Party Time: The Anti-Communist Film Festival
Mark Judge announces plans for an Anti-Communist Film Festival in collaboration with the Victims of Communism Foundation, aiming to celebrate freedom and fun through film. He argues that American culture has become overly restrictive and joyless, particularly in political discourse on both the left and right. Drawing on historical examples and philosophical reflections, he emphasizes the importance of parties and enjoyment as acts of resistance against authoritarianism.
- ▪The Anti-Communist Film Festival will screen films such as The Lives of Others, Trial, and Hail, Caesar!
- ▪Judge cites a 1787 farewell party for George Washington where 55 attendees consumed large quantities of alcohol as evidence of America's historical embrace of celebration.
- ▪He references Tim Mohr's book Burning Down the Haus to highlight how East German punk rockers used fun as resistance against the oppressive Stasi regime.
- ▪Rev. James V. Schall's philosophy on the importance of leisure and parties as more significant than politics informs Judge's perspective.
- ▪John Riggins' anecdote about telling Justice Sandra Day O'Connor to 'loosen up' is used to illustrate a bygone era of American humor and social looseness.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Party Time: The Anti-Communist Film Festival Mark Judge 4:00 PM | May 02, 2026 AP Photo/Gerald Herbert This fall I’m putting on an Anti-Communist Film Festival. In association with the Victims of Communism Foundation, we will screen films like The Lives of Others, Trial, and Hail, Caesar! It’s also an excuse to have a party. America used to be a hard-partying nation, but no sooner had we shaken off our puritanical shackles than the wokeness arose after the Cold War to stomp on everyone’s buzz again. We’ve become a nation of tight-asses - both left and right. William F. Buckley was a conservative icon, but he was also a skier, a sailor, a party-thrower, and a guy who rode a scooter to work. Buckley knew how to have fun.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at HotAir.
