TALKS | FILM

Speaking Truth to Power

 

Co-presented by BAM and the Onassis Cultural Center New York

 

We consider our freedom of speech to be one of the cornerstones of our democracy. But when the ancient Greeks wrestled with the extent to which free speech should be the right of each citizen, they concluded that certain individuals, often by virtue of their character and way of life, are imbued with parrhesia, which enabled them to speak freely, frankly, openly, and, sometimes, offensively. The debate about the nature of truth rages on. In this series of conversations and film screenings all tied to productions in the Next Wave Festival, we trace the concept of speaking truth to power—undeniably a form of resistance—and the many challenges that face the individuals, societies, and movements that seek to employ it.

EVENTS
Gospel at Colonus
Talks
The Gospel at Colonus + Screening of The Book of Clarence
Wed, Sep 12, 2018
 
The Gospel at Colonus + Screening of The Book of Clarence
Wed, Sep 12, 2018
 

Director Lee Breuer, composer Bob Telson, and musician Sam Butler join BAM Executive Producer Joseph V. Melillo for an expansive conversation about the spectacular gospel musical The Gospel at Colonus.

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Speaking truth to power, Ran
Film
Ran
Mon, Oct 1, 2018
 
Ran
Mon, Oct 1, 2018
 

Kurosawa’s final epic is a blistering re-imagining of one of the great theatrical investigations of chaos wrought by tyrannical governance: Shakespeare’s King Lear.

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On Fear and Governance
Talks
On Fear and Governance
Fri, Oct 5, 2018
 
On Fear and Governance
Fri, Oct 5, 2018
 

Director Anne Bogart, poet Monica Youn, and political theorist Corey Robin examine the implications of a society governed by fear and the place of will in bringing forth truth.

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Speaking truth to power, the arbor
Film
The Arbor
Mon, Oct 15, 2018
 
The Arbor
Mon, Oct 15, 2018
 

This mesmerizing hybrid of documentary and fiction breathes life into the tragic story of late British playwright Andrea Dunbar, who spoke voluminous anti-establishment truth.

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On Confronting Silence
Talks
On Confronting Silence
Sat, Oct 20, 2018
 
On Confronting Silence
Sat, Oct 20, 2018
 

Masha Gessen and Linda Gordon discuss the truth of women’s lived experiences in the public sphere. What happens when power is used to silence and undermine truth?

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whose streets
Film
Whose Streets?
Mon, Oct 29, 2018
 
Whose Streets?
Mon, Oct 29, 2018
 

This urgent documentary portrait of contemporary activism in action is an electrifying dispatch from the frontlines of protest in Ferguson, Missouri, in the aftermath of Michael Brown’s killing.

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On The Force Of Truth
Talks
On the Force of Truth
Thu, Nov 1, 2018
 
On the Force of Truth
Thu, Nov 1, 2018
 

A panel of writers and artists examine Gandhi’s nonviolent resistance and locate it on a historical continuum of other social justice movements, from the writings of Tolstoy to Black Lives Matter.

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Speaking truth to power, Taxi
Film
Taxi
Mon, Dec 3, 2018
 
Taxi
Mon, Dec 3, 2018
 

Director Jafar Panahi, after being banned by the Iranian government, posed as a taxi driver to craft this answer to the state’s attempts to challenge his agency as an artist.

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On the Economics of Fatalism
Talks
On the Economics of Fatalism
Sat, Dec 8, 2018
 
On the Economics of Fatalism
Sat, Dec 8, 2018
 

How does personal agency predetermine the ability to speak one’s own truth? Philosopher Simon Critchley leads this discussion about economic circumstances and the expression of one’s lived experience.

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