The Propeller Group, AK-47 vs. M16, The Film, 2016 (still); Single channel video with sound; Duration: 41:08 min.
AK-47 vs. M-16, The Film, The Propeller Group’s first feature-length movie, is assembled from a variety of sources, including Hollywood films, promotional videos, documentaries, news reportage, and YouTube clips. Its main characters are two guns: the AK47, described as “Russia’s greatest export,” and the M16, considered “a potent symbol of American strength worldwide.” The film explores how Hollywood movies about the Vietnam War from Platoon to Rambo to Forrest Gump cemented the association of these two weapons with certain cultures and reinforced Cold War notions of a battle between West and East. It then gradually shifts from the jungles of Vietnam to those of the Congo, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and to an exaggerated gangland Los Angeles.
This one-night-only screening at the Towne 3 Cinema, 1433 The Alameda, San José, will be followed by a panel discussion with Jonathan Kahana, professor of film + digital media, University of California, Santa Cruz, and Karthika Sasikumar, associate professor of political science at San José State University and affiliate of Center for International Security and Cooperation, Stanford University, Palo Alto.
This film has violent content. Viewer discretion is advised.