Director to show new film, "Americana," at Goshen College

Movie: Screening of the documentary "Americana" and a question-answer session with the film's director and producer Topaz Adizes
Date and time: Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009 at 7:30 p.m.
Location: Administration Building, Room 28 (second floor), Goshen College
Cost: Free and open to the public

For more information: Call (574) (574) 535-7569 or e-mail info@goshen.edu
Web site: www.theamericanaproject.com/films.html

GOSHEN, Ind. – A new documentary which tells the story of two California teens, their decision to join the U.S. Army and the global impact of U.S. foreign and military policy, will be shown at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 14 at Goshen College in the Administration Building, Room 28 (second floor). A question-answer session with the film's director and producer, Topaz Adizes of New York City, will be held afterward. The event is free and open to the public.

"Americana" tells the story of Tim Bies and Anthony Castillo, two teen-agers from Needles, Calif., in their last months of high school before enlisting in the U.S. Army. Juxtaposed with that story are conversations between U.S. citizens and people abroad of what it means to be "American" and "free" and the impacts of U.S. actions. The documentary was filmed all over the world, from Vietnam and Hiroshima, to Belgrade and Istanbul.

Adizes said, "The film does not put forward one argument for or against their joining. Rather, the film creates a conversation for that to take place, and we put it in a global context. Why are Tim and Anthony joining? What perspectives of America are they willing to commit their time and possibly lives to in the service of? And yet, we place that against the perspective of a Hiroshima survivor, or a Vietnam vet who suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder but now lives in Vietnam working with children who suffer from Agent Orange, to name a few."

Adizes said that he is against war, but his documentary does not push his viewpoint to the exclusion of others. "I have been in a screening where people mention it should be used as a recruiting tool for the Army, and in the same screening, people who think its a great anti-war movie. I am very proud of the film and from the numerous screenings we've had at high schools, I know it resonates with young people."

After showing the film, Adizes will participate in a question-answer session with the audience. Also participating in the question-answer session will be Jason Springs, a peace studies expert who appears in the documentary. Springs is an assistant professor of religion, ethics and peaces studies at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame.

The Hollywood Reporter described "Americana" as "a powerful documentary that confronts America's superpower status and worldwide perception." IndieWIRE wrote that the film "breaks free of the 'Iraq war movie' stigma to focus on the humanity of young people driven to enlist. However, Adizes ... goes one step further by smoothly navigating various international dialogues in a series of bold interstitial digressions. His camera takes us to European countries where traveling Americans engage in widespread interactions with their foreign counterparts about America's role on the global stage and whether it reflects the behavior of individual citizens."

Adizes said he hopes his documentary will "create a space for a greater conversation to be held, and to ultimately place the action in the hands of the viewer." He also has more specific goals: "The aim of the film is to create a conversation about American identity in a global context with the idea that nothing we do happens in a vacuum. Young people are an extremely valuable resource and the more information they have, the better, more informed decisions they can make that will impact their community, no matter how big or small."

Americana has been shown at various film festivals this year, including the AFI/Dallas International Film Festival, the Urban World Film Festival and the Morelia International Film Festival. After the screening at Goshen College, "Americana" will be shown at the Heartland Film Festival in Indianapolis, Oct. 15-24.

The Goshen College Communication Department, the Peace, Justice & Conflict Studies Department and the Public Relations Office are sponsoring the presentation of "Americana" and the question-answer session.

"We're fortunate to have a gifted documentary filmmaker like Topaz Adizes join us for a screening of 'Americana,'" said Duane Stoltzfus, chair of the Communication Department. "We often see movies and then promptly leave the theater, moving on to other business of the day. Having a chance to engage a filmmaker directly after seeing his work will allow us all to have a deeper understanding of the making of a documentary and the complicated issues that are raised in this one."

Joe Liechty, chair of the Peace, Justice, and Conflict Studies Department, said the screening of the documentary will expose the college's Mennonite students and faculty with important perspectives. "Mennonites have tended to think about military service mostly when it affects us directly — when there's a draft — which means many of us haven't thought much about it for a long time, and that's not good enough," Liechty said. "For some in the Mennonite Church and many in the larger communities we are part of, military service is a live option, often, although certainly not always, for young people with few options for further education and good jobs. We need to know a lot more about military service and its implications."

For more information, call (574) (574) 535-7569 or e-mail info@goshen.edu.

Editors: For more information about this release, to arrange an interview or request a photo, contact Goshen College News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

###

Goshen College, established in 1894, is a residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college's Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron's Best Buys in Education, "Colleges of Distinction," "Making a Difference College Guide" and U.S.News & World Report's "America's Best Colleges" edition, which named Goshen a "least debt college." Visit www.goshen.edu.