MARSHALL PLAN FILMS
“I thought you might be interested in the 25-film retrospective of Marshall Plan films called Selling Democracy that screens this coming week at the New York Film Festival,” writes Sandra Schulberg in a recent e-mail.
“I curated a 40-film series that was shown at the Berlin Film Festival in February. These films are an hommage to the work of my father, Stuart Schulberg, and his Marshall Plan colleagues. But more importantly, they demonstrate what an exceedingly well-planned ‘democratization’ effort looks like, in stark contrast to what we’re seeing today in Iraq and Afghanistan. The films were banned in the U.S. until John Kerry introduced legislation in 1990 to lift the ban. They illustrate in surprisingly specific terms the strategy implemented by the Truman Administration for ‘winning the peace.’ Since this issue has been so central to the presidential campaigns of both candidates, I think these films have great insights to offer. If you are not in town for the screenings at the Festival, you may be interested to read more about them on the Selling Democracy Web site.”
Schulberg is also working on a national tour and DVD collection.
