Saul Landau (January 15, 1936 – September 9, 2013) was an American journalist, filmmaker and commentator. He was also a
professor emeritus at
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, where he taught history and digital media.
Education
Landau was born in
the Bronx, New York City. A graduate of Manhattan's
Stuyvesant High School
Stuyvesant High School (pronounced ), commonly referred to among its students as Stuy (pronounced ), is a State school, public university-preparatory school, college-preparatory, Specialized high schools in New York City, specialized high school ...
, he also earned bachelor's and master's degrees in history from the
University of Wisconsin, Madison.
He donated his early papers and films to the
Wisconsin Center for Film and Television Research.
Career
Landau authored 14 books, produced and directed over 50 documentary films, and wrote editorial columns including for the
Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
He frequently appeared on radio and TV shows.
Gore Vidal said, "Saul Landau is a man I love to steal ideas from."
Landau was a fellow of the
Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) in Washington, D.C. and a senior fellow and former director of the
Transnational Institute in Amsterdam.
He received an
Emmy
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
for his film ''
Paul Jacobs and the Nuclear Gang
''Paul Jacobs and the Nuclear Gang'' is a 1979 political documentary film produced and directed by Jack Willis and Saul Landau, written by Jack Willis and Penny Bernstein, narrated by Penny Bernstein with cinematography by Zack Krieger and Haske ...
'' (1980), which he co-directed with Jack Willis, with cinematography by Academy Award-winning filmmaker
Haskell Wexler. He won the
Edgar Allan Poe Award 1981 for "Best Fact Crime" for ''Assassination on Embassy Row'' (with
John Dinges
John Dinges (December 8, 1941) is an American journalist. He was special correspondent for ''Time'', ''Washington Post'' and ABC Radio in Chile. With a group of Chilean journalists, he cofounded the Chilean magazine ''APSI''.
He is the Godfrey Lo ...
; Pantheon 1980) about the murder of TNI Director
Orlando Letelier and their colleague and friend Ronnie Karpen-Moffitt. He received the Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award for his life's contribution to human rights and also received the Bernado O'Higgins award.
In the early 1960s, he was a member of the
San Francisco Mime Troupe
The San Francisco Mime Troupe is a theatre of political satire which performs free shows in various parks in the San Francisco Bay Area and around California. The Troupe does not, however, perform silent mime, but each year creates an original ...
and wrote the play "The Minstrel Show." At that time he was also working as a film distributor.
Landau donated his Latin American-related films and papers to the
University of California, Riverside Libraries in 2005.
Death
Landau died after battling
bladder cancer for two years on September 9, 2013, at his home in
Alameda, California. He was 77.
Films
Landau's films are distributed by Round World Productions. His 1968 film "Fidel" is distributed by Microcinema.
* ''Losing just the same'' (1966)
* ''Fidel'' (1968)
* ''From Protest to Resistance'' (1968)
* ''
Que Hacer/What is to be Done?'' (1971) – Saul Landau,
Raúl Ruiz, James Becket,
Jaime Sierra
Jaime Sierra Mateos (born 18 March 1998) is a Spanish footballer who plays for UD Logroñés as a central midfielder.
Club career
Born in Madrid, Sierra joined Real Madrid's youth setup in 2004, from EF Carabanchel. In July 2014, he moved to Va ...
,
Nina Serrano
Nina Serrano (born 1934) is an American poet, writer, storyteller, and independent media producer who lives in Vallejo, California. She is the author of ''Heart Songs: The Collected Poems of Nina Serrano'' (1980) and ''Pass it on!: How to sta ...
.
* ''Conversation with Allende'' (1971)
* ''
Brazil: A Report on Torture'' (1971)
* ''Robert Wall: Ex-FBI Agent'' (1972)
* ''The Jail'' (1972)
* ''Zombies in a House of Madness'' (1972) – Shot in the San Francisco jail.
* ''Song for Dead Warriors'' (1974) – A documentary about the
Wounded Knee occupation in the spring of 1973 by Oglala Sioux Indians and members of the American Indian Movement (AIM)
* ''Who Shot Alexander Hamilton'' (1974)
* ''Castro, Cuba and the US'' (1974)
* ''Zombies in a House of Madness'' (1975) – A short film where jail house poet, Michael Beasley, reads his poetry alongside footage taken inside the San Francisco jail, in 1972.
* ''Land of My Birth'' (1976) – The campaign film for Michael Manley in Jamaica.
* ''Bill Moyer's CBS report on CIA and Cuba'' (1977)
* ''The CIA Case Officer'' (1978) – A documentary about John Stockwell, a former CIA official who served in the CIA for 12 years, mostly in Africa and Vietnam. The film won an Emmy Award (1980), George F. Polk Award for investigative journalism on TV, Hefner First Amendment Award for journalism, and the Mannheim Film Festival first critics' prize.
* ''
Paul Jacobs and the Nuclear Gang
''Paul Jacobs and the Nuclear Gang'' is a 1979 political documentary film produced and directed by Jack Willis and Saul Landau, written by Jack Willis and Penny Bernstein, narrated by Penny Bernstein with cinematography by Zack Krieger and Haske ...
