A documentary and Q&A arrive with a unique filmmaker and artist
Tyneside Cinema is set to welcome back filmmaker, artist and cultural activist Andrea Zimmerman, for her new documentary feature film Erase & Forget. The provocative new film opens on Friday 2nd March, and Zimmerman joins for a Q&A after the 2pm screening on Sunday 4th March.
Exploring ‘the deep bonds between Hollywood’s fictionalized conflicts and America’s hidden wars’ through a complex portrayal of US soldier, whistle-blower and ex-presidential candidate Bo Gritz, Erase & Forget takes us to the world before President Trump.
The highly decorated veteran Gritz was the ‘inspiration’ behind RAMBO, Colonel John ‘Hannibal’ Smith (THE A-TEAM) and Brando’s Colonel Kurtz (APOCALYPSE NOW), Gritz was at the heart of American military and foreign policy – both overt and covert – from the Bay of Pigs to Afghanistan, before turning whistle-blower and launching anti-government training programmes.
Now living in the Nevada desert where he once secretly trained Afghan Mujahedeen, he is loved by his community and still admired as a hero figure by white supremacists for his role in the Ruby Ridge siege of 1992. This event was a key turning point in the rise of the far right and militia anti-Government groups in the US.
Spanning over a decade, the film is an artist’s unique perspective of an individual and a country in crisis, which raises urgent questions about US militarism and gun control.
Erase & Forget is at Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle from Friday 2nd March.
