THE PANAMA DECEPTION, EDUCATING PETER: Oscar’s Docs
The two 1992 Oscar-winning documentaries, Barbara Trent’s feature The Panama Deception and Gerardine Wurzburg’s short Educating Peter, will be screened as part of “Oscar’s Docs, Part Four: Academy Award-Winning Documentaries 1988–1997″ on Monday, October 20, at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences‘ Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood. (Photo, right: El Chorrillo neighborhood. Image by Julio Cesar Guerra D.)
Producer-director Barbara Trent and producer-writer-editor David Kasper (both can be seen holding their Oscars at the bottom of this article) of The Panama Deception will take part in a post-screening discussion.
Long before Michael Moore’s splashy Fahrenheit 9/11, there was the considerably more subdued — and much superior — The Panama Deception. Just as relevant now as when it first came out in 1992, The Panama Deception uncovers the untold story of the December 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama — the events leading up to it (in which then CIA director George Bush played a role), the use of excessive force (between 500 and several thousand civilians killed in a country with little more than 2.2 million inhabitants), the invasion’s devastating aftermath, and the insidious role of the mainstream US media, ever eager to misinform and manipulate their gullible audience. Does this sound like Iraq? Will anyone ever learn? Don’t hold your breath. Instead, go check out this excellent film.
The Panama Deception is flawlessly narrated by Elizabeth Montgomery, with voice-over bits provided by Lou Diamond Phillips, Alma Martínez, and others.
Educating Peter follows Peter Gwazdauskas, a third-grader with Down syndrome going through his first year of study in a regular classroom in Blacksburg, Virginia.
“Oscar’s Docs” is a comprehensive screening series of every short subject and feature to win the Academy Award for documentary filmmaking since the category was established in 1941. The retrospective will feature the best available prints — often newly struck or restored editions from the documentary collection of the Academy Film Archive.
Tickets to each “Oscar’s Docs” screenings are $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid ID. A limited number of series passes for all remaining evenings are available for $30 for the general public and $25 for Academy members and students with a valid ID. A $5 discount will be given to previous passholders.
The Linwood Dunn Theater is located at 1313 Vine Street in Hollywood. Free parking is available through the entrance on Homewood Avenue (one block north of Fountain Avenue).
For additional information, visit www.oscars.org or call (310) 247-3600.
Photos: Courtesy of the Margaret Herrick Library
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