Fighting for Justice

In response to a recent Justice Department decision to label three Canadian films as political propaganda, a professor at the Medical School has collected about 70 signature from colleagues for a letter protesting the move.

The federal action has started a considerable amount of controversy ever since the Administration declared its disapproval of the film "Acid Rain: Requiem or Recovery." "Acid from Heaven" and the Academy Award nominee "If You Love This Planet."

The first two documentaries link acid rains in the Northeast to Midwestern industrial emissions, and the third discussion the threats of nuclear war.

In addition to condemning the films, the Justice Department obtaining and recording the names of the theaters and distributors showing the films.

In his letter to President Reagan, Allan M. Maxam of the Medical School's Dana Farber Cancer Institute explained that the films "are about destructive agents-hydrogen bombs and acidic rain-that could kill trillions of living organism. We assert that the Canadian films are statements of this profound concern and as such can not be propaganda."

Explaining why he is directing the letter to Reagan, he said "I don't consider this a low order bureaucratic move. I think it is quite close to the highest policies of the Reagan Administration.

Maxam has been active in efforts to half nuclear rearmament, but it was the combination of the threat of nuclear welfare and the possible surveillance of the films' sponsors that sparked his concern.

Copies of the statement have been sent to the National Film Board of Canada. American Civil Liberties Union, newspapers and to House Speaker Thomas P O'Neill, Jr. and Senators Paul F. Tsongas and Edward M Kennedy.