Published: October 09, 2009 10:31 am      

Director to show new film, ‘Americana,’ at GC

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. Wednesday 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 teenagers 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?”

Adizes said that he is against war, but his documentary does not push his viewpoint to the exclusion of others.

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 peace studies at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame.

“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, chairman 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.”