Jarecki Addresses Film to Youth

Eugene Jarecki has risen to fame through his politically charged documentaries “The Trials of Henry Kissinger” and currently “Why We Fight.”

Jarecki admits, in an interview with The Crimson, that his movies are subjective in the same mode as filmmaker Michael Moore. However, he insists that “Why We Fight” is not about George Bush. The film, which considers America’s obsession with war, is not meant to attack certain politicians or parties.

Jarecki says he believes that, regardless of the administration, the government’s focus on the Defense Department has been steadily increasing for decades. “This [“Why We Fight”] is not about one president or one party,” he says.

President Eisenhower’s January 17, 1959 speech is his inspiration for “Why We Fight.” In his address, Eisenhower warned against a society too tilted toward war. Jarecki says he was awed by Eisenhower’s candidness: “Eisenhower told the American public the truth.”

The youngest filmmaker ever to present a film at the Sundance Film Festival, Jarecki attended Princeton University but found the drama program lacking. However, the absence of a solid drama program spurred Jarecki’s entrepreneurial spirit toward filmmaking. After working in political advertising and visiting Guantanamo Bay during the detainment of Haitian prisoners, he says he decided to try his hand at making politically focused documentaries.

Jarecki’s uniquely balanced approach to covering Capitol Hill-related issues is his way of reaching a wide range of young Americans. He says he is asking youth to beneficially influence their government once they are in positions of power and that he hopes college students in particular will go see “Why We Fight.”

Jarecki says he fears that Americans, particularly young people, no longer understand the true meaning of freedom. He also doesn’t think they understand the implications of the war in Iraq: “this war is only a symptom of a larger problem,” Jarecki says.

He recalls asking a group of Americans why the United States is at war and they answered, “To fight for freedom.” Then, when he followed up with, “What kind of freedom?” the respondents were at a loss for words.

—ERIN A. MAY and CATHERINE D. TUTTLE