Progressive Utah

So this is what I've been fantasizing:  a group of friends get together once a month to view a film or two, have a discussion on the film(s) -- maybe a potluck dinner or a Sunday brunch. The films would be thought provoking and the discussions would revolve around the problems, the solutions and making the world a better place . . .

The above scenario is easily do-able with the Ironweed, a subscription film club. I was asked if I wanted to preview some of Ironweed's environmental films in honor of earth day. The April 07 disc included "Blue Vinyl" and two shorts, "Crude Impact" and "The Man Who Planted Trees". I finally had a chance to sit down and watch the films this past weekend. The films were great, but I lamented my solitary viewing and kept wishing that I'd some friends over to watch with me discuss the films.

Ironweed isn't just about environmental films -- the films cover a wide range of progressive and political topics. Some of the past films have included: This Film is Not Yet Rated, Black Gold, The Boys of Baraka, Genesis, Sir! No Sir!, American Blackout and several titles that I recognized from past Sundance festivals. At $14.95 per month, the cost could easily be split amongst a group of film club friends for a lot less than a movie ticket.

Any progressive SLC folks want to form a film club?

Don't miss An Unreasonable Man, a new documentary about one of the most important and controversial political figures of the century. Premiers Friday, March 30, at the Broadway Centre in Salt Lake City. Click here to watch a quick preview.

Here is what the critics are saying...

"Grade A! Thrilling, haunting, perceptive and beautifully made."

–Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

"Excellent! An Unreasonable Man is, like The Fog of War, one of those opportunities to step back, take a breath, and remember the seething power of recent history."

-David Poland, Movie City News

An Unreasonable Man taps rare archival footage and more than forty diverse interviews to paint a complex portrait about the storied career of Ralph Nader. This two-hour film (which has garnered wide critical acclaim in recent weeks) uses Nader's harshest critics and most eloquent supporters to create a compelling and inspirational interpretation of Nader's life and of our times. Movie information, a preview, and downloadable flyers are available on the website www.anunreasonableman.com. See below for how to help promote the film.

An Unreasonable Man plays at the Broadway Centre , located at 111 East 300 South.

Information and directions are available online or by phone at  (801) 321-0310.

[This is the first in a series of posts I'll be writing this week that highlight Sundance 2007 screenings of interest to greenies, activists, political junkies, and progressives]

The Sundance Film Festival starts in less than a week. If you live in or near Utah, the Sundance Film Festival is an event not to be missed.

For those of us in Salt Lake City, we can avoid the hassle of driving and parking in Park City (not to mention annoying star gazers) by attending screenings downtown. Almost every film at the festival screens at least once in SLC.

I prefer to go the wait list route for tickets. I have yet to be turned away from a screening using this method, and this year it's a cheaper option than buying tickets ahead of time.

Here's the scoop on what to see if you are an earth-lover.

Everything's Cool

"In their signature upbeat comedic style, Daniel Gold and Judith Helfand weave an entertaining, character-driven, behind-the-scenes tale about the mother of all problems: global warming.

Against a distinctly American backdrop of denial, deception, and delay, a group of global-warming messengers/prophets fervently searches for the right language and strategy to propel a reluctant, disaster-fatigued citizenry and its elected officials into action. Among this cast of characters are a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who repeatedly tries to retire but can't, the Weather Channel's first climatologist with a "global-warming beat" who must pack her Ph.D. into 30-second sound bites, two "bad boys" who aim a radical critique at the environmental movement, and a public servant who blows the lid off the White House's manipulation of key climate-change research.

Intercut throughout this strikingly shot journey are the trials and tribulations of a snow groomer turned biodiesel entrepreneur working on a solution, and the story of an Inuit Alaskan community that must decide whether to stay and risk getting washed into the sea or move their entire village. Hurricane Katrina blitzes the Gulf, U.S. consciousness on climate makes a seismic shift, and America finally "gets" global warming. Or do we? The way we're acting, one would think everything's cool.— Caroline Libresco"

Salt Lake City Screening: January 22 (Mon) 6:00 at Broadway Center Cinemas, 111 East Broadway (300 S.)

