John Pilger investigates the rise of WikiLeaks and the Kafkaesque saga that has enveloped its founder, Julian Assange, since he blew the whistle on the dangers and lies of great power and its courtiers.
The forgotten coup – how America and Britain crushed the government of their ‘ally’, Australia
In an article for the Guardian, John Pilger marks the death of former Australian prime minister Gough Whitlam with the one story missing from the ‘tributes’ to a man whose extraordinary political demise is one of America’s dirtiest secrets.
From Pol Pot to ISIS: “Anything that flies on everything that moves”
In his latest essay, John Pilger evokes the US bombing of Cambodia in the 1970s, which gave rise to Pol Pot and the genocidal Khmer Rouge, in examining the rise of the equally fanatical ISIS in Iraq and Syria, the role of Western governments, and the urgent need for solutions that include a truce in Syria, and justice for the Palestinians.
War, circus and injustice down under
In an article for the Guardian, John Pilger reports on how the Australian prime minister, Tony Abbott, seeks to regain his lost popularity with an outback circus in which he performs in the role of war leader.
John Pilger on the ‘unmentionables’ in Australia
On 31 August, following the release of his latest film Utopia, John Pilger spoke at the ‘Festival of Dangerous Ideas’ at the Sydney Opera House. In conversation with Liz Ann Macgregor, Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, he discussed the devotion in Australian public life to the ‘a status quo of unmentionables’. You can watch the conversation here.
Interviewed by Channel 7’s Andrew O’Keefe in Sydney ahead of the FODI, John Pilger describes how an insidious censorship works in a free society such as Australia. Watch the extended online version of the interview.
On 11 September, John Pilger gave the Edward Said Lecture in Adelaide, in memory of the great Palestinian educator, writer, visionary. His subject was ‘The Last Taboo: Gaza and the threat of world war’. Read an adaptation of the lecture.
The return of George Orwell and Big Brother’s war on Palestine, Ukraine and the truth
In his latest essay, John Pilger describes the liberal “one-way, legal/moral screen” behind which great power and its Orwellian propaganda ensure an impunity for war and deception, dependent on what Leni Riefenstahl called our “submissive void”.
Break the silence: a world war is beckoning
John Pilger examines the drift to a wider war in Ukraine and the Orwellian propaganda that masks the dangers.
The Strangelove effect – or how we are hoodwinked into accepting a new world war
John Pilger describes the enduring effect of Stanley Kubrick’s classic film, ‘Dr. Strangelove’ and its warning today of a new cold war, and a world war.
South Africa: 20 years of apartheid by another name
In an article for the Sunday Times in Johannesburg, marking the 20th anniversary of South Africa’s first democratic election, John Pilger describes how secret deals ensured that apartheid lived on.
UTOPIA, JOHN PILGER’S FILM ON ‘SECRET’ AUSTRALIA, RELEASED ON DVD
WATCH UTOPIA ONLINE | TRAILER | JOHN PILGER’S VIDEO MESSAGE | SCREENINGS | REVIEWS | BUY DVD (UK) | BUY DVD (AUS) | OFFICAL UTOPIA WEBSITE
John Pilger’s epic new film, Utopia, had its premiere in the urban heart of Indigenous Australia, in Sydney, on 17 January 2014. A record crowd of 4,000 included Indigenous and non-indigenous Australians who came from all over the country to hear the call for a renewed struggle for justice and freedom for Australia’s first people. Since then, Utopia has had a remarkable ‘journey’ across Australia’s vastness, screening at packed events in cities, towns and remote communities.
On 30 January 2014, Utopia began its Australian cinema release at Cinema Nova in Melbourne.
Utopia was broadcast nationally on SBS Australia on 31 May.
Click here for a report of Utopia’s impact.
The film, already released and broadcast in the UK in 2013, was named by the London Film Review as one of the five best films of the year.
For details of screenings of Utopia in Australia and New Zealand, visit the official Utopia website
For all distribution enquiries in Australia, contact Gil Scrine of Antidote Films on gil@antidotefilms.com.au. For community events, contact Paddy Gibson at paddy.gibson@gmail.com. For all other enquiries, please use the contact form on this website.
Reviews: CineVue | The Guardian | The Observer | Total Film | Metro | The Times (subscription only) | All reviews
Click here for more information about the film.
