Marfa Film Festival - American Psychosis
Pulitzer-prize winning Journalist, Author and Activist Chris Hedges, discusses modern day consumerism, totalitarian corporate power and living in a culture dominated by pervasive illusion.
Interview with Director/Producer Amanda Zackem
Watch American Psychosis here:
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
I made this short doc as part of a larger educational film series/digital activist resource I’m creating to help raise awareness about totalitarian capitalism and totalitarian corporate power in the United States. When I asked myself the question ‘What is the root cause of so much suffering in today’s America?’ The two answers I kept coming back to were greed and privatization; two issues that bleed between the corporate world and into our government more so then ever before. Our country has so much money and yet we don’t provide universal healthcare to our citizens. We destroy and pollute the environment. We don’t properly fund our educational institutions. We de-fund the humanities. We privatize prisons. This list goes on and on and what it always comes back to is greed and corporate privatization.
Because the corporate state has become so powerful, people have been boxed into being mass consumers--which is a mentality that divorces us from our true nature as human beings. We are not here to shop, we are here to help each other and the world we walk upon. Inspired by an essay written by Chris Hedges titled American Psychosis --originally published in Ad Busters -- I decided to bring his words into the visual realm.
Chris is one of our country's leading intellectuals as well as a witness, having worked overseas as a foreign correspondent for the New York Times for over a decade for which he won a Pulitzer Prize. American Psychosis is a film that discusses consumerism, totalitarian capitalism, totalitarian corporate power and living in a world of pervasive illusion.
This film is about self-reflection on both a personal level as well as within a national context. I made this film because I want people to critically think about their lives as U.S. citizens and as Chris states, “ Who they are and where they think they’re going.” My intention is to inspire and activate US citizens to fight against corporate power, elevate one’s consciousness and create a non-privatized, non-exploitative America.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
I’d like people to use this film as a tool for self-reflection and critical thought. As Chris says in the film “You can’t talk about hope until you can see reality and reality is pretty bleak, but that’s the starting point.”
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
Corporate power is pervasive and invades the lives of all people, from all walks of life. It’s an American issue and a global issue, though this film specifically focuses on corporate power within the United States.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
The original interview with Chris was an hour and I edited it down to 15 minutes. It was a very intuitive process and evolved naturally. The audio and the visuals were placed very specifically to create multiple narratives throughout the film. I intentionally decided to not use any archival footage to help keep the viewer in the context of modern day America. I wanted people to focus on the world of today, even if hearing about the past. The idea was to get people to think about their personal life, their role within the community they live and the role they play in the larger context of the United States.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
The way one approaches this film and the self-reflective thought process it intends to instigate, really depends on the lens the viewer is looking through. So far the response has been incredible and at times brought me to tears. Many people that I’ve had the chance to interact with told me that they didn’t know of Chris’s work prior to viewing my film and are now buying his books, reading his essays and watching his show On Contact.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
I went into this with no expectations. What was important for me was that I was creating something that spoke my truth. During most of the filming I was suffering from severe Lyme disease and two co-infections, Babesia and Bartonella that came with the <unseen> tick bite and I had an IV port as part of the treatment. Many of the shots were captured while en-route to my Dr.’s office or while carting a cooler of IV’s to my parent’s house. Not knowing if I would ever get better, part of my thought process in making this film was, if I didn’t recover, or if I died, I would be leaving the world something that could possibly help activate people to fight against the corporate powers that are harming people, animals and the planet. This film is very meaningful to me for this reason. The good news is that the treatment did work and I’m now healthy again. So yes, the response the film has received so far has been truly incredible and very meaningful.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
This film is the first in a series of short documentaries I’m working on that will highlight a variety of issues under the umbrella of United States totalitarian capitalism and totalitarian corporate power. The intent of this series is to activate US citizens to fight against the corporate powers that are privatizing basic human rights, destroying the environment and oppressing it’s citizen. These films will become part of an activist platform and resource that I’m working to create. This idea has both a digital component and an interactive community-based component. I’m hoping that exposure on this website will inspire people to watch the film. I’m also hoping that someone reading this will be interested in collaborating with me on this activist platform and resource I’m working to create.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
I’m currently seeking a funder as well as someone to partner with to help bring this digital activist platform and film series to life. I’m also looking for a like minded producer and editor to work with.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I’d like this film to inspire people to live consciously and compassionately. I’d like people to understand that everything they do has a consequence be it seen or unseen.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
The opening quote in the film where Chris says “Beauty, grief, death, the struggle with our own mortality, the search of a life of meaning, love, the capacity for transformation. Those forces are ones that make us stop and become introspective and think and look within ourselves to see who we are and where we’re going, and that’s what any totalitarian states seeks to crush. And yet, we’ve blissfully checked out.”
What are the key creatives developing or working on now?
Currently I’m working on the second film in the series, which is based on an interview with Economist, Author and founder of the Non-profit Democracy at Work, Richard Wolff. Wolff argues that in a democracy, worker run and owned cooperatives are the solution to corporate greed and worker oppression. He states, "If you don't have democracy in the work place, you don't have democracy."
Interview: June 2017
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We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series and music video. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
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American Psychosis
Pulitzer-prize winning Journalist, Author and Activist Chris Hedges, discusses modern day consumerism, totalitarian corporate power and living in a culture dominated by pervasive illusion.