Other Screenings:

Friday, Jan 19 9:15 PM Holiday Village Cinema III
Saturday , Jan 20 8:30 AM Holiday Village Cinema II
Sunday, Jan 21 12:00 PM Screening Room, Sundance Village
Thursday, Jan 25 2:30 PM Prospector Square Theatre
Friday , Jan 26 2:30 PM Holiday Village Cinema II

Manufactured Landscapes

"From its stunning eight-minute opening shot to the remarkable documentation of China's Three Gorges Dam, Manufactured Landscapes is an impressive experience. That's partly due to the size and space of the landscapes, but mostly because of the beauty of the images--their composition and color, a sharp contrast to the film's content: this is a luscious world of destruction.

Ultimately Landscapes is the portrait of one man's voyage as it follows celebrated still photographer Edward Burtynsky on a tour of Asia. Burtynsky takes large-format stills of industrial landscapes: factory workers lined up to infinity, giant ships eviscerated, massive recycling dumps, expansive strip mines. His goal is to portray humanity's relationship to nature as we pursue progress. His images are striking and picturesque, leaving viewers on their own to comprehend the negative global ramifications.

Director Jennifer Baichwal makes insightful choices. The film perfectly balances the images of Burtynsky with those of talented cinematographer/creative consultant Peter Mettler. Burtynsky provides the vision and philosophy, and the filmmakers examine the specific details. And when Burtynsky speaks, he neither celebrates nor condemns but simply explores who we are in relation to our planet. We extract things from the environment to survive, and that is damaging the world.— Mike Plante"

Salt Lake City Screening: January 20 (Sat) 12:30 p.m. [wait list time 10:30 a.m.] Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 W. Broadway (300 S.)

Other Screenings:

Friday , Jan 19 12:15 PM Holiday Village Cinema III
Saturday, Jan 20 11:30PM Holiday Village Cinema II
Sunday, Jan 21 11:30AM Holiday Village Cinema II

The Unforseen

"The American Dream of owning a house with a white picket fence goes head to head with environmental sustainability in Laura Dunn's lyrical and beautifully crafted documentary The Unforeseen.

Dunn tracks the career of Gary Bradley, a west Texan farm boy who went to Austin and became one of the largest real estate developers in the state. In the '80s, Bradley had plans to transform miles of pristine hill country into large-scale subdivisions. But the development jeopardized Barton Springs, a watering hole treasured by locals, and served as a lightning rod for mobilizing environmental activism that flourished under Governor Ann Richards. When George W. Bush took the state's executive reins, however, development patterns changed, and the water quality at Barton Springs, as well as the surrounding landscape of Austin, was irreversibly transformed.

The Unforeseen is a meditation on the destruction of the natural world and the American Dream as it falls victim to the cannibalizing forces of unchecked development. It is an intricate tale of personal hopes, victories, and failures, and debates over land, economics, property rights, and the public good. In a time when development and property values have skyrocketed in nearly every major city, Dunn makes a plea for our development-oriented society to consider restructuring the relationship between our values and the environment that sustains us.— Shari Frilot"

Salt Lake City Screening: January 21 (Sun) noon [wait list time 10:00] Broadway Center Cinemas, 111 East Broadway (300 S.)

Other Screenings:

Friday, Jan 19 2:30 PM Library Center Theatre
Friday, Jan 19 9:00 PM Screening Room, Sundance Village
Monday, Jan 22 9:00 AM Egyptian Theatre, Park City
Thursday, Jan 25 8:30 PM Library Center Theatre

Wonders Are Many

"Is there beauty in annihilation? This is one question driving filmmaker Jon Else's (The Day After Trinity) latest documentary. Extending his fascination with the now-60-year history of nuclear power, Else's new film achieves something remarkable: it is art about artists contemplating the science of destruction.

With infinite precision and formidable intelligence, Wonders Are Many unfolds as theatre director Peter Sellars and composer John Adams collaborate on Doctor Atomic, their fifth, and in many ways most complex, collaboration. The opera's subject is the 48 hours leading up to the first atomic-bomb test detonation in 1945. The film seamlessly combines footage of the making of the opera, candid interviews, and vivid archival material (much of it recently declassified) with journals and writings by J. Robert Oppenheimer and other members of the team that created the first atomic bomb. Though it largely concerns historical events, the film is startling in its immediacy.

Art, as Sellars says in the film, is in part about discovering something new in what we already know. In documenting the act of creativity, both artistic and scientific, Wonders Are Many draws parallels between science and art, truth and beauty, and succeeds in finding wonder in the heart of darkness itself.— Cara Mertes"

Salt Lake City Screening: January 21 (Sun) 12:30 p.m. [wait list time 10:30] Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 W. Broadway (300 S.)

