Tia Lessin, co-producer of director Michael Moore's documentaries "Fahrenheit 9-11" and "Bowling for Columbine," spoke in Wechsler Theater yesterday about the need for controversy in filmmaking.
"Especially if the right wing hasn't launched a campaign against us, I know we haven't done our job," Lessin said.
Lessin, who co-teaches a social documentary class at AU with professor Pat Aufderhide in the School of Communication, showed clips from the documentaries she produced, including Moore's films and "Behind the Labels," a documentary on sweatshops in Saipan of Micronesia.
Lessin received the 2002 Sidney Hillman Award for her work on the documentary, according to Agnes Varnum, assistant director of the Center for Social Media, who introduced Lessin.
"I was really surprised that Oxygen chose to broadcast the documentary, with it being such a new network," Lessin said. "I feel that controversy is a good thing and shouldn't be avoided."
Lessin showed clips of "Behind the Labels" before and after editing. The second version was due to intervention of lawyers who were worried about being sued by clothing companies such as Gap, Ralph Lauren, and Abercrombie and Fitch.
"I basically tried to intercut images of sweatshops with various commercials," Lessin said, speaking about her original version, which included shots commericials for Gap's khakis.
"Behind the Labels" examined how certain clothing companies are allowed to use the "Made in the USA" label and transport items duty-free, despite the fact that most of the clothing is made abroad.
"The film really serves as a tool for advocacy and social change," Lessin said.
Lessin's final cut of the film included generic runway footage spliced with clips from Saipan sweatshops.
Luis Rodriguez, a first-year graduate student in SOC, attended the event because he is studying documentary filmmaking.
"I wanted to hear how to deal with controversial film topics," Rodriguez said. "I would like to do films on human rights abuses against religious minorities in Asia."
Lessin also showed a System of a Down music video for the band's song "Boom." The video, which Lessin worked on, was made in a documentary-like style.
The music video showed clips of the protests that occurred in February 2003, a month before the Iraq War began.
"These people were protesting before we were even going to war," Lessin said. "It was these people that we wanted to give a voice to."
The video was set for release four days before the Iraq War began and was intended for heavy rotation on MTV, MTV2, VH1 and MuchMusic, according to Lessin.
However, System of a Down later teamed up with 3 Doors Down to collaborate on a music video, due to the fact that the Army was a large sponsor of MuchMusic and MTV.
The networks yanked the video because their advertisement departments were worried about army sponsorship, Lessin said.
Christina Gonzalez, a second-year graduate student in the School of International Service, attended the event because of her interest in documentaries.
"It must have been such an experience to do 'Fahrenheit 9-11.' ... It makes it all the more engaging," Gonzalez said.
Lessin ended her presentation with clips from "Fahrenheit 9-11."
"Michael [Moore] was determined to show footage of pre-war Iraq," Lessin said. "He really wanted to show the place that we bombed to smithereens."
Lessin never went to film school but has always been interested in documentary work.
"I never had dreams of working in mainstream news and Hollywood features," Lessin said. "Just as long as the audience is engaged and amused, I am happy with my work"
