Academy Award-winning screenwriter and film director Oliver Stone (JFK, Platoon, Natural Born Killers) drew a sizable crowd to a Sept. 20 showing of a selection from his Showtime 10-episode documentary series, The Untold History of the United States. The event, which took place in the auditorium of Little Rock Central High School, was part of The Reel Civil Rights Film Festival.
Stone appeared alongside Peter Kuznick, American University professor and co-writer of the series and its companion book.
The evening began with a showing of Chapter 5 of the series, "The '50s: Eisenhower, The Bomb & The Third World," which includes brief scenes from the 1957 Central High crisis. Afterward, Brent Renaud, co-founder of the Little Rock Film Festival, spoke with Stone and Kuznick about the film.
"Our thinking is still very much 1950s thinking," said Stone during his comments about the series, which puts America and its actions in a less than flattering light.
Unlike conventional media that sanitizes history, he said, "this [series] is not America-first. ... This is about America as part of the world and where we fit in."
And, Stone noted, there's a price to pay for being controversial, a label he often wears. "Ken Burns can get on PBS. We cannot," he said, referring to the fellow filmmaker he sees as offering a "pro-America" point of view.
Kuznick bemoaned students today and their ignorance of American history, noting "that's why we did this project. We're trying to combat that."
After the discussion and a question-and-answer period, the men signed copies of the book before going on to a reception at the Governor's Mansion.
High Profile on 09/28/2014