Remembering the Socialism of Helen Keller
Helen Keller is well known to Americans as a writer, educator, and advocate for the disabled. But few know of her commitment to socialist politics as the route to a more just world.
Despite Helen Keller’s enormous celebrity, little attention has been given to her socialist beliefs and political activism. (Bettmann via Getty Images)
Her Socialist Smile, John Gianvito’s fifth solo-directed feature, depicts one of America’s pioneering socialist figures, Helen Keller.
Gianvito is a unique director in the contemporary US film scene — working independently with a small crew and on modest budgets, he personally handles multiple aspects of the filmmaking process (production, camera, sound, editing, and script). Gianvito is also one of a handful of filmmakers in the United States whose socialist politics is front and center in almost all of his productions.
In 2001’s The Mad Songs of Fernanda Hussein, Gianvito tells three separate but interconnected stories dealing with the social effects of US military operations in the Gulf War. Gianvito’s 2007 film, Profit Motive and the Whispering Wind, is a meditative journey that rediscovers the forgotten graves of political militants throughout American history. Gianvito followed up with his two-film series, For Example, the Philippines, composed of Vapor Trail (Clark) (2010) and Wake (Subic) (2015), focusing on the environmental and health damages left by former US military bases in the Philippines.
This article is for subscribers only. Please login or subscribe to access our full archives and beautiful print and digital magazine starting at just $3 a month.