filmmaker and Professor in the SI Newhouse School of Public Communications.

Sponsors: The S.I. Newhouse School of Public Commnucations and the College of Visual and Performing Arts

Other Rob Nilsson Events:

Everson E8

Palace P11

Everson E11

Everson E14