PAST EVENTS
Special Screening of “Letters from Baghdad” and Panel Discussion
The Common Good was pleased to present a special screening of the film, “Letter from Baghdad,” followed by a panel discussion with moderator Alex Witt, MSNBC anchor, the film’s award-winning filmmakers, Sabine Krayenbühl & Zeva Oelbaum, and former Middle East bureau chief at Newsday, Mohamad Bazzi.
The Common Good was pleased to present a special screening of the film, “Letter from Baghdad,” followed by a panel discussion with moderator Alex Witt, MSNBC anchor, the film’s award-winning filmmakers, Sabine Krayenbühl & Zeva Oelbaum, and former Middle East bureau chief at Newsday, Mohamad Bazzi.
“Letter from Baghdad” is the story of a true original-Gertrude Bell- who was sometime called “female” Lawrence of Arabia. Bell shaped the modern Middle East after World War 1 in ways that still reverberate today. She was arguably the most powerful woman In the British empire in her day. The film is narrated and executive produced by Academy Award-winning actor Tilda Swinton.
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“Letters from Baghdad provides a sturdy, often exhilarating bridge between the present and a past that not only isn’t distant, but isn’t even really past. ”
“Letters from Baghdad reaffirms Bell’s legacy as pivotal in the West’s understanding of the Middle East ”
Sabine Krayenbühl (Director/Editor) is an award winning editor with over 20 theatrical documentaries and narrative features to her credit, many of which have premiered at prestigious festivals around the world. Her work includes Oscar and Independent Spirit Award nominated My Architect for which she received an American Cinema Editors (ACE) Eddie Award nomination. (1)
Zeva Oelbaum (Director/Producer) is an award winning producer and photographer. She recently produced Ahead of Time, a feature documentary about centenarian journalist Ruth Gruber which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival before garnering six Best Documentary awards. Her photographs are in international public collections including the Bibliothèque nationale de France and The Brooklyn Museum and two monographs of her work have been published by Rizzoli Int’l Publishers. (1)
Mohamad Bazzi is adjunct senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). He is also an assistant professor of journalism at New York University, where he teaches international reporting. He was the 2007-2008 Edward R. Murrow press fellow at CFR. (2)
Alex Witt hosts the MSNBC show “MSNBC live with Alex Witt” on Saturday’s and Sundays. In the wake of the September 11th attacks on America, Witt broadcast from the world Trade Center and has continued to follow the war on terrorism in the Middle East and in Iraq. Alex was a Consultant on the third and final season of Aaron Sorkin “The Newsroom” on HBO.
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(1) Material from the Letters from Baghdad website.
(2) Material from the Council on Foreign Relations.
Screening and Discussion on "Best of Enemies"
The Common Good hosted a special documentary screening of “Best of Enemies” and held a panel discussion and Q&A with the directors of "Best of Enemies," Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville, and legendary talk-show host Dick Cavett, moderated by Alex Witt.
The Common Good hosted a special screening of “Best of Enemies” and held a panel discussion and Q&A with the directors of "Best of Enemies", Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville, and legendary talk-show host Dick Cavett, moderated by Alex Witt.
'Best of Enemies' is a documentary about the legendary series of nationally televised debates in 1968 between two public intellectuals, the liberal Gore Vidal and the conservative William F. Buckley Jr. Intended as commentary on the issues of their day, these vitriolic and explosive encounters came to define the modern era of public discourse in the media, marking the big bang moment of our contemporary media landscape when spectacle trumped content and argument replaced substance. “Best of Enemies” delves into the entangled biographies of these two great thinkers and luxuriates in the language and the theater of their debates, begging the question, “What has television done to the way we discuss politics in our democracy today?”
Alex Witt hosts the MSNBC show Weekends with Alex Witt on Saturdays and Sundays. Since joining the network in 1999, Alex has hosted across both dayside and primetime platforms, as well as reported from the field during Presidential election seasons and overseas. Alex contributes to NBC Nightly News, the Making a Difference series and Today.
Dick Cavett was the host of The Dick Cavett Show, which aired on ABC from 1968 to 1975 and on public television from 1977 to 1982. Dick Cavett is the author of Talk Show: Confrontations, Pointed Commentary, and Off-Screen Secrets, and is the co-author of Cavett (1974) and Eye on Cavett (1983). He has also appeared on Broadway, on television, and in films.
Robert Gordon is a Grammy Award-winning writer, producer, and director. He has made 8 feature documentaries and is the author of 6 books, including Can’t Be Satisfied: The Life and Times of Muddy Waters. Gordon is also the author of It Came From Memphis, a book about Memphis music and culture, and he produced the book’s two companion CD’s.
Morgan Neville is an award-winning documentary filmmaker. Through a series of films on important music subjects (including The Brill Building, Sam Phillips and Sun Records, Nat King Cole, Brian Wilson, Leiber & Stoller, The Highwaymen, and Burt Bacharach), Neville has documented stories of songwriters and producers who helped shape 20th-century music.
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The Common Good has been hosting events since 2006 that cover important issues of today, highlighting speakers who have worked to bolster our democracy and can provide great insight on the issues that matter.