Other Screenings:

Friday, Jan 19 2:30 PM Holiday Village Cinema II
Saturday, Jan 20 8:30 AM Prospector Square Theatre
Wednesday, Jan 24 5:30 PM Library Center Theatre

Low and Behold

"What our eyes behold has more to do with what we want to see, rather than what is actually there in front of us. Zack Godshall's emotional first feature, Low and Behold, tells the tale of a young man who comes to post-Katrina Louisiana and gets a new set of eyes after being forced to deal with the mass destruction that surrounds him.

Turner Stull arrives in New Orleans to take a job with his uncle at Bridge Catastrophe Service, an opportunistic company that has set up shop to process insurance claims on hurricane-damaged homes. Turner's no-nonsense attitude collides head-on with the brewing anger and frustration of his loquacious and salty southern clientele. One day, he meets Nixon, a family man who asks for his help in finding his daughter's lost dog. Turner heartlessly turns his back on Nixon, but the two men are destined to become emotional catalysts in each other's lives.

Shot in a largely destroyed section of New Orleans and interweaving slices of local survivors' testimony, Low and Behold is a powerfully evocative film that puts a complex, human face on the enormity of this national tragedy. You may leave the theatre with new eyes of your own.— Shari Frilot"

Salt Lake City Screening: January 27 (Sat) 6:45 p.m. [wait list time 4:45 p.m.] Broadway Center Cinemas, 111 East Broadway (300 S.)

Other Screenings:

Sunday, Jan 21 Prospector Square Theatre
Thursday, Jan 25 5:30 PM Library Center Theatre
Sunday, Jan 28 Holiday Village Cinema IV

Documentary Spotlight (Doc shorts)

"In these true stories, the personal is always political, and art, self, and nature exist in delicate balance. A boy captures his childhood on tape where do-it-yourself videography and eccentricity intersect. Man battles nature in a glorious spectacle. Nature battles man, leaving man with faith in a higher power. The powers that be hold the future of two women in pursuit of civil rights. And through self-portraits, a woman makes personal art while acknowledging a world outside does indeed exist."

Salt Lake City Screening: January 20 (Sat) 12:45 p.m. [wait list 10:45 a.m.]Broadway Center Cinemas, 111 East Broadway (300 S.)

Other Screenings:

Friday, Jan 19 8:30 PM Library Center Theatre
Sunday, Jan 21 8:30 PM Prospector Square Theatre
Tuesday, Jan 23 8:30 PM Holiday Village Cinema II
Saturday, Jan 27 4:00 PM Holiday Village Cinema IV

Other Sundance Events for Greenies:

How "Movies That Matter" Can Matter (Panels at Prospector -- Ticket Required -- Jan. 22 (Mon) 2:30 pm)

'If "movies that matter" really matter, what does it take for them to be change agents in our society? How do you get important issues like genocide, climate change, and the war out of the theatre and into national focus? Can an environment be created that encourages activism and connects film to the tools of change (lawmakers, grass-roots efforts, and popular culture)? Documentary filmmakers Sean Fine (War/Dance), Judith Helfand (Everything's Cool), and Rory Kennedy (Ghosts of Abu Ghraib) and journalist and author Eric Schlosser, Gayle Smith from the Center from American Progress, Brian Steidle, the subject of The Devil Came on Horseback, and Diane Weyermann of Participant Productions join moderator Helene Cooper from the New York Times for a thought-provoking look at the juncture between film and social change. Copresented by the Center for American Progress."

The above reviews, along with more info on the Festival can be found here.

FREE FILM

Kent State: The Day the War Came Home

Saturday, May 6, 7:00pm
Free Speech Zone, 2144 South Highland Drive
Info: 502-8556 or info@utahpeace.org; www.utahpeace.org

The Kent State shootings, also known as May 4 or the Kent State Massacre, occurred at Kent State University in the city of Kent, Ohio, and involved the shooting of students by the Ohio National Guard on Monday, May 4, 1970. The altercation killed four students and wounded nine others.

The shootings were the culmination of four days of increasingly agitated demonstrations by members of the student body. The students were protesting the American invasion of Cambodia which President Richard Nixon launched on April 25, and announced in a television address five days later.

There were major campus protests around the country with students occupying university buildings to organize and discuss the war and other issues.

This documentary film includes interview with students and National Guardsmen who were there.

