The conquest of the Americas did not end with the defeat of the Aztecs and Incas, it was only the initiation of a procession of protests, strikes, and uprisings between the indigenous peoples and colonizers, immigrant workers and landowners, slaves and masters, mass movements and dictatorships. The films that retell these struggles portray a dramatic history fixed in flux.

The ability for South American artists to capture such struggles changes with the regimesif one favorable to the people manages to obtain power, the heroism and atrocities of previous generations may finally be told. Argentinian director Hector Olivera is a case in point, his sometimes satirical but always deadly serious work focuses on the individuals who struggle through dark times of political violence. In 1973 he made a REBELLION IN PATAGONIA, a film telling the story of a Patagonian wool farmers strike in the 1920s, based on a previously banned book by the anarchist writer Osvaldo Bayer. When the dictatorship returned the book and its adaptation were once again banned. With a renewal of democracy in the 1980s Olivera was free to make political work again, telling the story of the dictatorships torture and execution of student activists in NIGHT OF THE PENCILS.

With a majority indigenous population, many of whom continue to live a largely traditional lifestyle, landlocked Bolivia historically lagged behind the economic advances of its neighbors. In the 20th century, the States solution to lagging modernization occasionally relied on neo-eugenics, and Jorge Sanjiness BLOOD OF THE CONDOR tells of an uprising of an indigenous village against North American Progress Corp volunteers who they believe sterilized women without their consent.

Together with the indigenous at the lowest rung of the caste system was the African slave, who, likewise, had a long history of struggle against their masters. The Maroon culture developed independently in Brazil with the Quilombos, the Black Seminoles in Floria, and Palenques in Colombia and Cuba. In the Cuban film MALUALA, a village of runaway slaves is depicted in colorful detail, both in terms of their music, traditions, and fashion, and their lifestyle of constant resistance to renewed subjugation.

REBELLION IN PATAGONIA(aka LA PATAGONIA REBELDE)Dir. Hector Olivera, 1974.Argentina. 110 minutes.In Spanish with English subtitles.

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Oswaldo Bayers historical novel Patagonia Rebelde, about an anarcho-syndicalist labor unions insurrectionary uprising against the Argentinian elite in the 1920s, was banned and publicly burned in the 70s before becoming a bestseller and feature film. The story begins with a hotel workers strike so successful one forgets why the working class would ever lose given its objective strength. But as the victorious anarchists sing their anthem, a group of Chilean laborers, immigrants among immigrants, sit quietly in the back of the labor hall. Although they have been elevated to equals by the principal of international solidarity, their silence foreshadows the bloodshed to come.

For decades, Argentinian politics swung between the Nationalist populism of Juan Peron and a series of military coups, eventually centrally coordinated under Operation Condor, aimed at suppressing the socialist elements that made him so widely popular.

In 1970 Bayers book was banned and publicly burned, but with Perons return in 1973, the leftist Jorge Cepernic was elected governor of the Patagonian state of Santa Cruz. He worked with Bayer and director Hector Olivera to create an epic film version of Patagonia Rebelde, featuring large scale protest and battle sequences. In 1976 the military seized power once again, ushering in a brutal 7 year dictatorship in which the film was banned, Bayer, Olivera, and several of the films actors were blacklisted, and Cepernic was imprisoned. In jail, he asked his warden if he deserved such cruel treatment simply for being a member of a Left-of-center party. No, youre not a prisoner because of your affiliation, the warden reportedly said. Youre a prisoner because you allowed Rebellion in Patagonia to be filmed.

THE NIGHT OF THE PENCILS(aka EL NOCHE DE LOS LAPICES)Dir. Hector Olivera, 1986.Argentina. 105 minutes.In Spanish with English subtitles.

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The repression of Operation Condor was centrally organized by military commanders of Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Broliva, and Brazil, aiming to finally wipe out any traces of marxist or revolutionary thought. Argentina saw the highest numbers of disappeared and executed leftists, between 15-30,000. When democracy returned to Argentina in 1983, Olivera was free to make films about the State terror he witnessed. El Noche de los Lapices depicts the organization of a student strike against increased bus fares in La Plata. Only a few months into the dictatorship, some of these students were kidnapped, raped, tortured, starved, and killed.

Beginning with an seemingly innocent protest against the increase of bus fares in La Plata, a student march is attacked by police. In the night, several of the organizers are rounded up by men posing as police and taken to a dungeon. Used as test subjects for torture, the fate of the students would mirror tens of thousands of others in the coming years. A cultural element in the process for justice and reconciliation, which included the imprisonment of some of the students torturers in 1985, Olivera used the testimony of one of the few survivors for his adaptation.

