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<span style="font-size:18pt;font-family:BRADDON"><i>King
Leopold's Ghost</i></span><br>
<br>
Thursday, June 21st, in Cambridge [<a href="http://rule19.org/download-film/film-120621-KingLeopoldsGhost.pdf" target="_blank">please
download
& distribute flyer</a>]<br>
<br>
A two-hour journey into the real-life heart of darkness. <i><a href="http://rule19.org/download-film/film-120517-Superpower.pdf" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="cid:part2.08020209.08060902@mynas.com" align="right" border="1" height="698" hspace="10" width="540"></a></i>The Congo is a place where some of the
worst atrocities known to man have been occurring for well over a
century - with the US, Belgium and other western imperialist
regimes playing key roles.<br>
<br>
It's a terrifying story of appalling brutality. Beginning with
King Leopold II of Belgium's avaricious rape of the country and
tracing the impact of this horrifying and often-forgotten crime
through to the modern day, this immensely shocking doc is a
heart-rending tale of a rich country destroyed by rapacious hands.
Imperialist<span> conquerors were determined to
plunder this country of its natural resources, in the process
making slaves of the indigenous population. </span><br>
<br>
The term "<i>crimes against humanity</i>" was coined by American
minister, lawyer and journalist George Washington Williams in 1890
after he traveled to the Congo and witnessed first-hand the
widespread torture, abuse and murder that was taking place. Most
of the world didn't know about the corruption and heinous acts
that were being committed by the order of King Leopold, but the
majority of those who did were either involved and profiting from
the Congo in some way, while the rest chose to ignore and deny. <span></span>Leopold's regime
slaughtered an estimated <b>10 - 15 million Congolese</b> (1885 -
1908). Many millions more have died since then.<br>
<br>
Filmmakers Pippa Scott and Oreet Rees explore the reprehensible
legacy of King Leopold II in this adaptation of Adam Hochschild's
best-selling book.
<span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""></span>The
story chronicles Leopold's complex scheme of political intrigue,
corruption and propaganda to lay claim to the Congo Basin. In
April 1884, seven months before the Berlin Congress, the US became
the first country in the world to give Leopold a stamp of
approval.<span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span>The
title of the book, and movie, is adopted from the 1914 poem "<i>The
Congo</i>", by Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay. Condemning
Leopold's actions, Lindsay wrote: <br>
<blockquote><i>Listen to the yell of
Leopold's ghost, / Burning in Hell for his hand-maimed host.</i><br>
<i>Hear how the demons chuckle and yell / Cutting his hands off,
down in Hell.</i><br>
</blockquote>
<span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"<i>The
right hands, I counted 81 in all</i>", said Rev William Henry
Sheppard, an African American missionary, after seeing the hands
of Africans that had been severed for not meeting rubber quotas.
This government-sanctioned violence was all carried out with one
aim, to make profit. Joseph Conrad described what he saw in the
Congo as, "<i>the vilest scramble for loot that ever disfigured
the history of human conscience</i>".</span><br>
<br>
Narrated by a series of experts and actors who include Don
Cheadle, James Cromwell, and Alfie Woodard, Scott and Rees' film
eventually turns its attentions towards contemporary events that
chillingly recall Leopold's notorious endeavor. <br>
<span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><br>
</span>
<span></span>In June 1960, Patrice
Lumumba became the first legally elected prime minister, vowing to
bring true independence to the Congo - a direct threat to colonial
interests. By January 17, 1961, Lumumba had been tortured and
assassinated in a joint CIA-Belgium venture. The CIA's front man,
despot Mobuto Sese Seko carried out the CIA-inspired coup and then
began a brutal and corrupt dictatorship that lasted for the next
38 years - for which he was richly rewarded with vast wealth.<br>
<br>
Mobutu was finally deposed but King Leopold's ghost continues to
ravage the rich Congo lands as various foreign-sponsored <i>"ragtag
armies marauded the countryside</i>". This vivid documentary
offers an engrossing insight into the grim colonial legacy that
still haunts the Congo; t<span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">he </span><span>extraction of wealth continues
today. </span>[See, for example, <a href="http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/19-american-companies-exploit-the-congo/" target="_blank">American
Companies Exploit the Congo</a> at Project Censored]<br>
<br>
[Adam Hochschild's book was refused by nine of the ten U.S.
publishing houses to which an outline was submitted. It went on to
become an unexpected bestseller.]<br>
<br>
"<i>Lumumba's assassination is the most important assassination of
the 20th century</i>" ~ Ludo De Witte, the Belgian author of <b><i>The
Assassination of Lumumba</i></b><br>
<br>
<i>"It is the function of the CIA to keep the world unstable, and
to propagandize and teach the American people to hate, so we
will let the Establishment spend any amount of money on arms.</i>"
~John Stockwell, former CIA official and author<br>
<br>
<b> <br>
When/where</b><br>
243 Broadway, Cambridge - corner of Broadway and Windsor,<br>
entrance on Windsor<br>
<a href="http://rule19.org/videos/" target="_blank">rule19.org/videos</a><br>
<br>
Please join us for a stimulating night out; bring your friends!<br>
free film, free refreshments, & free door prizes.<br>
[donations are accepted]<br>
<i><br>
"You can't legislate good will - that comes through education.</i>"
~ Malcolm X<br>
<br>
<b>UPandOUT film series</b> - see <a href="http://rule19.org/videos/" target="_blank">rule19.org/videos</a><br>
<br>
Why should YOU care? It's YOUR money that pays for US/Israeli wars
- on Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Palestine, Libya. Syria, Iran, So
America, etc etc - for billionaire bailouts, for ever more
ubiquitous US prisons, for the loss of liberty and civil rights...
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