Free Film, "Land and Liberty [Tierra y Libertad]", director Ken Loach's movie loosely based on George Orwell's "Homage to Catalonia", his account of his personal experiences in the Spanish civil war/revolution of the 1930's.

Wednesday, April 26, 7pm

Free Speech Zone, 2144 South Highland Dr, SLC

Free and open to the public, sponsored by the Salt Lake Industrial Workers of the World.

Info: ljames121@hotmail.com

Salt Lake Film Society schedule -- last chance to see some of the Oscar nominated films on the big screen

QUICK LOOK at SHOWTIMES -THIS WEEK Until March 16 BROADWAY CENTRE CINEMAS

Transamerica
1:05, 3:15, 5:25, 7:35, 9:45
Match Point
3:00, 9:45
Good Night and Good Luck
12:55, 5:30, 7:30
Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story
1:15, 3:15, 5:15, 7:15, 9:15
Crash
1:00, 4:00,7:10, 9:35
Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, The
1:20, 4:05, 7:00, 9:30
Brokeback Mountain
1:10, 4:10, 7:05, 9:50

TOWER THEATRE
Mon 3/13 - THU 3/16
Oscar Documentary Shorts 2005: 4:30, 7:00
Cache 9:30

NEXT WEEK
FRI 3/17 - THU 3/23
BROADWAY CENTRE CINEMAS


Transamerica
1:05, 3:15, 5:25, 7:35, 9:45
Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, The
1:20, 4:05, 7:00, 9:30
Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story
1:15, 3:15, 5:15, 7:15, 9:15
Match Point
1:00, 9:35
Crash
4:00,7:10
Why We Figh
1:00, 3:05, 5:10, 7:20, 9:25
Brokeback Mountain
1:10, 4:10, 7:05, 9:50

TOWER THEATRE
FRI 3/17 - SUN 3/19
Trudell: 2:30, 7:00, 9:30
Documentary Shorts: 4:30

Mon 3/20 - THU 3/23
Trudell: 7:00 *, 9:30
*no screening Monday Mar. 20 at 7pm
Documenary Shorts: 4:30

MIDNIGHT SHOW FRI 3/17 - SAT 3/18 GHOSTBUSTERS

( more film info )

Saturday, February 18

Paths of Glory (1957)
Stanley Kubrick, Director
stars Kirk Douglas




Paths of Glory was 28 year-old Stanley Kubrick's fourth feature-length film
Based upon the controversial, published, semi-fictional 1935 novel of the same name by Humphrey Cobb, this anti-war film emphasizes the wide, hierarchical gap between those who take orders and fight the wars in muddy trenches, and those that give the orders and are isolated from the real ravages of war. Three blameless, subordinate soldiers are victimized, given hopeless 'paths of glory,' and condemned to die to cover up the wrong-headed actions of their ruthless and opportunistic superiors.

Free Speech Zone
2144 South Highland Drive (1100 E), Suite 130
801-487-2295

Filmmaker Brad Lichtenstein will be in Salt Lake City Jan. 18 for a
screening of his documentary "Almost Home." The documentary will air on PBS's Independent Lens on Jan. 31.
The documentary was filmed inside a nursing home. Material about the film says it "rescues the real story of aging from an exile of denial." It centers on the bonds and divisions created by "disability and dementia, children torn between caring for their parents and caring for their children, nursing assistants doing unsavory work for poverty wages and a visionary nursing home director committed to transforming his century-old, hospital-like institution into a true home."
"Almost Home" will be screened at the City Library, 210 E. 400 South, Salt Lake City at 7 p.m. After the show, local aging experts will join Lichtenstein for a panel discussion.

I thought that you who are in or near to Provo and are fans of Joss Weeden would be interested in this info:

The movie Serenity, the film continuation of the TV show Firefly, is opening this Friday. But Dragon’s Keep (a local comic and gaming store) is hosting a showing on Thursday evening. Get to see it first!

Buy your tickets at Dragon’s Keep, located at 260 N University Ave in Provo!
The movie will be shown at the Provo Town Centre. The movie starts at 11:30 pm (arrive in time for seating).


X-Posted a few places

From the Salt Lake Film Center:

The Salt Lake City Film Center, University of Utah Ethnic Studies
Program, Department of Education, Culture and Society, Department of
History, Office of Diversity, and the City Library are pleased to
announce the new Spanish Language Film Series at the City Library.

