From the Ashes: Nicaragua Today | |
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Directed by | Helena Solberg |
Written by | Saul Landau |
Produced by | Glenn Silber Melanie Maholick |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Radiante Filmes |
Release date |
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Running time | 60 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
From the Ashes: Nicaragua Today is a 1982 American documentary directed by Helena Solberg and co-produced by Glenn Silber. [2]
This documentary probes the human realities and the political complexities of life in Nicaragua following the 1979 insurrection that overthrew the Somoza dictatorship. Providing a personalized perspective on the country's past and present are the Chavarrias, a family of six. Their comments are accompanied by archival footage documenting the presence of U.S. Marines in Nicaragua from 1912 to 1933, the rise of rebel leader Augusto Sandino and scenes from the bloody civil war including the murder of ABC-TV newsman Bill Stewart by Somoza's National Guard. The film also explores issues such as the national literacy campaign, the changing relations between the sexes, the social activist role of the church, the agrarian reform movement, the revolution's impact on private business and the training of Nicaraguan exiles at a Florida military camp in preparation for contra attacks in Nicaragua. [3]
The film was criticized for "present a one-sided, pro-Sandinist point of view." The accusations were made by the American Catholic Committee, an anti-Communist organization of lay Catholics headed by James McFadden, a former New York City Labor Commissioner. [4] Despite the controversy, From the Ashes: Nicaragua Today won a News & Documentary Emmy Award for Background-Analysis of Current Story: Programs after airing on PBS. [5]
The Sandinista National Liberation Front is a socialist political party in Nicaragua. Its members are called Sandinistas in both English and Spanish. The party is named after Augusto César Sandino, who led the Nicaraguan resistance against the United States occupation of Nicaragua in the 1930s.
Anastasio "Tachito" Somoza Debayle was a Nicaraguan dictator and officially the President of Nicaragua from 1 May 1967 to 1 May 1972 and from 1 December 1974 to 17 July 1979. As head of the National Guard, he was de facto ruler of the country between 1972 and 1974, even during the period when he was not the de jure ruler.
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