Strange Culture (2007)

A documentary in which actors interpret the legally touchy subject of artist Steve Kurtz, who is being held as a suspected terrorist because of his work.

Director:

Lynn Hershman-Leeson

Writer:

Lynn Hershman-Leeson

Stars:

Thomas Jay Ryan, Tilda Swinton, Peter Coyote

1 win.

Cast

Credited cast:
Thomas Jay Ryan	...	Steve Kurtz
Tilda Swinton	...	Hope Kurtz
Peter Coyote	...	Himself
Josh Kornbluth	...	Himself
Steve Kurtz	...	Himself
Shoresh Alaudini	...	Loren
Cassie Powell	...	Lise
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jakob Bokulich	...	FBI Agent
Gregg Bordowitz	...	Himself - Artist / CAE Defense Fund
Larissa Clayton	...	Char
Beatriz da Costa	...	Herself
Susan Leeson	...	Herself (as Dr. Susan Leeson)
Keith Olbermann	...	Himself
Marcie Prohofsky	...	FBI Agent
Wallace Shawn	...	Himself

Storyline

The surreal nightmare of internationally-acclaimed artist and professor Steve Kurtz began when his wife, Hope, died in her sleep of heart failure. Medics arrived, became suspicious of Kurtz's art, and called the FBI. Within hours the artist was detained as a suspected "bioterrorist", as dozens of agents in Hazmat suits sifted through his work and impounded his computers, manuscripts, books, cat, and even his wife's body. Today Kurtz and his long-time collaborator Dr. Robert Ferrell, former Chair of the Genetics Department at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, await a trial date.

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Plot Keywords:

reenactment

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Genres:

Documentary

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 October 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

Paraxeni koultoura

Company Credits

Production Co:

L5 Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

75 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Official Selection and World Premiere, Sundance International Film Festival, 2007

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Quotes

[first lines]
news caster: Like many an unfortunate drama, the story begins with a death. Steve Kurtz called 911 early on the morning of May 11th, after his wife suffered cardiac arrest and died in her sleep. When police arrived on the scene they saw not a 45-year old woman claimed well before her time, but rather petri dishes and sophisticated scientific equipment...

User Reviews

Post 9/11 terrorism by our government

It was President Roosevelt that told us, "The only thing you have to fear is fear itself." The Bush administration has put the country into a constant state of fear since 9/11, and the result is that we have been complicit in the removal of the very freedoms that make us unique in the world.

Benjamin Franklin said, "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." The Bush administration is counting on the fear and ignorance of the American people to continue to allow them to build their tyranny in the guise of safety.

This is the story of how the government uses their tyranny to come down on those with whom they disagree. As stated so eloquently in the film, they no longer use the civil process, they have turned civil litigation into criminal litigation. They have also passed laws allowing them to lock up any of us at will.

This is a story of how an artist, Steve Kurtz, is persecuted by the government for daring to oppose the multi-national corporations that finance these sleazy politicians; but it is really the story of what could happen to every single one of us if we continue to sit in front of the TV and watch trash and let the government do what they will.