Every first and third Monday of the month beginning September 19, 2005
(except holidays) there will be screenings of Spanish Language Films in
the City Library auditorium. In an effort to provide entertainment and
information to the Spanish-speaking community, we will be showing
family-oriented films, documentaries, and dramas. All of the screenings
are free and open to the public.

In addition, renowned guest scholars will engage the community through
lectures related to issues addressed in the films and how they impact
the Spanish-speaking community.

( The films )

For program details www.slcfilmcenter.org
All Programs are FREE and Open to the Public Unless Otherwise Noted


Aug 4, Thursday 7pm SMILE, TROLLEY REGENCY
SLCFILM/ADVANCE SCREENING
An American teen travels to China as part of a charitable organization
to meet a Chinese counterpart who receives surgery to correct a facial
deformity. Based on a true story of a life altering experience of the
director’s daughter SMILE pays homage to the non-profit OPERATION SMILE
and the work they do. This is a great film for families who worry about
the privileges of their children and value volunteerism and community
service. PG-13 Free with this email or subsequent one.

9, Tuesday –7PM– HELL FIRE JOURNEY FROM HIROSHIMA –SLCFILM CENTER BEST
OF THE WORLD SERIES
Remembering the 60th Anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki Atomic
Bomb Drops - City Library, 210 E 400 S
Haunted by memories of Hiroshima after the atomic blast, Iri and Toshi
Maruki began a series of monumental paintings depicting what they had
seen. More than ten million people around the world have viewed these
fifteen works, now known collectively as the Hiroshima Murals. With
engaging interviews and extended sequences of the Marukis painting,
HELLFIRE traces the development of these artists' profound vision. "We
paint dreadful scenes, cruel scenes, but I want to paint them with
kindness," says Toshi Maruki. Their message is one of hope in the
nuclear age, and a reminder of the power of art to render visible and
meaningful what still seems unimaginable. (Through the month on August,
there will also be a Hiroshima photo exhibit at the City County
Building)

August 10, Wednesday – 7PM – FRIDA - SLCFC/Mini-Festival, Series: The
Spanish Language Film Program –123 min
Our first film in a year-long bi-monthly Spanish Language program on
the 1st and 3rd Mondays of each month and in partnership with the
Hispanic American Festival – City Library, 210 E 400 South
Directed by Julie Taymor and starring Selma Hayek and Alfred Molina
"Frida" chronicles the life Frida Kahlo (Salma Hayek) shared
unflinchingly and openly with Diego Rivera (Alfred Molina). As a young
couple they took the art world by storm. From her complex and enduring
relationship with her mentor and husband to her illicit and
controversial affair with Leon Trotsky, to her provocative and romantic
entanglements with women, Frida Kahlo lived a bold and uncompromising
life as a political, artistic, and sexual revolutionary.

August 16, Tuesday – 7PM – HIDING AND SEEKING --SLC-KUED DIVERSE VOICES
MONTHLY SCREENING
HIDING AND SEEKING is a moving story of faith and tolerance after the
Holocaust.

Aug 18, Thursday, GATEWAY, 7pm –WES CRAVEN’s RED-EYE-
SLC FILMCENTER ADVANCE SCREENING
DreamWorks’s summer thriller, don’t come is you have a fear of flying!

Aug 22, Monday DEEP BLUE, BROADWAY
SLC FILM CENTER ADVANCED SCREENING– Directed by Andy Byatt & Alastair
Fothergill – PG – 83 min. SLCFC/Sneak Preview - Presented with the
Museum of Natural History. BBC Production, groundbreaking footage
This promises to be a superb treat. DEEP BLUE has been referred to as
the WINGED MIGRATIONS of the oceans.

