The U.S. Vs. John Lennon

"Of all the documentaries ever made on John Lennon, this is the one he would love the best", said Yoko Ono, Lennon?s widow. Before Iraq and the Bush administration, before Bruce Springsteen and Pearl Jam, there was John Lennon - the celebrated music star who used his fortune and his fame to protest against the Vietnam War and fight for world peace. The documentary shows the transformation from Lennon, the musician to social activist and how the U.S. government tried to silence him and expel him from the country. This is not only an isolated episode in American history, but a relevant fact today. Focusing on the 1966/1976 period, the documentary also broaches the struggle for civil rights, the new left and political movements, the disappointment with the Nixon government and Watergate. Political activism on the part of Afro-Americans Angela Davis and Bobby Seale, journalists Carl Bernstein and Walter Cronkite, a Vietnam veteran, and activist Ron Kovic, historian and novelist Gore Vidal, among others. But Lennon is the voice and the central presence in the documentary. He arises as has never before been seen: a man of principle, amusing, an extraordinarily charismatic young man who refuses to keep quiet in face of injustice. Yoko Ono, as opposed to the image made of her by the press and by the fans, appears as an aggregating important factor in the musician?s

political decisions.

David Leaf Born in Rochelle, New York, and graduated from George Washington University. He directed various documentaries for television, among these Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson & The Story of the Smile and A Tribute of Heroes. For five years, he was director-producer for Disney´s Salute to the American Teacher. He wrote and directed episodes for Christopher Reeve: A Celebration of Hope (1998). He was responsible for programs about icons of humor such as the brothers Marx, Dean Martin, and Jerry Lewis. John Scheinfeld Born in Milwaukee, USA. Writer, director, and producer of documentaries for television. In 2006, he wrote and directed Who is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talking About Him?. He also made programs about icons such as Frank Sinatra, Peter Sellers, Nat King Cole, Bob Hope, the Bee Gees, and Bette Midler.

43ª MOSTRA INTERNACIONAL DE CINEMA

43ª MOSTRA INTERNACIONAL DE CINEMA