Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been met with anger across the arts. Tai Shani calls for the sector to show similar solidarity with Palestine.
At the Academy Awards in 1999, Elia Kazan received an honorary Oscar in recognition of his profound contribution to cinema. As a director, Kazan often broached the brutal social realities of postwar America – his films narrated the era’s complex conditions, relations and struggles that slashed Hollywood’s intoxicating screen and bled onto its celluloid fantasies.
But Kazan was also an informant. When he was called upon in 1952 by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) – an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives tasked with investigating alleged acts of disloyalty and subversion by citizens, public employees and organisations – he named in his testimonial eight former colleagues from the ‘Group Theater’ troupe in New York who, like Kazan, had been or were members of the Communist Party. He did this so that he could continue to work, while those he named were blacklisted and denied their livelihood and the pleasure of a life well lived at the service of what they love. He never expressed remorse for ruining their lives.
When, at the age of eighty-nine, assisted by his partner, he walked slowly onto the stage, his frailty made it difficult for me not to feel compassion for him...Keep reading on Art Review.
At the Academy Awards in 1999, Elia Kazan received an honorary Oscar in recognition of his profound contribution to cinema. As a director, Kazan often broached the brutal social realities of postwar America – his films narrated the era’s complex conditions, relations and struggles that slashed Hollywood’s intoxicating screen and bled onto its celluloid fantasies.
But Kazan was also an informant. When he was called upon in 1952 by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) – an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives tasked with investigating alleged acts of disloyalty and subversion by citizens, public employees and organisations – he named in his testimonial eight former colleagues from the ‘Group Theater’ troupe in New York who, like Kazan, had been or were members of the Communist Party. He did this so that he could continue to work, while those he named were blacklisted and denied their livelihood and the pleasure of a life well lived at the service of what they love. He never expressed remorse for ruining their lives.
When, at the age of eighty-nine, assisted by his partner, he walked slowly onto the stage, his frailty made it difficult for me not to feel compassion for him...Keep reading on Art Review.