August 24, Wednesday –SLC FILM CENTER ISLAM AND THE WEST/Mini fest– In
partnership with the American Muslim Cultural Festival – City Library –
5PM – THE COLOR OF PARADISE – PG – 90 min.
Directed by, Majid Majidi. Mohammad, a boy at Tehran's institute for
the blind, waits for his dad to pick him up for summer vacation. While
waiting, he realizes a baby bird has fallen from its nest: he chases
away a cat, finds the bird, climbs a tree, and puts it back. His father
finally comes and takes him to their village where his sisters and
granny await. The lad is a loving student of nature and longs for
village life with his family, but his father is ashamed of him, wanting
to farm the boy out to clear the way for marriage to a woman who knows
nothing of this son. Over granny's objections, dad apprentices Mohammad
far from home to a blind carpenter. Can anything bring father and son
together?
7PM – CHILDREN OF HEAVEN – PG – 89 min.
Winner of three main prizes at the 1997 Montreal World Film Festival
(including the audience award for most popular feature), this charming
film follows the adventures of eight-year-old Ali as he first attempts
to recover, then win, a pair of shoes for his younger sister Zahra.
Majid Majidi’s third feature deploys the standard, but effective
narrative device of putting plucky yet vulnerable children on a quest
more urgent than their years warrant.
August 27, Saturday – 2:30PM – THE MESSAGE – PG – 177 min.
City Library, 210 E 400 S – In partnership with the American Muslim
Cultural Festival
Islamic producer/director Moustapha Akkad made the classic, THE MESSAGE
(a.k.a. Mohammed: The Messenger of God) starring Anthony Quinn as a
labor of love so that the truth about Islam would finally be told
through film. Remaining within the strict teachings of Islam, Akkad
finds ways to tell the story of Mohammed without photographing the
prophet-founder or any of the central figures of the Faith, like Ali.
It works. And, Akkad's project received the approval and blessing of
Islamic officials. (The Lebanese film received approval in accuracy and
fidelity from the High Islamic Congress of the Shiat in Lebanon and
from the University of Al-Azhar in Cairo).

August 30, Tuesday – 7PM – GOING TO SCHOOL—SLCFC SERIES: HUMAN RIGHTS
VIDEO PROJECT
– City Library, 210 E 400 South
Before congress passed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
of 1975, millions of children received inadequate special education
services, and at least one million children were prevented from
attending public schools altogether. GOING TO SCHOOL details the effort
of the Los Angeles Unified school District to include students with
disabilities in the curriculum and provide them with the same
educational opportunities as other students.

Coming in August – Dates and Venues to be Announced
John Le Carre’s THE CONSTANT GARDENER – Rated R – 129 minutes -
SLCFC/Novel Film Series
Based on the best-selling John le Carré novel and from the Academy
Award-nominated director of "City of God." In a remote area of Northern
Kenya, activist Tessa Quayle (Rachel Weisz) is found brutally murdered.
Tessa's companion, a doctor, appears to have fled the scene, and the
evidence points to a crime of passion. Members of the British High
Commission in Nairobi assume that Tessa's widower, their mild-mannered
and un-ambitious colleague Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes), will leave
the matter to them. They could not be more wrong. Haunted by remorse
and jarred by rumors of his late wife's infidelities, Quayle surprises
everyone by embarking on a personal odyssey that will take him across
three continents. Using his privileged access to diplomatic secrets, he
will risk his own life, stopping at nothing to uncover and expose the
truth - a conspiracy more far-reaching and deadly than Quayle could
ever have imagined.

YES – SLCFC/ARTISTIC RESIDENCY with Sally Potter – Rated R -100 minutes
– Special premiere screening and Potter Retrospective
YES: She (Joan Allen), an Irish-American scientist, is being strangled
by her marriage with Anthony. She begins an affair with He (Simon
Abkarian), a Lebanese surgeon exiled in London. Their passion is the
start of a personal journey through several countries, but also forces
them to evaluate their beliefs and each other.

From the Salt Lake Film Society

Looking for dedicated volunteers to fill specific shifts twice monthly
(no experience necessary) and to fill a volunteer grant writing
position
(this position must have experience). These shifts will be approx. 2
hours in length and it's a great way to be involved with everything
that
is going on here at SLFS. Earn free movie tickets or mileage
reimbursement while working. Plus, every SLFS volunteer is considered a
team member and is included in staff benefits such as discount or free
admission to special events.

( more info )

www.saltlakefilmsociety.org

Did you miss the Utah homegrown documentary, "This Divided State" (the award winning film about the controversy of Michael Moore's visit to UVSC last year) last time it played? Looks like you'll get another chance to see it this weekend at the Tower. It will also play in Bicknell, Utah (see tentative schedule below.

From Minority Films:

My name is Bryan Young, I'm with the documentary film This Divided
State. I'm contacting local groups to let them know about our film at
that it is showing in a very limited engagement this weekend at the
Tower Theatre. I've appended our press release and list of tentative
theatres and dates below.

We beleive this movie is very important, especially to the local
activist community. If there is anything you guys might be able to do
to pass this information along, I'm sure you won't regret it.

