Defamation
Thursday, February 18
7:00 PM
Mercury Cafe
2199 California St, Denver
$5 suggested donation or 1 hour volunteer

What is anti-Semitism today, two generations after the Holocaust? In his continuing exploration of modern Israeli life, director Yoav Shamir (Checkpoint, 5 Days, Flipping Out) travels the world in search of the most modern manifestations of the “oldest hatred”, and comes up with some startling answers.

In this irreverent quest, he follows American Jewish leaders to the capitals of Europe, as they warn government officials of the growing threat of anti-Semitism, and he tacks on to a class of Israeli high school students on a pilgrimage to Auschwitz.

On his way, Shamir meets controversial historian, Norman Finkelstein, who offers his unpopular views on the manner that anti-Semitism is being used by the Jewish community and especially Israel for political gain. He also joins scholars, Stephen M. Walt and John J. Mearsheimer, while they give a lecture in Israel following the release of their book “The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy”, about the un-proportional influence the Israel lobby in Washington enjoys. Yoav visits Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial museum in Jerusalem, the must stop for all world leaders on their visits to Israel. While in Jerusalem, he drops by the house of his grandmother that offers her insight on the issue and declares that she is the “real Jew”.

The film questions our perceptions and terminology when an event proclaimed by some as anti-Semitic is described by others as legitimate criticism of Israel’s government policies. The film walks along the boundary between anti-Zionism, rejecting the notion of a Jewish State, and anti-Semitism, rejecting Jews. Is the former being used to excuse the latter? And is there a difference between today’s anti-Semitism and plain old racism that is affecting all minorities?

Opinions often differ and tempers sometimes flare, but in Defamation we find that one thing is certain  - only by understanding their response to anti-Semitism can we really appreciate how Jews today, and especially modern Israelis, respond to the world around them, in New York and in Moscow, in Gaza and Tel Aviv.

American Radical:
The Trials of Norman Finkelstein
Monday, January 11
7:00 PM
Hooked on Colfax
3215 E. Colfax Ave, Denver
$5 suggested donation or 1 hour volunteer

American Radical: The Trials of Norman Finkelstein is the probing documentary portrait of American academic and activist Norman Finkelstein. A devoted son of holocaust survivors, ardent critic of Israeli and US Mid-East policies and author of six provocative books, Finkelstein has been at the center of many intractable controversies.

Called a lunatic and a self-hating Jew by some and an inspirational, street-fighting revolutionary by others, Finkelstein is a deeply polarizing figure whose struggles arise from core questions about freedom, identity and nationhood. Following him as he presents his message to audiences around the globe, the film provides an intimate portrait of the man behind the controversy, giving voice to Finkelstein’s critics as well as his supporters.

The Killing Zone
Monday, November 23
7:00 PM
Hooked on Colfax
3215 E. Colfax Ave, Denver
$5 suggested donation or 1 hour volunteer

The Killing Zone was originally broadcast in the UK on Channel 4 on 5/19/06 and shockingly revealed the daily violence and murder by the Israeli occupiers in the Gaza Strip.

Most revealing were the attacks against internationals like Rachel Corrie - an American peace activist who was crushed to death by an IDF bulldozer; Tom Hurndall - a British peace protester who was shot in the head by an IDF sniper and remained in a coma until his death on  January 13, 2004, and James Miller - a British cameraman who was shot dead by the IDF while displaying a white flag. If these internationals were so ruthlessly murdered, what is it like for the Palestinians who live there?

This film is a must see for anyone wishing to understand the true nature of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

After Aushwitz
The Battle for the Holocaust
Monday, August 3
7:00 PM
Hooked on Colfax
3215 E. Colfax Ave, Denver
$5 suggested donation or 1 hour volunteer

The Battle for the Holocaust raises controversial questions about how the world perceives the Nazi extermination. In this film, Jewish historians look at how our understanding of the Holocaust has changed in the five decades since the end of the Second World War and ask whose agenda is being served by the proliferation of museums, memorials and commemoration events.

