scary movies

Forget about the summer scare flix. Last week at the San Francisco International Film Festival I saw "Strange Culture," a documentary by Lynn Hershman Leeson. Leeson, a Bay Area filmmaker, tells the unresolved tale of professor Steve Kurtz, an artist who awoke one morning in 2003 to find his wife, Hope, dead. The two had been collaborators in an experimental art collective that had been working on an installation about bioengineered food. When the paramedics showed up, they saw Petri dishes in the couple's home, suspected the Kurtzes of bioterrorist activity, and contacted the FBI. In no time flat, agents in HazMat suits had entered Steve Kurtz's home, and left with his wife's body, his computer, and books. Kurtz is still awaiting trial. He's low on legal fees, and his life is in limbo. Leeson takes an experimental approach to tell the story: Tllda Swinton plays Hope Kurtz, Josh Kornbluth is enlisted as a colleague of Kurtz at SUNY Buffalo. Both Kurtz, who must avoid topics directly related to the trial, and an actor playing Kurtz have roles. Though it might sound confusing, the film never is hard to follow. What is difficult to grasp, however, is why the U.S. Justice Department is out to destroy an innocent man. Perhaps Kurtz's art might cause American consumers to question the "wisdom" behind GMO foods (backed by the very powerful agriculture lobby)? Like so many modern-day tales of come-uppance, this one has yet to reach a conclusion.

I watched another powerful documentary last night, "Jesus Camp," that's as scary as anything I've ever seen. While they might not be on most liberals' radar, evangelical Christians are busy at work planting seeds for the future. Their cultivation efforts are focused on young, susceptible children who are vulnerable to their brainwiashing tactics. It's an awful thing to behold. The film's focus is Pastor Becky Fischer's "Kids on Fire Summer Camp" in North Dakota. Many of the kids who attend are primed by their parents to ridicule Darwin's theory of evolution, and see Christ as their savior. They pray before taking their turn at the bowling alley, proselytize to strangers, and learn most of their lessons at home (53% of them are home schooled). What makes the film especially powerful is that filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady bear witness; they know that their story is powerful in and of itself and needs no editorializing. In fact, the only voice of sanity they include is that of Mike Papantonio, a famous trial attorney who takes on the fundamental Christian movement on his Air America show, "Ring of Fire." "Jesus Camp" was nominated in the best documentary category at this year's Oscars. It's a good reminder that ignorance -- or at least unawareness of what the extremists are up to -- is not bliss.