Filmfest has recognized many significant works through
the years and prominent among them was "A Coup Made in
America," from Barna-Alper Productions, Toronto. The
production won a Gold Camera in the 2000 competition.
The film
was part of a series, “Turning Points of History,’ and traced how in 1954 U.S. Secretary of State John
Foster Dulles, and his brother, Allen, the director of the CIA, overthrew the
democratically elected president of Guatemala, Jacobo Arbenz. They did it to
stop the spread of communism, and for bananas.
Arbenz made the mistake
of expropriating land from the American United Fruit Company and distributing
it to landless peasants. By doing so, he was branded a Soviet agent and a
dangerous enemy to U.S. security. The intervention of the CIA in Guatemala led
to the 36-year civil war from 1960-1996.
Writers and co-directors on “Coup” were
Alan Mendelsohn and Nadine Pequeneza, who continue to be active in film.
Barna-Alper is now part of eOne Television. Alan Mendelsohn is president, CEO
and founder of Just a Minute Words & Pictures, Toronto. Nadine Pequeneza
has continued directing award-winning documentaries, including “Inside Disaster
Haiti.”
The "Coup"film is available on YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvCAWRU9mzI
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