BLOOD OF THE CONDOR(aka YAWAR MALLKU)Dir. Jorge Sanjines, 1969.Bolivia. 70 minutes.In Quechua, English, and Spanish with English subtitles.

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Ignacio, the tragic hero of Jorge Sajiness first film, was a perfect stand-in for the utterly impotent situation Bolivias indigenous population faced in the 1960s. When his wifes third consercutive pregnancy terminates, he is driven into a rage, and she is the target. A series of flashbacks and flashforwards shows more violence in every direction. We soon find out the reason for all of it is the sketchy, but outwardly well-meaning American aid workers who recently appeared in the village.

Inspired by anti-Imperialist Marxism and new wave European cinema, this was the first feature of Sanjines, who would become one of Bolivias most awarded directors and a central figure in Latin Americas Third Cinema movement. The heavy-handed villainy of the Progress Corps gringos and the obedient facilitation of their schemes against the indigenous population by Bolivian authorities represents a political cosmology that radiates through the history of post-Colonial South America.

Sanjines worked with native actors and audiences alike, designing the film to be watched in indigenous communities that were not yet familiar with cinema. The results were mixed, as many did not understand narrative motifs such as the flashback sequences. Overall, the film was influential enough that repelling Peace Corps volunteers became a cause of cultural autonomism, and they were expelled altogether in 1971. Although its unlikely the Peace Corps was running a sterilization program, the history of condescension, instrumentalisation, and exploitation of indigenous people made the allegations ring true. Their very presence, along with the self-congratulatory Western doctor character, were symptomatic of an all-pervasive imperialist influence, alluded to by use of rock music and the culturally assimilated but still helplessly subservient Sixto, ensuring repressive hierarchies, and the violence inherent within them, remain firmly in place at every level.

MALUALADir. Sergio Giral, 1979.Cuba. 95 minutes.In Spanish with English subtitles.

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With several historical films reflecting on the experience of slavery in Cuba, Sergio Giral is perhaps Cubas best known Afro-Cuban director. In Maluala, he takes up the subject of Cubas Palenques, a network of about 30 communities hidden in Cubas Eastern coast mountains comprised of runaway slaves with different ethnic origins, but a common cultural rejection of the bondage that brought them across the Atlantic.

Among these was Maluala, whose chief, Gallo, present a petition to be left alone by the Colonial government. The counteroffer is for the habitants of the Palenques to turn themselves in before being formally freed, a proposition three other chiefs accept, but Gallo refuses in a conflict reminiscent of Gillo Pontecorvos divide-and-conquer epic BURN!, only from the colonizeds perspective.

