At a time when the democratic institutions we’ve trusted in and relied on —and perhaps have taken for granted—seem to be either crumbling or under threat, many of us may be looking for sources of hope and inspiration, those voices and stories that remind us that in the face of difficulty and darkness, there are always people among us who are willing to speak truth to power. And while the movies can offer us so many things, ranging from the most escapist fantasies to the bleakest of horror, they can also offer us the true stories of real people whose commitment to their values and to the truth shines hopefulness into the darkest of circumstances.
This summer at the Pickford in a new mini-series, Truth-tellers and Whistleblowers, we are celebrating the real life truth-tellers among us, specifically, the journalists and whistleblowers who, in spite of the personal risks and in spite of fierce resistance from those in power, were doggedly determined to share important truths with the world and in so doing made history.
We’ll begin the series with Words of War (July 5), a new film starring a transcendent Maxine Peak and a terrific ensemble cast, including Jason Isaacs and Ciaran Hinds, and telling the awe-inspiring and courageous story of Anna Politkovskaya, a Russian human rights activist and journalist who lost her life in her fight to tell the truth about Putin and the brutality and human rights abuses of the Chechen War. (A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Committee to Protect Journalists (NY), the National Press Club Freedom Center (DC), and the International Women’s Media Foundation (DC) who honored Anna Politkovskaya in 2001 with their Courage in Journalism award.)
A series on truth-telling journalists would also not be complete without All the President’s Men (July 26), the stone-cold classic starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman playing the Washington Post reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, whose tenacity ultimately led to the disgrace and downfall of a U.S. President.
Next, Mike Nichols’s brilliant film Silkwood (Aug. 2) starring a stunning Meryl Streep and wonderful co-stars Cher and Kurt Russell, tells the story of Karen Silkwood, an ordinary, working class woman who never planned on being a hero, who stumbled upon a horrifying reality in the nuclear facility in which she worked and which she could not ignore, in spite of the wealth and power arrayed against her.
Michael Mann’s masterpiece, The Insider (Aug. 23), starring Russell Crowe, Al Pacino, and Christopher Plummer tells the riveting story of whistleblower Jeffrey Wigand and journalist Lowell Bergman who fought to tell the truth about the tobacco industry.
Finally, one of Steven Soderbergh’s best, the crowd-pleasing Erin Brockovich (Aug. 30) starring Julia Roberts and Albert Finney, tells the story of Erin Brockovich, the single mother who dared to take on the Goliath that was the Pacific Gas and Electric company for their culpability in poisoning a small town’s water.
This series is presented by Salish Current.
All films screened on Saturdays at 1:30 PM.
Words of War (2025)
July 5
All the President’s Men (1976)
July 26
Silkwood (1983)
August 2
The Insider (1999)
August 23
Erin Brokovich (2000)
August 30
Pickford Film Center, a nonprofit organization, provides a forum and resource for independent cinema, strengthening community through education, dialogue and the celebration of film. Since its founding in 1998, it has been the only independent cinema, operating 365 days a year, between Seattle and Vancouver B.C.
