Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation to Host First-Ever Anti-Communist Film Festival

The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation will host its first-ever Anti-Communist Film Festival beginning Oct. 1.  

Elizabeth Spalding, Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation chairman, said the selected movies are meant to appeal to a wide variety of audiences of all ages and genre preferences. 

The festival will open with “Pilecki’s Report,” a Polish movie based on the real life of Witold Pilecki, a soldier who volunteered to infiltrate Auschwitz and was the first to report on its atrocities, and his confrontation with and execution by the Soviet communists in control of post-World War II Poland. 

On Friday, attendees can screen the Oscar-winning biographical drama “The Killing Fields,” which follows two journalists in 1976 Khmer Rouge-controlled Cambodia and their struggles to survive and document the atrocities of the regime that killed over 3 million natives. 

Saturday will feature three films in the morning, afternoon, and evening showings: “Night Crossing,” “Red Dawn,” and “The Lives of Others.”  

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Rated PG, the morning’s 1983 Disney selection is family-friendly and follows the true story of two families who escaped Soviet East Germany via a homemade hot-air balloon. 

The original 1984 “Red Dawn,” starring a young Patrick Swayze and Charlie Sheen, is set in a fictitious post-World War II America where Colorado high schoolers fight a guerrilla campaign against a combined Soviet and Latin American communist force that has invaded the U.S.  

In celebration of its 20^th anniversary, “The Lives of Others” will close out Saturday’s programming. The 2007 Academy Award winner for Best International Feature Film centers on an East German intelligence agent who becomes disillusioned with his government after being ordered to spy on a suspected Western sympathizer.  

The festival’s final showing, the Hollywood hit 2016 satirical comedy “Hail, Caesar!” stars many prominent left-leaning actors like George Clooney and Scarlett Johansson in fictitious 1950s Hollywood, where a professional fixer navigates a communist plot among other actor-related drama.  

“I hope people take away an understanding that communism always represses freedom and is based on false promises,” Spalding said, “Yet—no matter where or when—ultimately cannot crush our human dignity and freedom.” 

Spalding cited recent polling that showed younger Americans have a favorable view of socialism and communism as a reason the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation decided to put on a film festival now. 

“In general, Americans know little to nothing about communism and its past and present crimes,” Spalding said. “And now, some—from Seattle to New York to Washington, D.C.—are voting for self-proclaimed democratic socialists.” 

The foundation’s stated aim is to educate younger generations about the historical atrocities committed by communist regimes. Its Washington, D.C., museum commemorates the more than 100 million victims of communism and the individuals who stood against it with exhibitions and special programs.  

Additional information and free tickets for the film festival can be found on the Victims of Communism website: Anti-Communist Film Festival | Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.