Washington Post front page story: MPI filmmakers facing Chinese cyberattacks

Last week, the Washington Post ran a front page story on the MPI film State of Control. The article says that while filming the documentary in Tibet–and even back home in the U.S.–the filmmakers have been under Chinese surveillance. Their computers have been hacked, spied-on, and even cleaned out.

Despite the Chinese government denying its involvement, State of Control filmmakers Christian Johnston and Darren Mann believe the evidence is too strong to indicate otherwise.

The Washington Post notes:

Once the filmmakers got to the Tibetan region, their laptop was hacked, its operating system wiped out and a related Web site in Los Angeles deluged with so much traffic that it crashed.

The cyberattacks on the team led by filmmakers Christian Johnston and Darren Mann started nearly five years ago and continued for so long that they delayed completion of the documentary about Tibet, “State of Control.”

The filmmakers are convinced that the Chinese government is behind the attacks, but the evidence is circumstantial. The Chinese government has a history of hacking into the computers of human rights activists. Some of the intrusions have been traced to computers in China. And Beijing routinely tries to quash dissent in Tibet and keep the grievances of the region’s ethnic minority from reaching the outside world.

As attention focuses on Chinese theft of business secrets, experts warn that another area deserving scrutiny is the Chinese authorities’ use of cyber-tactics to suppress free speech. Chinese cyberspies have been accused of hacking into the computers of Tibetan activists and human rights groups, as well as major U.S. financial institutions, law firms and news organizations, including The Washington Post.

“The Chinese military is involved in hacking for intimidation, absolutely,” said Greg Walton, an independent cybersecurity researcher in India who has documented surveillance of dissidents’ networks by the Chinese. “There’s an accepted body of evidence to show that the People’s Liberation Army are engaged in this activity.”

The experience of the U.S. filmmakers and their crew does not constitute the kind of large-scale cyberattack that prompts headlines or congressional hearings. But it does illustrate the persistence of cyber-harassment.

Johnston, 39, said he was troubled by the disruption of the film. “The disturbing part,” he said in an interview, “is watching China’s impunity to monitor and be intrusive, not only with our own little film project, but with human rights activists in America all the way up to major Western media.”

Read the full article here, and visit MovingPictureInstitute.org to watch the trailer and learn more about State of Control.

Recommended: How To Die in Oregon

In the U.S., personal freedom has always been a matter of life and death. That fact is, perhaps, most profoundly expressed in the rights we have — and don’t have — when it comes to life and death themselves. We argue about whether a fetus has a right to life — and whether the woman who carries it can choose to abort it. We argue about whether criminals can forfeit their right to life — and whether the state has the right to kill them. We argue about guns, drugs, health care, and a host of related issues — and the debate is always centered around deciding where the line is between the individual’s right to be self-determining, and the state’s right to limit individual behavior so as to protect the greater good.

Whatever your position in these debates, we should all be able to agree that the quarreling itself is a sign that, as a society, we treasure our liberty, we believe in the rule of law, and we recognize the difficulty of empowering any entity — particularly the government — to make decisions about whether someone else lives or dies.

But something is missing from all the chatter. We can’t stop talking about all the rights that come with life. But we are comparatively silent on the rights that come — or ought to come — with dying and death. Surely part of being free is the right to choose the time and manner of our death, particularly if we are terminally ill. We don’t have to avail ourselves of that right — but surely it follows, if we believe we all have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,  that we should have a say in how we exit the world.

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Ted Turner’s son: CNN is ‘pretty much to the left’

Teddy Turner admits that he has a hard time watching his father’s programming most of the time.

Listen below:

Why storytelling matters — in film and in politics

Good storytelling matters in film. Most filmmakers will tell you that you can’t have a great film without the ability to tell a good story. It’s an art in itself.

But an effective political strategist or activist will tell you that good storytelling is also very important in conveying ideas. You simply aren’t going to get anyone’s attention by offering musings, listing statistics, or even throwing out hard core facts. A great story effectively communicates why your ideas, statistics, and facts matter.

Which is why film is such a powerful tool, particularly in politics. Film gives shape to those abstract principles that make up a ideological platform. It brings ideas to life. And thought-provoking films — films with great stories — undoubtedly permeate our culture. They have a lasting effect on how we view the world around us.

The late Andrew Breitbart understood this better than anyone. At this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), a panel of Hollywood affiliates echoed Breitbart’s sentiments about culture’s role in politics.