Thanks
Bryan Young
info@thisdividedstate.com
www.thisdividedstate.com


Provo, UT – Minority Films made an official
announcement this week that their award winning
documentary film, This Divided State, has been slated
for a national DVD release and a limited theatrical
run. The film, which centers around the controversy
that ensued after a small college in the center of the
most conservative state in the nation invited liberal
filmmaker Michael Moore to speak on campus two weeks
before the 2004 presidential election, will premiere
theatrically at the historic Tower Theatre in Salt
Lake City, Utah on July 22nd. Other theatrical
screenings have been scheduled across the country,
including engagements in San Francisco, California and
Portland, Oregon.
The DVD of the film, which is being released by
Disinformation, will be available on the films website
and in other markets across the country September
27th. The distribution company, Disinformation,
gained national acclaim last year with their release
of Robert Greenwald's documentary Outfoxed, an expose
of the conservative bias of the Fox News Channel.
This Divided State gained national notoriety after
Campus Progress, an offshoot of the Washington, D.C.
based Center for American Progress, sponsored a coast
to coast college tour which garnered attention from
such respected media outlets as The Washington Post
and National Public Radio. Right on the heels of its
whirlwind tour, the film was programmed at the 2005
Santa Cruz Film Festival, where it walked away with
the Audience Award for Best Documentary. This Divided
State has been hailed by audiences on both sides of
the political spectrum as a successfully balanced
documentary on the hot-button subject of the cultural
divide in the nation. One reviewer from the Yale
Daily News went so far as to say that This Divided
State was "…more important than anything Michael Moore
has made to date."
People who wish to see the movie in their local
theatres are encouraged to visit the films official
website (www.thisdividedstate.com) to check a growing
list of theatres playing the film as well as stores
that will be carrying the DVD.


# # #


Tentative Theatre Dates:

The Tower Theatre, Salt Lake City, UT 7/22/05
The Victoria Theater, San Francisco, CA 8/4/05
The Quad Theater, New York City, 8/19/05
The Grand Illusion, Seattle, WA, 8/19/05
Abbey Theatre, Durango, CO 9/9/2005
The Lamphouse, Twin Falls, ID 9/9/05
Wayne Theatre, Bicknell, UT TBA
Hollywood Theatre, Portland, OR TBA
New Strand Theatre, West Liberty, IA TBA

More theatres are added to the list every day. Please
check the website for a complete list.
www.thisdividedstate.com

Join us for Patriot Days of Action! in Solidarity with the Bill of
Rights Defense committee

http://bordc.org/involved/weekofaction.php

We are showing the following films on Friday July 1st and Friday July
8th

Free Film
Friday, July 1 ~ 7:30pm
Free Speech Zone 2144 Highland Drive, Suite 130
You might think you already know how bad the Bush administration is.
But
it's not just the money. It's not just the oil. It's much, much worse.
A Patriot Act is a chilling indictment of their stealth movement to
subvert
the US Constitution and replace American democracy with religious
values.
Featuring renowned media critic Mark Crispin Miller - author of The
Bush
Dyslexicon and Cruel & Unusual: Bush/Cheney's New World Order.
Organized by the Green Party of Utah
Information: 502-8556 or www.gput.org

FREE FILM: UNCONSTITTUTIONAL"
Educational Event
Friday, July 8, 2005
7:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

2144 SOUTH HIGHLAND DRIVE
SALT LAKE CITY, UT
www.gput.org/films.shtml
Get the real story behind the USA PATRIOT Act and other administration
policies and the gut wrenching stories behind those affected--from
law-abiding store clerks to United States Olympians unable to travel.
It'll remind you of what America used to stand for and what it seems
we're falling for now. In short, this one-hour film will affirm why
you're angry and give you a tool to help others join your ranks.
Brought
to you by the same producer of the films, Unprecedented: The 2000
Presidential Election and Uncovered: The War on Iraq, the film
Unconstitutional, The War on Our Civil Liberties provides the facts and
stories that illuminate administration lies, wrongheaded policies, and
the real victims of these actions--the American people.


Happy 4th!

