SCHOOL VIEWS
“The Antidote Against Fear” By Ms Barbu & Ms Croci (The Social Sciences Department) WHITE RAGE |Arto Haolonen | Finland | 2016 One World synopsis: “What is going on in the mind of a young man who plans mass killings? Lauri, a kid who, after his father’s death, became the target of severe bullying in school, isolates himself in rage. At two points in his life, during high school and during college, Lauri fantasizes about committing mass murder. As an adult, Lauri has turned into an expert in human aggression and mass killings, and can now reflect on his own trajectory and on the origins of violence in the world. His voiceover floats over archival footage and understated yet suggestive reenactments in this hybrid film whose assured formal ingeniousness betrays the sure hand of an experienced director. “ Our student’s view: This film is a profound and subjective analysis of the roots of what the protagonist describes as “white rage” - planned, carefully organised aggression. How is it possible that Finland, the country that has reputation of having the best educational system in the world, has not found a way to prevent bullying to start with, and massshootings from its schools, the public asked? Perhaps, as the director explained, the answer is not to be found in the way in which school structures operate, but within the culture that the school is a part of, and even within human nature itself. Explaining aggression becomes an exercise of calibrating our observational lenses: zooming out, schools are simply micromodels of society - they will pick and replicate the power relationships found in the wider community, zooming in you will find the personal accumulated frustrations, anger, resentment, the destructive drive, and the dissociation from the oppressive group that comes to be seen as a “foreign, obnoxious species”. The film raises numerous questions. Is receptiveness and care enough to rescue, not only the victims of bullying, but also the countless victims of their “white rage”? By Petru Galaseanu (Year 12) SPECIAL RECOMMENDATIONS THE AMERICAN ANARCHIST | Charlie Siskel | USA | 2016 One World synopsis: At nineteen, William Powell wanted to build a new society, so he started by teaching the world how to blow up the old one: he wrote The Anarchist Cookbook, an epoch-defining text which combined revolutionary rhetoric with practical advice about how to make bombs. Described by a FBI memo as “one of the crudest, low-brow, paranoiac writing efforts ever attempted”, the book sold over two million copies and remains associated with decades of violent antigovernment attacks, bombings, school shootings, and homegrown domestic terrorism. After writing the book, Powell left the U.S. and has led an itinerant life, mostly teaching emotional intelligence and advising schools on how to deal with special needs children. Filmmaker Charlie Siskel tracks down the author of The Anarchist Cookbook and asks him to reflect on the dramatic consequences of his youthful rebellion. How does one come to terms with this kind of past?
collective responsibility, about owning and coming to terms with one’s own past. Depending on what you want to focus on, the film provides many issues of debate. Is Powell responsible for all the crimes that were associated with the Anarchist Cookbook? After all, he only collated the information from easily accessible sources, before the internet era. Was his work a catalyst of violence and terrorism? Does the fact that the author dissociates himself from his early writing mean that the work itself will lose significance? And also, how far are our actions a product of the social context in which we evolve? ALL GOVERNMENTS LIE |Alfred Peabody | USA, Canada | 2016 One World synopsis: “Michael Moore recalls that I.F. (“Izzy”) Stone once told him that if he wants to find out the real news, he needs to go to page 17 of any newspaper. The first page, he knew, is always controlled by power: governments, corporate advertisers, and propagandists. Between the 1950s and the 1970s, Stone kept a healthy distance from both political power and mainstream media in the United States. Consequently, he has become a reference point for those who practice today the kind of independent investigative journalism that is both necessary, uncomfortable, and financially perilous. Lesser known than mainstream TV and print stars, these people are always on the front lines of the battle between the public interest and the interests of the power: Glenn Greenwald, the former Guardian journalist who, together with Laura Poitras, was the first contact for whistleblower Edward Snowden; Jeremy Scahill, who broke open the story on drone killings; Matt Taibbi, music magazine Rolling Stone’s war reporter; and Amy Goodman, the main engine of the online startup channel Democracy Now!” The teacher’s view: Here is an exceptional story of independent journalists who made it their own mission to impartially report the truth. These are the real heroes of free press, risking it all to bring truth to you, if you want to hear it. Just like little Toto, Dorothy’s little dog, they pull the curtain behind which the Great Wizard of Oz is hiding, disclosing the deceit that we are fed with on a daily basis. Whether you study Sociology or not, I hope this documentary will reveal some commonly ignored facts about the mainstream press, as well as give you a few hints on where to look for accurate reporting. In the best case, the film will inspire you to find the courage to look for the truth yourself. "One World Romania at School" is a project that supports the development of activities on the theme of human rights for high school students and teachers. One World organises screenings of documentary films on human right issues, that are aimed at pupils aged 13 and above. These documentary films increase the awareness of social issues that exist in the local community, and worldwide. The pupils taking part in these screenings have an opportunity to participate in discussions and debates with the directors of the documentaries, or with representatives of charities that have expertise in the issues presented in the film.
The teacher’s view: This documentary tells the viewer a story about the authorship of dangerous ideas, personal, and
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