Four great new films coming this fall!
This fall, MEF will be releasing four timely new films on some of the most talked-about issues of the day. Check them out below – and look for them later this year!
MORE THAN A WORD
Native American-based Sports Mascots & the Washington R*dskins
Filmmakers John and Kenn Little, of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, offer a fascinating look at the heated debates surrounding Native American sports mascots. Taking us inside the campaign to change the name of Washington’s NFL football team, the film traces how the word “r*dskin” evolved from a term of racist derision and slander to the beloved name of one of the oldest NFL franchises.
MEF and the filmmakers are coordinating screenings of this film during Native American Heritage Month in November.
THE GREAT WHITE HOAX
Donald Trump & the Politics of Race and Class in America
During the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump was accused by Democratic and Republican leaders alike of running a stunningly racist campaign that broke with the decency of traditional American political norms. In The Great White Hoax, bestselling author Tim Wise takes issue with this narrative, showing how Trump’s race-baiting electoral appeals were entirely consistent with a longstanding pattern of fear-based racial scapegoating in American politics.
DIGITAL DISCONNECT
How Capitalism is Turning the Internet Against Democracy
Digital Disconnect, based on Robert McChesney’s critically acclaimed book of the same title, places debates about fake news, filter bubbles, and the role of social media during the 2016 election within the wider context of capitalism’s overall impact on the internet. Arguing that the democratizing potential of the Internet has been blunted by consumer capitalism and corporate power, McChesney urges us to reclaim the revolutionary potential of the digital revolution while we still can.
CONSTRUCTING THE TERRORIST THREAT
Islamophobia, the Media & the War on Terror
Deepa Kumar, a leading scholar on Islamophobia, shows how the U.S. news media have turned Arabs and Muslims into the new face of terror — even though terror attacks by homegrown right-wing extremist groups have far outnumbered attacks by Muslims and Arabs since Sept. 12, 2001. The result is an eye-opening look at how news media framing can cultivate irrational fears of entire groups of people while breeding reactionary policies that often end up doing more harm than good.
