Live stream preview

Watch this video and more on OVID.tv

Watch this video and more on OVID.tv

Start your free trial

Already subscribed? Sign in

Americas in Transition

The Oscars® Winners & Nominees • 29m

Directed by Obie Benz • Documentary • With Ed Asner • 1982 • 29 minutes

[ 01/03/2026: Forgive us for feeling it's déjà vu all over again! So, maybe it's a good time to revisit this Oscar-nominated doc from the 80s? ]

AMERICAS IN TRANSITION provides a concise and fast-paced history of the volatile forces that rocked Chile, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua in the 1970s and 1980s. Drawing on interviews with the Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes, former CIA director Lyman Kirkpatrick, former U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador Murat Williams, and Maryknoll missioner Peggy Healy, the film examines the roots of dictatorship, attempts at democracy, communist influences, and the U.S. role in Latin American politics.

AMERICAS IN TRANSITION remains the best introduction to U.S. relations with Latin America, and the underlying causes of unrest there.

Tags
20th century, american, americas, americas in transition, area studies, armed, carlos fuentes, central america, chile, communism, communist, doc, documentary, dominican republic, dvd, el salvador, expository, film, government, guatemala, history, icarus films, international relations and geopolitics, intervention, involvement, latin american history, latin american studies, lyman kirkpatrick, military, murat williams, nicaragua, obie benz, oscar nominated, ovid, ovid_ca, politics and political science, revolt, revolution, s_0001, s_0158, s_0171, s_0277, s_0307, s_0327, s_0361, s_0520, s_0526, s_0533, s_0638, south america, the, title_a, title_abc, u.s., u.s. foreign policy, uprising, us, video, world history, world regions

Up Next in The Oscars® Winners & Nominees

  • A Man Called Ove
    1:56:05
    A Man Called Ove

    A Man Called Ove

    Directed by Hannes Holm • Drama • With Rolf Lassgard, Bahar Pars, Ida Engvoll • 2015 • 116 minutes

    Stepping from the pages of Fredrik Backman’s international best-selling novel, Ove is the quintessential angry old man next door. An isolated retiree with strict principles and a short fuse, who sp...

  • 5 Broken Cameras
    1:30:28
    5 Broken Cameras

    5 Broken Cameras

    Directed by Guy Davidi & Emad Burnat • Documentary • 2011 • 90 minutes

    An extraordinary work of both cinematic and political activism, 5 Broken Cameras is a deeply personal, first-hand account of non-violent resistance in Bil'in, a West Bank village threatened by encroaching Israeli settleme...

  • The Sand Castle
    13:15
    The Sand Castle

    The Sand Castle

    Directed by Co Hoedeman • Animation • 1977 • 13 minutes

    A fable of great humour and appeal, The Sand Castle is the story of the Sandman and the creatures he sculpts out of sand. Under his direction, they build a castle and celebrate the completion of their new home, only to be interrupted by an ...

×