If you were here in 1980, you will still remember the jaw-dropping experience of watching the premiere of Allan Francovich's three-hour documentary on the CIA, On Company Business. That film which had the impact of Ophuls's The Sorrow and the Pity, or Guzman's The Battle of Chile, told us something important: there is a "hidden" history in the making, and moreover, we have the right to know about it. For the next eighteen years, Allan Francovich pursued the covert activities of American officials acting "on company business," whether in Mississippi in the sixties, in collusion with Central American death squads, or in a terrorist network in Europe. Educated (fluent in many languages), intrepid, and audacious, and well known to be scrupulous about fact, Francovich gained firsthand entree to his subjects, interviewing presidents and terrorists alike. And his investigative films are given more credence than most: The Maltese Double Cross was screened in the House of Commons and, according to British Labour MP Tam Dalyell, "did more than anything else to awaken the British from J.S. Mill's 'deep slumber of a decided opinion' about responsibility for Lockerbie."Allan Francovich died on April 17, 1997, of a heart attack. He was 56, and nowhere near finished with his work. In the words of his colleague David Ben Aryeah, "Allan had one great fight all his life. Many who he exposed loathed him, many who had and still have dark secrets feared him, but there are thousands around the world who liked, respected, and admired a man truly worthy of the title 'Seeker after truth.' We shall not see his like again." We are grateful to Rod Carter, BBC; Howard Dratch; Alan Hayling, Channel 4; Gene Rosow, and Kathleen Weaver for their assistance in locating and obtaining video and film materials, as well as their contributions to establishing an archive of the writings and films of Allan Francovich at PFA. Tuesday July 14, 1998