Big Hollywood notes:

Andrew’s message that culture is upstream from politics could be heard loud and clear Friday during a panel of Hollywood heavy hitters who implored to directly engage the entertainment industry.

John Sullivan, director of 2016: Obama’s America, told the crowd the biggest deficit conservatives face today isn’t at the ballot box. The “cultural deficit” remains staggering, Sullivan said, estimating about $4 billion is being spent “working against conservative values” when one considers the total money spent on movies and television product.

[...]

Andrew Marcus, the director of Hating Breitbart, clearly took away some lessons while following Andrew around with a camera for the two-plus years it took Marcus to shoot his award-winning documentary.

“If you win the political argument you’ve still lost the culture if you haven’t fought the culture fight first,” Marcus said.

Panel participants, including Oscar-winner Gerald Molen (Schindler’s List), producer Mark Joseph (Reagan) and pollster Pat Caddell, sounded an optimistic theme that America is more than ready for patriotic themes to enliven good, old fashioned storytelling. Conservatives must not only pick up cameras and start telling solid stories, though, but those holding the financial cards must do their part, too.

“Donors … don’t give another dollar until you give one back on entertainment,” Sullivan said.

Meet MPI fellows Bert Klein and Jennifer Cardon Klein

MPI fellows Bert Klein and Jennifer Cardon Klein

MPI fellows Bert Klein and Jennifer Cardon Klein are co-directors of Pups of Liberty, an award-winning short film about the Boston Tea Party that seeks to attract young children to the study of American history. With MPI support, the Kleins recently released a classroom-ready version of the film that includes teacher discussion guides, worksheets, and lesson plans. Thousands of teachers have already ordered Pups of Liberty, ensuring that it will reach millions of kids over the coming years. In addition, the Kleins are exploring ways to bring Pups to a wider audience through a 60-minute television special or even a feature film.

Jennifer’s studio experience includes animation work on such films as The Iron Giant, The Emperor’s New Groove, The Road to El Dorado, Where the Wild Things Are, and Curious George. She co-produced the award-winning short The Chestnut Tree, produced the award-winning feature-length documentary Candyman: The David Klein Story, and is working on another feature documentary about legendary puppeteer Bob Baker and his marionette theater. Bert has worked on such notable films as The Lion King, The Lord of the Rings, The Simpsons Movie, The Princess and the Frog, Winnie the Pooh, and Wreck-It Ralph. He has taught animation at the California Institute of the Arts and his work has been nominated for three prestigious Annie Awards for Best Short by ASIFA (Association Internationale du Film d’Animation) Hollywood.

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You’ve had great success in your filmmaking career. How did you get your start?

We both attended an animation course where we made films each year. Every time we made a new film, we learned a new skill — animating, writing, the importance of clear communication. We really enjoy the short film format, so even after we both started working professionally as animators for major studios we continued to make films on our own.

What was it like transitioning from major studio work to independent films like Pups of Liberty?

In a major studio you are performing a specific job as part of a larger machine to make a movie. That can be a great experience. At Hollywood studios, we had the opportunity to be mentored by some of the best artists in the world, and the artistic level that they aspire to is amazingly high.

When we are making our own films, we can focus on messages and content that we feel is important and vital to what is going on in the world, whereas a studio has an agenda to make a certain product. In an independent film, we can say what we feel should be said and have fun with the art. Another aspect we enjoy is being able to do many different jobs — not only animating but directing, editing, painting backgrounds, and so on. As artists, it is very invigorating.

Where did you get the idea for Pups of Liberty?

We were living overseas and realizing that the freedoms we were accustomed to were not enjoyed worldwide. It sparked the idea to make a film that could explain to young kids what our liberties mean and how we came to have them. We want them to learn at an early age how special our national history is.

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Honor Flight Wins at Richmond Film Fest; Limited edition DVD now available!

MPI fellows Clay Broga and Dan Hayes‘ film Honor Flight wins the Best Documentary and Audience Choice awards at the 2013 Richmond International Film Festival!

The Honor Flight limited edition DVD is now available — but only until March 10 ! Get your copy now at HonorFlightTheMovie.com/DVD, and watch the trailer below.

She’s (Not) Leaving Home: HBO’s Girls and America’s skills crisis

Lena Dunham’s hit series Girls, currently in its second season on HBO, is a wryly observed comedic drama centered on four 20-something women as they struggle to establish themselves professionally and romantically in present-day New York. With its abundant scenes of nudity, casual sex, and drug use, Girls comes across as an unashamedly liberal show about young millennials embracing a hedonistic world where “anything goes.” But so astute and sharp is the quality of Dunham’s observation that she cannot avoid intimating a withering critique of the world she depicts — one that has more in common, perhaps, with right-of-center social commentary than otherwise.

