1991 Film released Online for the 30th Anniversary of Gulf War

January 16, 2021 marks the 30th anniversary of the 1991 Gulf War and the United States’ Operation Desert Storm in Iraq. In honor of those who objected to the destruction of another war, local journalist John Malkin is releasing online for the first time his 1991 film “Santa Cruz Responds to the Gulf War.” The 25-minute documentary highlights rallies, demonstrations, teach-ins and direct actions that took place in Santa Cruz and San Francisco in response to the “first” Gulf War.

“Santa Cruz Responds to the Gulf War” was directed, shot and edited by John Malkin in January and February 1991 as an independent study project in the Community Studies Department at the University of California at Santa Cruz. The film includes interviews with activists, teachers, politicians and local police including then-City Councilmember Scott Kennedy and UCSC Sociology Professor Dane Archer, who says in the film, “During wartime the lesson that’s being taught is that homicide is a praiseworthy - necessary, regrettable - but at base, an acceptable means of settling a conflict. If the government breaks laws, it’s contagious.”

UCSC Feminist Studies Professor Bettina Aptheker is seen speaking at an anti-war rally at the University’s Quarry Amphitheater; “I see these men in Washington acting out of terrible fear and desperation… This is a very desperate kind of action to take. It comes out of colonialism, colossal arrogance and the idea that this disintegrating colonial power – or if you prefer imperialist power – thinks it has the right to continue to rule the world when in fact it is in a state of collapse.”

The film also includes dramatic footage of Santa Cruz police killing a man named Carlos Machado on January 18, 1991. The fatal shooting happened only one hundred yards from the Santa Cruz County Building on Ocean Street as hundreds of people were gathering to protest against the Gulf War. Machado had a history of mental illness and had stolen a car and a gun in Scotts Valley and was cornered by law enforcement officers at a gas station on the corner of Ocean and Water Streets. Police encircled Machado and fired eighteen bullets at him, at least half missing and lodging into the gas station minimart and county courthouse.

The Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz will be hosting online screenings of “Santa Cruz Responds to the Gulf War” beginning January 16, 2021.

The Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History will present, beginning January 16, a podcast with director John Malkin about the film and local anti-war activism, as well as a small archive of images. The podcast was conducted by MAH’s Wyatt Young. For details: https://www.santacruzmah.org/history-collection

“Santa Cruz Responds to the Gulf War” was filmed on VHS analog tape and features original music by John Malkin, who currently hosts a weekly interview-based radio program on KZSC 88.1 FM called “Transformation Highway” on Thursdays at noon PST. Malkin currently writes for the Santa Cruz Sentinel. His writings have been published widely locally and internationally including in the Santa Cruz Weekly, Santa Cruz Good Times, The Monterey Bay Herald, Z Magazine, Film International, The Sun, Z Magazine, Punk Planet, Adbusters, Shambhala Sun, Tricycle, Sojourners, Spirituality & Health and Alternet. His two published books are “Sounds of Freedom: Interviews with Musicians on Spirituality and Social Change” (Parallax Press – 2005) and “The Only Alternative: Christian Nonviolent Peacemakers in America” (Wipf & Stock - 2004). He’s currently looking for a publisher for his third book, “Punk Spirit: An Oral History of the First 40 Years of Punk.”


“Santa Cruz Responds to the Gulf War” is NOW available online on YouTube: