Journalist & Filmmaker Saul Landau, 77, Dies; Chronicled Cuban Revolution For Decades [View all]

[Mika]

Journalist & Filmmaker Saul Landau, 77, Dies; Chronicled Cuban Revolution For Decades
http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2013/9/10/journalist_filmmaker_saul_landau_77_dies_chronicled_cuban_revolution_for_decades

The award-winning journalist, filmmaker, author and professor Saul Landau has died at the age of 77. His death was confirmed by the Institute for Policy Studies where he was a senior fellow and vice chair of the IPS board. Landau made more than 45 films and wrote 14 books, many about Cuba. “He stood up to dictators, right-wing Cuban assassins, pompous politicians, and critics from both the left and the right,” IPS Director John Cavanagh said in a statement from the group. “When he believed in something, nobody could make him back down. Those who tried would typically find themselves on the receiving end of a withering but humorous insult.”

Landau’s recent film, "Will the Real Terrorist Please Stand Up?" exposed U.S. support for violent anti-Castro militants. Last year, Landau appeared on Democracy Now! to discuss the history of the Cuban Five and U.S. support for a group of anti-Castro militants who have been behind the bombing of airplanes, the blowing up of hotels and assassinations. Today, they are allowed to live freely in the United States. "What did Cuba do to us?," Landau asks. "Well, the answer, I think, is that they were disobedient, in our hemisphere. And they did not ask permission to take away property. They took it away. They nationalized property. And the United States ... has never forgiven them."

Landau is survived by his wife, Rebecca Switzer, his first wife, Nina Serrano, and his five children, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

RIP.