'' (1979) – A political documentary about government suppression of the health hazards of low-level radiation. Paul Jacobs died from lung cancer before the documentary was finished. His doctors believed he contracted it while he was investigating nuclear policies in 1957. Jacobs interviewed civilians and soldiers, survivors of nuclear experiments in the 50s and 60s, testing the effects of radiation.
* ''Steppin (1980) – A documentary about
Michael Manley on his tour in Jamaica, during election time.
* ''Report from Beirut'' (1982)
* ''Target Nicaragua. Inside a Covert War'' (1983)
* ''Quest for Power'' (1983)
* ''The Uncompromising Revolution'' (1988)
* ''Report from Iraq'' (1991)
* ''Papakolea'' (1993)
* ''The Sixth Sun: Mayan Uprising in Chiapas'' (1996)
* ''Maquila: A Tale of Two Mexicos'' (1999) – A documentary about the corporate globalization on the US-Mexican border.
* ''Iraq: Voices From the Street'' (September 2002)
* ''Syria: Between Iraq and a Hard Place'' (2004)
* ''Will the Real Terrorist Please Stand Up'' (2012)
* ''"WE DON'T PLAY GOLF HERE – and other stories of globalization"''
Books
* ''The Bisbee deportations: class conflict and patriotism during World War I'', University of Wisconsin—Madison, 1959
*
* Landau, Saul, Jacobs, Paul, & Pell, Eve, ''To Serve the Devil, Volume 1: Natives and Slaves'' Vintage Books, 1971.
* Landau, Saul, Jacobs, Paul, & Pell, Eve ''To Serve the Devil – Volume 2: Colonials and Sojourners'' Vintage Books, 1971.
*
* ''They Educated the Crows'', Transnational Institute, 1978 – a Transnational Institute Report on the Letelier-Moffitt Murders
*
*
* ''My Dad Was Not Hamlet: Poems'', Institute for Policy Studies, 1993
* ''The guerrilla wars of Central America: Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala'',
St Martin's Press
St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under si ...
, 1993,
* ''Hot air: a radio diary'', Pacifica Network News/Institute for Policy Studies, 1995 – Saul Landau,
Christopher Hitchens,
Pacifica Radio
Pacifica may refer to:
Art
* ''Pacifica'' (statue), a 1938 statue by Ralph Stackpole for the Golden Gate International Exposition
Places
* Pacifica, California, a city in the United States
** Pacifica Pier, a fishing pier
* Pacifica, a conceiv ...
* ''Red Hot Radio: Sex, Violence and Politics at the End of the American Century'',
Common Courage Press, 1998
*
*
* - with
Gore Vidal. In this book, he defines his position on the
2006 Cuban transfer of presidential duties, Cuba in the 1960s,
Raúl Castro
Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz (; ; born 3 June 1931) is a retired Cuban politician and general who served as the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, the most senior position in the one-party communist state, from 2011 to 2021, succeedi ...
and his opinion on the U.S. concerning Cuba
* Saul Landau (2013). ''Stark in the Bronx: A Detective Novel''. CounterPunch Books.
Awards
*
Bernardo O'Higgins Award for Human Rights
* Letelier-Moffit Human Rights Award
*
George Polk Award for Investigative Reporting
*
Joe A. Callaway Award for Civic Courage
The Joe A. Callaway Award for Civic Courage is presented annually by The Shafeek Nader Trust for the Community Interest. The Callaway Award "recognizes individuals who take a public stance to advance truth and justice, at some personal risk". T ...
(2013)
Joe A. Callaway Awards For Civic Courage Past-Winners
''Calloway Awards'', 2013. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
* Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
* Roxie Award for Best Activist Video
* Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award The Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award is an award created in honor of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner. The Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Awards were established in 1979 to honor individuals who have made significant contributions in the vital effor ...
* Mannheim Film Festival: Critics' First Prize
* Ann Arbor Film Festival First Prize
* Berlin Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...
First Prize
* Best Director Award First American Indian Intercontinental Film Festival
* Golden Apple Award
* Best Picture North Carolina Smoky Mountain Film Festival
* Edgar Allan Poe Award, for "Assassination on Embassy Row"
References
External links
Saul Landau's website
Saul Landau's blog
Round World Productions, distributor for Saul Landau's films
* ttp://www.tni.org/users/saul-landau Saul Landau's profileat the Transnational Institute. Includes recent articles and essays.
Saul Landau's page at Cal Poly Pomona
"Emmy-winning Documentary Filmmaker to Speak at UC Riverside: Saul Landau Has Focused on Social Issues, Human Rights for 40 years"
"Will the Real Terrorist Please Stand Up"
Guide to the Saul Landau Papers at the University of California, Riverside Librariea
Will the Real Terrorist Please Stand Up: Saul Landau on U.S.-Aided Anti-Castro Militants & the Cuban 5
'' Democracy Now!'', June 2012
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Landau, Saul
American documentary filmmakers
American male journalists
American political writers
Writers on Latin America
Latin Americanists
Journalists from California
Journalists from the San Francisco Bay Area
Journalists from New York City
Jewish American journalists
American male poets
20th-century American poets
20th-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century American male writers
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona faculty
Emmy Award winners
University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni
Stuyvesant High School alumni
People from Alameda, California
People from the Bronx
American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
Deaths from cancer in California
Deaths from bladder cancer
1936 births
2013 deaths