Reply #1: FREEDOM CINEMA FESTIVAL HONORS DANNY SCHECHTER

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FREEDOM CINEMA FESTIVAL HONORS DANNY SCHECHTER
Written by Administrator

Thursday, 06 January 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Cinema Libre
Contact: Lauri Blue, [phone]

FREEDOM CINEMA FESTIVAL HONORS DANNY SCHECHTER "THE NEWS DISSECTOR"
Retrospective of Media Critic's Films to Accompany Screening of latest movie - WMD Screening slated for Park City Utah on January 27, 2005

Known by fans as "Danny Schechter, the News Dissector," he has produced TV series, specials and directed 15 independent films on a wide range of subjects. Those films are the subject of a tribute and retrospective at the 2005 Freedom Cinema Festival to be held concurrently with the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, from Jan. 25 through Jan. 30.

The Freedom Cinema Festival will also screen Schechter's most recent award-winning film "WMD: Weapons of Mass Deception," a no holds barred take on the media coverage of the war in Iraq. "WMD" is in current release from Cinema Libre Distribution.

One of the top alternative and truly independent festivals during this annual convergence of arts, media and commerce, Freedom Cinema Festival provides a unique forum for leading socially conscious artists addressing socially and politically relevant issues of the day.

-----------------------------------------
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Cinema Libre
Contact: Lauri Blue, [phone]

FREEDOM CINEMA FESTIVAL HONORS DANNY SCHECHTER "THE NEWS DISSECTOR"
Retrospective of Media Critic's Films to Accompany Screening of latest movie - WMD Screening slated for Park City Utah on January 27, 2005

Danny Schechter has had many media incarnations. His resume includes work as an investigative reporter in print, a radio news director at Boston's pioneering WBCN, a local on-air TV reporter, Emmy Award-winning TV producer at CNN and ABC, co-founder of the indy media company Globalvision and the author of six books on media issues. He is the "blogger-in-chief" at MediaChannel.org, the world's largest media issue network, where he serves as Executive Editor.

And he is also a filmmaker.

Known by fans as "Danny Schechter, the News Dissector," he has produced TV series, specials and directed 15 independent films on a wide range of subjects. Those films are the subject of a tribute and retrospective at the 2005 Freedom Cinema Festival to be held concurrently with the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, from Jan. 25 through Jan. 30.

The Freedom Cinema Festival will also screen Schechter's most recent award-winning film "WMD: Weapons of Mass Deception," a no holds barred take on the media coverage of the war in Iraq. "WMD" is in current release from Cinema Libre Distribution.

One of the top alternative and truly independent festivals during this annual convergence of arts, media and commerce, Freedom Cinema Festival provides a unique forum for leading socially conscious artists addressing socially and politically relevant issues of the day.

The 2005 Freedom Cinema Festival will show excerpts from Danny Schechter's films beginning with his first, "Student Power," made in 1968 with support from the British Film Institute, about the protests at the London School of Economics and screened in the London Film Festival that year. It will also include clips from: three of the five films he made with (and about) South Africa's Nelson Mandela; "Beyond JFK," co-directed with Academy Award-winning documentarian Barbara Kopple on the issues raised in Oliver Stone's controversial film on the Kennedy Assassination; socially responsible music projects including "The Making of Sun City, "The Making of Give Peace a Chance" and "The Making and Meaning of We Are Family," a post 9-11 film screened at Sundance in 2002.

Schechter, co-producer of the public television human rights series "South Africa Now" and "Rights and Wrongs" will also showcase films on human rights in Africa, China and Bosnia. A clip to be shown from a Canadian TV news interview calls Schechter a media revolutionary and includes part of a confrontation he had in the past with media mogul Rupert Murdoch at the United Nations.

"We at Globalvision are thrilled that my partner Danny Schechter is being honored for his important contribution to independent film and social change," says Rory O'Connor, president of Globalvision. "His track record of excellence offers unflinching perspectives on the times we live in."

Freedom Cinema Festival will be headquartered on the second floor of the Main Street Mall, 333 Main Street (directly across the street from the Egyptian
Theater) in Park City. This central location houses the box office, screenings, bookstore, Fairtrade Cafe, music lounge and their offices.

The 2005 Freedom Cinema Festival selected over 64 films submitted from filmmakers around the world.

''Freedom Cinema Festival is at the center of the new political cinema movement, bringing together the leaders of the activist arts and media including cinema, music, comedy, graphic arts and journalism, creating a meeting place for this work, giving the industry a way to access the artists and their work directly.''

For more information about Danny Schechter's WMD, visit www.wmdthefilm.com. The website includes reviews and a recent New York Times profile on Schechter's work. Danny can be reached at [email protected], [phone], ext. 3006

Contact Lauri Blue to set up interviews with Danny at Park City, Utah. [phone]

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For tickets and information call [phone], or visit
www.freedomcinemafestival.org. This event is co-sponsored by Mother Jones Magazine, ACLU and SpeakOutNow.org.