THE NEW BLACKLIST: Did a Pro-Afghan War Director Sucker the Sundance Film Festival?

In a piece published today about Sebastian Junger’s “Restrepo,” the Afghanistan War documentary released over the weekend, Bill Cody at Rope of Silicon admits (accidentally?) what we all knew anyway: that the Sundance Film Festival is all about the leftist political agenda.

Sebastian Junger

Last year “Restrepo” got a big boost out of Sundance, winning the Grand Jury Prize and rave reviews from all the right people. The documentary is supposedly apolitical but over the weekend Junger’s been making the rounds on various news programs promoting his film and the idea that America must win the war in Afghanistan. Having witnessed this surprising development, Cody (who opposes the war) wonders if the leftist film festival was “suckered” by “a director who is very pro-War”. [emphasis mine]:

On each of these shows Junger was asked his opinion of the ongoing war and each time he argued for more time and more troops. In other words, more war.

As I watched Junger on these shows I wondered aloud if this is what the programmers at Sundance had in mind when they promoted Junger’s film earlier this year and heaped awards and praise on it. I’d like to think they just thought Restrepo was the best documentary out there but I know that isn’t really how Sundance works.

They made no bones about pushing their anti-Iraq agenda in 2006 and 2007. The Festival handed out awards to Iraq In Fragments and No End In Sight while Geoffrey Gilmore gave interviews about the ability of documentaries to change the world. Sundance also helped produce and fund Iraq In Fragments and made no bones about the Festival’s take on the Iraq War. They were against it.

Now they’re supporting a director who is very pro-War, albeit not the Iraq War. It makes me wonder if they’ve changed their stance on the war. Perhaps they didn’t understand what Junger and co-director Tim Hetherington were trying to say with this film? Or did the charming Junger and his modern day Hemmingway shtick just take them in?

Cody believes there are only two explanations:

[I]s Sundance in favor of this war? Or did they just fall for Junger’s handsome face?

In other words, either Sundance is — for the first time in its history — in favor of America winning a war. Or Junger suckered them.

Taken another step to its logical conclusion, what Cody’s saying is that if Sundance isn’t pro-war and hadn’t been fooled by Junger’s “pretty face” the festival would’ve held Junger’s politics against him and not supported THE EXACT SAME FILM as much, if at all.

Isn’t that, I don’t know… kind of a blacklist?

Over to you Patrick Goldstein…