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Title Length Color Rating Gattaca, A Film by Andrew Niccol - Gattaca, A Film by Andrew Niccol Exactly five seconds after he came into the world, Vincent Freeman was already considered to be a loser. His first genetic test revealed high probabilities of hyperactivity, sight troubles and serious heart diseases, a life expectancy of 30 years and 2 months and quite low intellectual faculties. At that time, the artificial insemination of test tube babies selected according to their genetic potential had become for many people the natural way of making children.... [tags: Movie Films Gattaca Niccol Essays]1596 words(4.6 pages)Powerful Essays[preview] A Brave New World and Gattaca - Anti-humanity; people arent even people. Could you possibly visualize that type of world. A world where people are invented and controlled. 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Sandel is best known for his best known for his critique of John Rawls's A Theory of Justice. While he is an acclaimed professor if government, he has also delved deeply into the ethics of biotechnology. At Harvard, Sandel has taught a course called "Ethics, Biotechnology, and the Future of Human Nature" and from 2002 to 2005 he served on the Presidents Council on Bioethics (Harvard University Department of Government, 2013).... [tags: ethics, biotechnology, genetic engineering]:: 4 Works Cited 972 words(2.8 pages)Better Essays[preview] Testing an Authors Vision Organization Guide - Testing an Authors Vision Organization Guide Introduction You will need to transition us, the readers, from our world into your paper. Make sure you give us a sense of context (what gave rise to your paper?), conflict (give us a sense of They Say/I Say), and focus (give us a question that focuses your paper or give us your thesis statement). So, for the focus you might have: ---Is this vision of genetic manipulation in literature possible, and if so, should we be afraid. ---OR.This vision of genetic manipulation is occurring in small amounts today and could blossom into a world in which individuals fear imperfection and groups of perfect people wield power over those less than the visio... [tags: Assignment]1045 words(3 pages)Strong Essays[preview] ?Vincent is not a hero? Discuss - Vincent is not a hero Discuss Andrew Niccol has created a character that is portrayed as being a struggler from the moment he was born, he was destined to play this role as soon as he was conceived naturally as he was to wear the label of God child for the rest of his life , this label determines they life style and quality of life he will lead and the prospects are not good -They used to say that a child conceived in love has a greater chance of happiness. They don't say that anymore. 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Eugenics was first defined in the late 1800s by a man named Sir Francis Galton who said that it was basically the study of traits that will cause an advantage or disadvantage in the traits of future generations. Eugenics soon turned from being about the use of artificial selection of breeding to create a stronger species, to being about the advancement of certain races over others. When talking about neo eugenics, it is believed that it may turn into something similar to that of eugenics in that the use of artificial selection would now be used to bring the upper class higher in standards of health and... 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[tags: Medical Ethics ]:: 5 Works Cited 1340 words(3.8 pages)Strong Essays[preview] Should Human Cloning Be Pursued? - ... Stem cells can replace worn out or damaged tissues and is an alternative to organ donation. It is less likely to result in rejection by the recipient because the tissue would be made from the recipients own genetic material. Like stated previously, therapeutic cloning does not involve the creation of a live human being. However, despite the benefits of therapeutic cloning, there are huge controversies surrounding the topic. One argument against therapeutic cloning is that creating stem cells on a large scale would require the use of vast amounts of human eggs.... 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[tags: Compare Contrast]1439 words(4.1 pages)Powerful Essays[preview] Genetic Engineering and the End of the World As We Know It - "It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" --- From a Song by REM Having completed the Human Genome Project, scientists now seek to uncover the secrets of the human proteome (Begley 1). It is "guesstimated" that the proteome, meaning all the proteins, will involve up to 1000 times more data than the genome did. But this again brings us to the question: What will the scientific and medical communities do with all this information. deCode Genetics, partnered with Roche Holding of Basel, wants Iceland's genes to examine 25-35 common genetically linked diseases (Marshall 539).... [tags: Genetic Manipulation Essays]:: 5 Works Cited 1406 words(4 pages)Powerful Essays[preview] Designer Babies - Within the last 100 years or so scientists have many valuable discoveries that have benefited mankind. These discoveries include the discovery of genes. 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While therapeutic cloning does have its moral disagreements towards the use of using the stem cells of humans to medically benefit those with incomplete sets of DNA, the benefits of therapeutic cloning outweigh the disagreements indubitably due... [tags: dna, medicine, treatment]:: 5 Works Cited 1296 words(3.7 pages)Strong Essays[preview] Genetic Engineering - In the field of animal and human genetic engineering there is much more speculation, than fact, because very little has actually been tested in the real world. Firstly, theres a big question mark over safety of genetic engineering. In addition, genetic engineering can cause greater problems than that what we have today. Moreover, we can create a injustice world between Designer vs Non-designer children. Furthermore, genetic engineering is a type of murder because of the process of genetically modifying a baby.... [tags: designer babies, perfect baby]:: 5 Works Cited 911 words(2.6 pages)Better Essays[preview] Biometric Security Technology - Biometric Security Technology You have seen biometric technology in the films Mission: Impossible and Gattaca. The technology has also graced the covers of many weekly news magazines. But many people, even though the technology has been widely talked about for the last half decade, are still surprisingly unaware of what biometrics are and why the technology is so important for computer security and personal identification. Biometrics are automated methods of recognizing a person based on a physical or behavioral characteristic (2001).... [tags: Technological Computers Essays]:: 6 Works Cited 1393 words(4 pages)Powerful Essays[preview] Belief and Knowledge - There are many contentions our present world has faced that require a thorough thought process in order to represent a side of the argument. 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With the honor of being the first child to be formally adopted by a corporation, Truman has had every moment of his existence captured by television cameras. The Truman Show, a worldwide reality series that runs twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and every day of the year, has been witness to his first words, his first steps, his first day at school-- nothing has escaped the... [tags: Papers]677 words(1.9 pages)Better Essays[preview] Genetic Manipulation - Genetic Manipulation Genes, being part of the basic building blocks of man, control all aspects of one's life. They control how tall you are, what color your eyes are, and what diseases might afflict you in the future. Therefore, the manipulation of such genes can be a controversial topic. The controversy most likely stems from the ethical and social questions that are raised by this procedure. Jean Dausset, author of "Scientific Knowledge and Human Dignity," and George B. 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