Lake Oswego Public Library Presents
Film Screening of Every War Has Two Losers
with the Director, Haydn Reiss
Monday, February 10, 7:00 PM
at Lakewood Center for the Arts – Headlee MainStage
Free Ticketless Event, Open to the Public, Door open at 6:30 PM
Since 1994, Haydn Reiss has been making a series of documentaries on poets. These include William Stafford & Robert Bly: A Literary Friendship and the award-winning Rumi: Poet of the Heart. Reiss’ film, Every War Has Two Losers, was a winner at the 2011 Canadian International Film Festival and an official selection of the 2011 United National Film Festival. His films have aired on PBS and in festivals around the world. In a previous life he worked as the director’s assistant on the psychological thriller Jacob’s Ladder and on Oliver Stone’s JFK. He is currently completing Robert Bly: A Thousand Years of Joy.
William Stafford spent four years during World War II in public service camps as a conscientious objector and started a daily journal that was continued throughout his life. Reiss’ film, based on these journals, confronts collective beliefs surrounding war: Why do we believe war is inevitable? Why do we believe it is necessary? Joining Stafford (as voiced by Peter Coyote) are noted activists and literary voices Alice Walker, W.S. Merwin, Maxine Hong Kingston, and others. Together they embark on a search for a wiser and less violent world.
This event is presented in partnership with Lakewood Center for the Arts.
ABOUT THE FILM:
Every War has Two Losers tells the story of how one man, William Stafford (1914-1993), chose to answer the call to war. It is a story of confronting beliefs that swirl around war — Isn’t war inevitable? Even necessary? What about the enemy? Stafford refused to fight in World War Two and served four years in camps for conscientious objectors. Later he was the winner of the National Book Award for poetry.
Other participants appearing in the film include Coleman Barks, Robert Bly, John Gorka, Maxine Hong Kingston, Michael Meade, W.S. Merwin, Naomi Shihab Nye, Kim Stafford, and Alice Walker.
Director Haydn Reiss first met Stafford in 1990 and later produced a one-hour documentary, William Stafford & Robert Bly: A Literary Friendship. That film chronicles the similarities and differences between these two close friends and great poets. Approaches to writing, teaching and the meaning of poetry are all explored in this lively and engaging film.