A celebration of the life and legacy of John Pilger, whose journalism and films took on power, uncovered hidden agendas and gave voice to the voiceless across the world
This is an updated version of John Pilger’s 2014 investigation which tells the unreported story of an unrelenting campaign, in Sweden and the US, to deny Julian Assange justice and silence WikiLeaks: a campaign now reaching a dangerous stage.
Read the Spanish version of this article / Leer la versión en español
An historic betrayal has consumed Greece. Having set aside the mandate of the Greek electorate, the Syriza government has willfully ignored last week’s landslide “No” vote and secretly agreed a raft of repressive, impoverishing measures in return for a “bailout” that means sinister foreign control and a warning to the world.
If you want to meet the best Australians, meet Indigenous men and women who understand this extraordinary country and have fought for the rights of the world’s oldest culture. Theirs is a struggle more selfless, heroic and enduring than any historical adventure non-Indigenous Australians are required incessantly to celebrate.
In this article for the Sydney Morning Herald, John Pilger compares the heroism of those with moral courage with the ‘sludge’ of fake patriotism.
In a major article for the Guardian, John Pilger follows the release of his film ‘Utopia’ with an investigation into a new attack on Australia’s indigenous people, which has been called ‘cultural genocide’.
In a major essay, John Pilger describes a ‘Faustian Pact’ that allows the suppression of a modern fascism in the West and its reliance on propaganda as news, and the beckoning of a war that rarely speaks its name.
Children in Venezuela benefit from the country’s first free universal education. With a ‘slow motion coup’ under way in Venezuela, John Pilger is interviewed for Telesur, the Latin American TV network, by Mike Albert.
‘Journey’ is an overworked word these days, but I can think of none other to describe the making of a documentary film. Ten years ago, a film of mine could be made in six months, even less. The main work was the research, the journalism.Whenever I felt confident I had the basis of a ‘story’, I would go to the ITV Network in the UK and seek a broadcast commission. If that was forthcoming, ITV would fund the production. The difference now is that I, the film-maker, must raise most of the production money. Also, my documentaries have changed considerably in recent years. They are now made for the cinema as well as TV, and for the internet.
I’ve made three films this way, The War on Democracy (2007), The War You Don’t See (2010) and Utopia (2013). Utopia took more than two years to make.
In raising the money for these films, I’ve been fortunate to find sympathetic philanthropists and foundations, and persuade them to contribute without attaching any editorial strings. But these benefactors are rare, and tracking them down is probably the hardest part of film-making now and, frankly, not the kind of work I ever saw myself doing – I’ve always preferred simply to do the job I knew – journalism.
I’ve lately embarked on another film journey – this will be my 60th documentary. ITV has commissioned the film, and provided seed money. The working title is The Coming War Between America and China, and the film will tell the largely unreported story of a new US strategic policy known as ‘the pivot to Asia’. In a nutshell, what this means is that the US is preparing for a new provocative cold war that has every chance of becoming a hot war. Washington has begun to move its main missile and naval forces into the Asia-Pacific in order to surround and ‘confront’ China, whose extraordinary economic rise in recent years is regarded in Washington as a threat to American dominance. For obvious reasons, I won’t lay out here the ‘where, what and why’. Suffice to say the film will be shot in some surprising places where I’ll meet and interview extraordinary people. Above all, it will be revealing: that is assured.
Having read this far, you’re sure to guess that this message is heading towards another modern cliché – an ‘ask’. My colleagues at Dartmouth Films and I need to raise at least £60,000 or $100,000 in order to start making the film. This money won’t meet unforeseen costs or pay for distribution and promotion, but it will allow for the promised philanthropy, on which the bulk of the film’s funding depends, to come on stream and for filming to begin.
And that’s where you come in.
This is known as ‘crowd funding’ and, as you can guess, it’s my first day in this strange new world. If you can give £5 – that’s about $10 – no more – I’ll be grateful. For your part, you’ll have made a vital contribution to a film whose disclosure and warning are, I believe, urgently needed. I’m hopeful you’ll be proud of the result. Thank you.
You can contribute here
John Pilger’s address to the Logan Symposium, ‘Building an Alliance Against Secrecy, Surveillance & Censorship’, organised by the Centre for Investigative Journalism, London, 5-7 December, 2014. You can also watch the address here
In this essay based on his Edward Said Memorial Lecture in Adelaide, John Pilger argues that the assault on Gaza represents a wider threat to us all, and with episodic dangers in Ukraine, and the accompanying propaganda, we are drawn closer to world war.
