Series/Festivals

Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train Deb Ellis and Denis Mueller. (unrated) Lifelong political activist Howard Zinn is best known for his alternative history, A People's History of the United States(now in its fifth edition), which documents those excluded from conventional accounts. But this sterling documentary of contemporary interviews (Alice Walker, Daniel Ellsberg, Noam Chomsky, et. al.) and dazzling archival footage reveals more: a principled, insightful, courageous man who served as a WWII bomber pilot, taught at and was fired from Spelman College during the Civil Rights Movement, traveled to Hanoi to receive freed American prisoners and spoke against the Vietnam War the day (and outside the building where) Boston University's trustees voted on his tenure. Knowing the critical need for "the sharpest freedom of speech" and resistance to war, Zinn still inspires and leads, as he has for 60 years. Narrated by Matt Damon. Screens at 8 p.m. Friday, September 10, through Sunday, September 12, in the Moore Auditorium on the campus of Webster University, 470 E. Lockwood Avenue. Call 314-968-7487 for more information. (Diane Carson)