Where in the World is
Osama Bin Laden
Thursday, July 2
7:00 PM
Mercury Cafe
2199 California St, Denver
$5 suggested donation or 1 hour volunteer

Morgan Spurlock, who hilariously Super Size-ed himself to take down the American fast-food diet, sets his sights on the country s biggest enemy in similarly comic fashion. Armed only with a hasty round of survival training, a camera, and his trademark moustache, Spurlock searches the Middle East s mosques, malls, schools, and caves for public enemy #1. From Saudi Arabia to Pakistan to Israel, he interviews ordinary people and experts on all sides of the Middle East conflict, with results that are both funny and thought-provoking.

Gilad Atzmon:
The Primacy of the Ear
The Road from Music Ethics
Thursday, June 4
7:00 PM
Mercury Cafe
2199 California St, Denver
Sliding scale donation
pay what you can
(no one turned away)

Talk on Palestine with
Abel Francisco & the Community
Thursday, March 12
7:00 PM
Mercury Cafe
2199 California St, Denver
$5 suggested donation or 1 hour volunteer

Local activist Abel Francisco recently returned from the West Bank, Palestine where he documented human rights abuses and the daily life of Palestinians. Tonight he will be giving a talk on his experiences and taking questions. Afterwards we will open it up for a community discussion on Palestine with a focus on how we here in Colorado can help support the rights and dignity of the Palestinians. Please come with your compassion, hope, and some proactive ideas.

The Israeli Massacre in Gaza
Thursday, February 26
7:00 PM
Mercury Cafe
2199 California St, Denver
$5 suggested donation or 1 hour volunteer

On January 13, 2009 an emergency town hall meeting was held in New York City in response to Israel’s siege on Gaza. Tonight ArgusFest will be showing clips from this informative urgent event.

Speakers include:
Chris Hedges - Pulitzer prize winning journalist, former New York Times Mideast Bureau Chief, author of many books including Collateral Damage: America’s War Against Iraqi Civilians
Cynthia McKinney- 2008 presidential candidate, who was on a Free Gaza Movement boat bearing aid for Gaza that was fired upon by the Israeli Navy on December 29, 2008
Alan Goodman - writer for Revolution newspaper, whose most recent article is “Invoking the Holocaust to Silence Criticism of Israel’s Crimes? NEVER AGAIN!”
Adam Shapiro- human rights activist and documentary filmmaker, and co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement
Peter Weiss- Vice President, Center for Constitutional Rights
Najla Said- playwright and actor, performing an excerpt from her play PALESTINE about a visit to Gaza in early 1980s with her father Edward Said and family

Jeremy Hardy vs. The Israeli Army
Wednesday, February 25
7:00 PM
Hooked on Colfax
3215 E. Colfax Ave, Denver
$5 suggested donation or 1 hour volunteer

This dark comedic documentary narrated by Hardy is a story of an unlikely person put in extraordinary circumstances. Hardy teamed up with producer/director Leila Sansour and other members of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) in an effort to try his hand at ending occupation of the West Bank. Hardy could only describe the next four days of filming as “four days in hell.”

The footage  captured covers everything from the standoff at Yasser Arafat’s compound to the siege at the Church of the Nativity. It gives an inside look into the operations and birth of the ISM and the stories that were never reported in last year’s news bulletins.

To Die in Jerusalem
Wednesday, January 28
7:00 PM
Hooked on Colfax
3215 E. Colfax Ave, Denver
$5 donation and/or 1 hour volunteer

After two 17-year old girls - one an Israeli, the other a Palestinian suicide bomber - die in a Jerusalem market, their mothers confront each other, revealing a microcosm of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the complexity of reconciliation. Through the personal stories of the two families’ losses and by contrasting the lives and deaths of these two teenage girls, TO DIE IN JERUSALEM offers a personal human perspective that is all too often eclipsed by the political issues.