Grand Prix Competition

THE POWER OF NIGHTMARES




Adam Curtis

Country of production: UK
Year: 2004
Language: English
Mins: 155

Production company: BBC TV
Producer: Adam Curtis
Cinematography: Lucy Kelsau
Editing: Tamer Osman
Sound: Niall Podson

Source: Curtis, Adam
BBC TV
Room 1534
White City, Wood Lane
London W12 7TS, UK
e-mail: adam.curtis@bbc.co.uk


This three-part program, from acclaimed BBC producer/director Adam Curtis, challenges conventional wisdom on the “war on terror.” It maintains that a climate of fear now dominates politics in America, Britain and around the world. More controversially, it examines just how far this fear is based on an illusion. Curtis traces the intertwined stories of neoconservatives and radical Islamists over the last 50 years and shows how they embraced this fear to cultivate the myth that a hidden, highly organized Islamist terror network is ready to strike at any moment. Part 1 looks at the lives Egyptian school inspector, Sayyid Qutb, whose ideas would later directly inspire those who flew the planes on 9/11, and political philosopher Leo Strauss, whose work strongly influenced the Neoconservative movement that now dominates Washington. Part 2 shows how the radical fundamentalist Islamist movement, later named al-Qaida, had failed without popular support, and posits that neo-conservatives' reaction to the attacks of 9/11 transformed it into a grand revolutionary force. Part 3 assesses whether the threat from a hidden and organized terrorist network is real, and explains how the illusion was created and who benefits from it.

Adam Curtis is a senior Executive Producer with BBC Television in London. Over the past 15 years he has made many documentary films and film series that focus on the history of politics and culture both in Britain and globally. He has won many awards for his films and is one of the BBC's most enowned historical documentary filmmakers.

FILMOGRAPHY

POWER OF NIGHTMARES - THE RISE OF THE POLITICS OF FEAR (2004)
THE CENTURY OF THE SELF (2002)
THE MAYFAIR SET (2000)
FISHTANK (1999)
THE STORY OF HENRIETTA LACKS - THE WOMAN WHO WILL NEVER DIE (1997)
25 MILLION POUNDS - THE TRUE STORY OF NICK LEESON AND THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF BARINGS (1996)
THE LIVING DEAD (1995)
PANDORA'S BOX (1992)

TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2005 AT 11.30 AM. / GALLERY THEATRE
SUNDAY, APRIL 10, 2005 AT 1.00 PM. / CHOPIN THEATRE