From Salt Lake Film Center:

7PM - Tuesday, June 28 - City Library - 210 E 400 S

3rd ANNUAL MEDIA THAT MATTERS FILM FESTIVAL
Free and Open to the Public

Dear Salt Lake Cine Lovers,
Next Tuesday our monthly Human Rights Series presented with the City
Library brings you a Film Festival in one sitting — a vibrant selection
of short films on globalization, criminal justice, civil liberties and
other topics. The evening includes:

AS WE SLEEP - Directed by Elizabeth McDonald.
8 minutes, documentary, winner of the Public Health Award.
In 2000, 72 percent of Americans in living-assistance facilities were
sexually abused. As We Sleep tells the story of Marcie and the tragic
offense she suffered at the hands of a trusted caregiver.

COPWATCH - Produced by Guerrilla News Network.
8 minutes, documentary, winner of the Media Activism Award.
Fed up with police brutality, the organization Copwatch decided to keep
an eye on the authorities. This film shows how peaceful observation of
police behavior can change the relationship between a neighborhood and
its police force.

ESMERALDAS: PETROLEUM AND POVERTY - Directed by Josh Holst.
9 minutes, documentary, winner of the International Human Rights Award,
sponsored by Free Speech TV.
For anyone who has gone numb to the effects of industrial pollution,
Esmeraldas will be a startling wake up call. The film documents the
intense human suffering that plagued an Afro-Ecuadorian community after
a Texaco oil refinery exploded.

HOLLA BACK DUBAI! - Produced by Global Action Project.
8 minutes, video dialogue, winner of the Youth Media Award Sponsored by
Sundance Channel.
Kids from the United Arab Emirates "holla back" to a class of
sixth-graders in Washington Heights, New York in this touching video
letter exchange. Direct and honest, the children on both sides of the
dialogue show that a stereotype is no match for a smile.

HOW TO MAKE A BIRD - Directed by Juan Carlos Zaldívar.
32 seconds, public service announcement, winner of the Wildlife
Preservation Award.
What happens when a woman tries to turn herself into a bird? Not much.
This short video shows how all the feathers in the world can’t bring
back an extinct species.

IS MY NEIGHBOR LATINO? - Directed and produced by Jorge Aguirre,
co-produced by Michael Grabowski. 1 minute, satire, winner of the
Diversity Award.
This news-brief spoof seeks to answer the question "How do I know if my
neighbor is Latino?" Irreverent, funny and high-spirited, Is My
Neighbor Latino pokes fun at preconceptions and shows us that there is
no one type of Latino in a country with rapidly shifting demographics.

LUV ME LATEX - Produced by Frame by Frame Fierce.
1.5 minutes, public service announcement, winner of the Safe Sex Award.
Two 'unprotected' men in love and a gang of healthy T-Cells face off
against the diabolical HIV virus. This clever, animated short makes the
case for condoms in a fresh and funny way

NO ESCAPE, PRISON RAPE - Executive Producer, Gabriel Films; directed by
Gabriel London. 7 minutes, winner of the Criminal Justice Award
Sponsored by the Open Society Institute.
When 14 year old Rodney Hulin set fire to a trash can he never imagined
he would end up in an adult prison, serially raped, and brutally
beaten. This disturbing film documents a young man's attempt to let the
outside world know that his punishment did not fit his crime.

REBEL - Produced by the Lower East Side Girls Club. 8 minutes, music
video, winner of the gURL LOOKS BOOK Award; sponsored by gURL.com and
the Penguin Group.
In this body-positive youth-produced film, the young women of the Lower
East Side Girls Club take to the streets in celebration of their
individuality and strength.

STORM - Directed by Thomas Brown. 8 minutes, narrative, winner of the
Peace in Our Classrooms Award in Honor of the Work of Peter Yarrow,
sponsored by Frank Marshall.
For thousands of children, school bullying is a serious problem that
damages their hearts and their minds. The beleaguered hero of Storm
finds himself without allies as he struggles to stave off an onslaught
of classroom abuse.

WE WERE HUMANS - Produced by Allysson Lucca.
Animation, winner of the New Media Award Sponsored by Paola Freccero.
This multimedia animation asks what would happen if the billions of
dollars of military spending were redirected towards education and
world hunger.

VISION TEST - Directed by Wes Kim
6 minutes, winner of the Jury Award Sponsored by Sony.
Who would you feel most comfortable with as CEO of a Fortune 500
company? What begins as a routine eye exam turns into an examination of
subconscious attitudes towards race, gender and power.
________________________
Volunteers are needed for this event. If you are available, please
email
info@slcfilmcenter.org or call Alexi Buhler or Naomi Lee at 746-7000

For more program information, www.slcfilmcenter.org