Length: 15 minutes
Director: Amanda Zackem
Producer: Amanda Zackem
Cinematographer: Amanda Zackem
Editor: Amanda Zackem
Music Composer: Jonathan Zalben
Location Sound & Post Sound Mixer: Dan Mazur
Aerial Cinematographer: Michael Kelem
Technical Consultant: Jason Kohlbrenner
About the writer, director and producer:
Amanda Zackem was co-director of cinematography for the feature documentary Germans & Jews and producer of the feature length documentaries The Trial of the St. Patrick’s Four and Blind Spot. Her short documentary on women’s cycling pioneer Georgena Terry screened in film-festivals worldwide, and won Best Female Directed short at the Cornwall Film Festival. Her short experimental film The Black Series won Best Cinematography at the Women’s Independent Film Festival. Her most recent short documentary, American Psychosis, is based off an interview with Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, author and activist Chris Hedges and discusses consumerism, totalitarian corporate power and living in a world dominated by pervasive illusion.
Interviewee: Chris Hedges
Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists): Funders, Partners, Producer, Editor.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/americanpsychosisfilm/
Website: https://www.americanpsychosis.com
Where can I see it in the next month? It will be screening at the Marfa Film Festival July 12-16.
https://www.marfafilmfestival.com/american-psychosis
Upcoming Screenings:
Marfa Film Festival / July 12-16, 2017
Past Screenings:
Mountainfilm / May 26-29, 2017.
Seattle International Film Festival / May 25th, 2017.
Cinema at the Edge Film Festival / April 28, 2017.
Athens International Film & Video Festival / April 3-April 9, 2017.
Cleveland International Film Festival / April 4th-April15, 2017.
Sonoma International Film Festival / March 29th-April 2, 2017.
Martha's Vineyard Film Festival / March 16-March 19, 2017.
Socially Relevant Film Festival / March 13-19, 2017.
Colorado Environmental Film Festival / Feb 23-26, 2017.
Chris Hedges Bio:
Chris Hedges is a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist, New York Times best selling author, professor at Princeton University, activist and ordained Presbyterian minister. He has written 11 books, including the New York Times best-seller “Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt” (2012), which he co-authored with the cartoonist Joe Sacco. His other books include “Wages of Rebellion: The Moral Imperative of Revolt,” (2015) “Death of the Liberal Class” (2010), “Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle” (2009), “I Don’t Believe in Atheists” (2008) and the best-selling “American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America” (2008). His book “War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning” (2003) was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction and has sold over 400,000 copies. He writes a weekly column for the web site Truthdig in Los Angeles, run by Robert Scheer, and hosts a show, On Contact, on RT America.
He spent nearly two decades as a foreign correspondent in Central America, the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans. He has reported from more than 50 countries during his work for The Christian Science Monitor, National Public Radio, The Dallas Morning News and The New York Times, for which he was a foreign correspondent for 15 years. Hedges was part of a New York Times team of reporters awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 2002 for coverage of global terrorism. He also received the Amnesty International Global Award for Human Rights Journalism in 2002.
Hedges speaks Arabic, French and Spanish and studied classics, including ancient Greek and Latin, at Harvard University. He has taught at Columbia University, New York University, Princeton University and the University of Toronto. He currently teaches a class through Princeton University at a state prison in New Jersey where half of the students are Princeton undergraduates and half are prisoners.
Hedges began his career reporting on the Falkland War from Argentina for National Public Radio. He went on to cover the wars in El Salvador and Nicaragua for five years, first for The Christian Science Monitor and National Public Radio and later The Dallas Morning News. After six years in Latin America, he took time off to study Arabic. He spent seven years in the Middle East, most of them as the bureau chief for The New York Times. He left the Middle East in 1995 for Sarajevo to cover the war in Bosnia and later reported the war in Kosovo. Afterward, he was based in Paris as part of the team covering al-Qaeda and global terrorism. He left the Times after receiving a formal reprimand from the newspaper for publicly denouncing the George W. Bush administration’s invasion of Iraq.
In 2012, Hedges successfully sued President Barack Obama over section 1021 of the National Defense Authorization Act, which overturned the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act, prohibiting the military from acting as a domestic police force. Section 1021 gives the military the authority to indefinitely detain and deny due process to U.S. citizens who are branded by the state as terrorists. The decision was overturned on appeal by the Obama administration. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the ruling, known as Hedges v. Obama, in 2014.
Hedges holds a B.A. in English literature from Colgate University and a Master of Divinity degree from Harvard University. He spent a year studying classics at Harvard as a Nieman Fellow. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from Starr King School for the Ministry in Berkeley, Calif. In 2014 he was ordained as a minister for social witness at the Second Presbyterian Church in Elizabeth, N.J. The theologian James Cone, the father of Black Liberation Theology, preached the sermon along with Cornel West. The ordination was approved for his work in New Jersey prisons where Hedges has taught college credit courses for nearly a decade.
Hedges, who was born in St. Johnsbury, Vermont and grew up in a small farm town in upstate New York where his father served as a Presbyterian minister, lives in Princeton, N.J. He is married to the Canadian actress Eunice Wong, with whom he has two children. He has two children from a previous marriage.