Product Description

This two-disc director's cut is jam packed with never-before-seen bonus material, including: an exclusive interview with Anthony Romero, president of the ACLU; a detailed interview with Daniel Ellsberg, former military analyst; a featurette with New York Times reporter Nicholas Kristof, and much more. Along with the rest of America, best-selling author and feminist Naomi Wolf was overwhelmed by the swell of conflicting information and the sudden march to war after 9/11. Wolf looked to history to help her understand the dramatic changes she believed she was witnessing, and discovered the disturbing similarities between post-9/11 US policy and that of historically fascist regimes such as Mussolini's Italy and Hitler's Germany. Wolf authored her next book, THE END OF AMERICA, which demonstrated that the United States was on a remarkably certain path toward ending democracy. Taking the thesis of her book to the streets, Wolf set out on a national tour to discuss the evolution of America from a functional democracy into a closed, fear-driven society with a terrifying absence of due process. In this profound and eye-opening film, Award-winning veteran documentarians Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg (THE DEVIL CAME ON HORSEBACK, THE TRIALS OF DARRYL HUNT) accompany Wolf as she discusses America's dangerous passage towards becoming a society of fear and surveillance, and expresses her plea to restore our nation's most cherished values.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #35822 in DVD
• Brand: Victor
• Released on: 2009-01-20
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Color, Director's Cut, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 73 minutes

About the Actor
Naomi Wolf is the author of seven books, including the New York Times bestsellers The Beauty Myth, The End of America and Give Me Liberty. She has toured the world speaking to audiences of all walks of life about gender equality, social justice, and, most recently, the defense of liberty in America and internationally. She is the cofounder of the Woodhull Institute for Ethical Leadership, which teaches ethics and empowerment to young women leaders, and is also a cofounder of the American Freedom Campaign, a grass roots democracy movement in the United States whose mission is the defense of the Constitution and the rule of law.

About the Director
ANNIE SUNDBERG CO-DIRECTOR Annie Sundberg is a director, producer, and writer of film and television. She recently co-directed and co-produced The Devil Came on Horseback with partner Ricki Stern, a production of Break Thru Films (Sundance 2007, Gotham Award nominee), theatrically released by International Film Circuit and airing on National Geographic (February 2008). The film has won seven festival awards and counting, including Best International Film at Brit Docs. Annie and Ricki Stern have been recognized with the Best Female Filmmakers Award at the San Diego Film Festival, the Adrienne Shelly Excellence in Filmmaking Award at the Nantucket Film Festival, and the Lena Sharpe/Women in Cinema Persistence of Vision Award at the Seattle International Film Festival. RICKI STERN CO-DIRECTOR Ricki Stern is a director, producer, and writer whose films have shown on HBO and PBS. She is the co-director with Annie Sundberg and a producer of The Devil Came on Horseback, a production of Break Thru Films (Sundance 2007, Gotham Award nominee), theatrically released by International Film Circuit and airing on National Geographic (February 2008). The film has won seven festival awards and counting, including Best International Film at Brit Docs. Ricki and Annie have been recognized with the Best Female Filmmakers Award at the San Diego Film Festival, the Adrienne Shelly Excellence in Filmmaking Award at the Nantucket Film Festival, and the Lena Sharpe/Women in Cinema Persistence of Vision Award at the Seattle International Film Festival.

Customer Reviews

A POWERFUL & FRIGHTENING BOOK
This was one of those books that I knew was going to upset me but I had to read it. Ms. Wolf makes a strong case that we are at the brink of losing our democracy; it is justifiable to compare the current neo-conservative movement in America to past repressive regimes. Some of her points:

Black Water, the vigilante group with billions of dollars in their war chest has the ability to take down third world governments and yet owes no allegiance to our constitution.

Countless laws have been broken by our White House and yet no one is held accountable (illegal wire tapping of Americans; misleading Americans into the Iraqi war; torture; outing a CIA agent for political gain; etc.)

Corporations controlling all our media and therefore the flow of information "We The People" receive.

The tampering of our free elections (voter machine fraud, the Supreme Court illegally over riding our democracy and appointing George Bush President; the selective removal of Americans from voting lists; etc.)

Ms. Wolf's point is that these attacks are done boldly and deliberatly to frighten and intimidate Americans into doing nothing.

I found this book to be most terrifying because most Americans aren't even aware that there is a problem. There is a deliberate move in this country to wipe out middle class America (unaffordable educatuion, the end of pensions, the attempt of President Bush to convince Americans that Social Security is bad; unaffordable health insurance, etc.) I hope this DVD release acts as a wake up call to all Americans.

very biased
I hate the Bush administration as much as anyone, thank god he's outta there, but this film is just way too biased. I had a feeling that the author was cherry picking events and give it her own interpretation that supports a vastly biased agenda, she's determined to paint the Bush administration as evil as Hitler's Nazis reign. While I do think that it was a dumb, insensitive administration and had a wrong approach to how it would govern this country and poorly weaved its representation to the rest of the world, I don't think they were as evil as the film portrayed them to be. It was stretching it a bit too far, and that downplayed its credibility a bit for me. Even though I wanted to like it, my skepticism changed only a little by the time the movie was over.

However, there were good moments in the film though, and I found myself nodding along side it at certain parts. I wouldn't say that this is a "must-see", but it's definitely more thought-provoking and engaging than your average small-town theater flick.

Not sure why all the attention was on Blackwater while Dick Cheney's Halliburton got off scotch-free, and it was just as shady as Blackwater, if not more.

Still Important
A lot of people are saying that Wolf's points aren't important now that Obama is in office, but they are. Everything isn't fixed. The patriot act is still in affect. Now is our chance to speak up for change. Watch the film and learn! Better yet check out the director's edition, which is fabulous!