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CLIP: MPI’s Adam Guillette on Fox News Sunday

Indoctrinate U increasingly relevant

MPI’s Indoctrinate U premiered in 2007, and since then has been screened thousands of times at hundreds of college campuses across the country. Six years after its release, student groups are still requesting the film — and expressing how much the film’s message resonates with them.

Indoctrinate U takes a humorous look at the state of free speech and free thought on American campuses, revealing a national campus culture in which speech codes rule the day and First Amendment rights are not necessarily afforded to all.

In a recent article in the Daily Nebraskan, one graduate student talks about how this culture is not only well established, but increasingly getting worse:

“What is happening on our campuses in the name of progress and social engineering is the enemy of liberty and it’s also the enemy of American progress,” Alan Kors, the founder of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) said, in a documentary by Penn Jillette and Teller.

Unfortunately, and somewhat astonishingly, most institutions of higher education in the nation suffer from bureaucracy that limits self-expression, freedom of speech and ideas in the name of “tolerance” and “diversity.”

“These absurdities upon absurdities are teaching people that not just common sense, but any semblance of freedom of expression is to be sacrificed on this alter of ‘do not offend,’” Kors says.

For example, Harvard University, obviously regarded as one of the top institutions in the world, has multiple policies that seem acceptable on its face, but could violate the First Amendment on further inspection.

“Behavior evidently intended to dishonor such characteristics as race, gender, ethnic group, religious belief, or sexual orientation is contrary to the pursuit of inquiry and education,” reads Harvard’s “Free Speech Guidelines.” Similarly, its “Handbook for Students” continues: “The ability to express one’s views regarding religion is a significant freedom of speech that the College upholds. In some instances, this type of expression becomes an avenue for persuasion to affiliate with a particular religion. Discussion in this vein is prohibited when the educational and work environment of an individual or the community is jeopardized.”

For example, if someone whose moral beliefs conflicted with the concept of gay marriage, that person is permitted by the First Amendment to counter-protest a LGBT rally. This action would violate a policy similar to Harvard’s, however, and perpetrators could face repercussions from the university, all for simply expressing their opinions.

While undoubtedly well-intentioned, the guidelines Harvard sets forth are both unconstitutional and subjective under the First Amendment, which protects the unabridged freedom of speech. Similar policies plague 62 percent of the 409 campuses examined by FIRE, and many others’ were questionable.

Read more at DailyNebraksan.com.

Write to us at MPI and sign up for a FREE screening of Indoctrinate U on your campus! We’ll send you a DVD and some other materials to set up a great screening night for your student group. Email Stacie at Stacie[at]theMPI[dot]org.

Announcing the Winners of MPI’s 2013 Liberty in Film Awards!

  • Best screening on a Jumbotron: Honor Flight. Honor Flight set a new a Guinness World Record for the largest film screening of all time when the filmmakers packed Miller Park baseball stadium with 28,442 viewers.
  • Best explanation of what makes charity possible: The Dark Knight Rises. When Bruce Wayne asks Alfred why the Wayne Family Foundation is no longer contributing to the boys’ home, Alfred explains that contributions are made possible by the profits of their company.  ”No profits, no charity.”
  • Best adaptation of an impossible-to-adapt book: Atlas Shrugged: Part II. The rare sequel that improves upon its predecessor, Atlas Shrugged: Part II does an incredible job of showing both the terrible destruction of big government and the incredible power of the individual.
  • The DVD you need to rent TODAY: Won’t Back Down. Overlooked by some filmgoers, this powerful school choice story angered unions almost as much as it motivated audiences.
  • Best one-liner with a Sudanese diplomat: U.N. Me. When filmmaker Ami Horowitz asks a Sudanese diplomat what caused all the deaths in his country, the man tells him — with a straight face — that they were caused by global warming, rather than by genocide.  Horowitz then asks if the solution to the death in Sudan is…more hybrid cars!
  • Best performance as a publicist for Arab Oil: Matt Damon in Promised Land. Damon’s anti-fracking film was funded by the government of Abu Dhabi.
  • Best one-dimensional portrayal of wealth and poverty: Titanic 3D. Nearly every wealthy person in the film is one-dimensionally greedy, self-absorbed, and evil, and every poor person is kind-hearted and well-intentioned.
  • Best waste of a good idea: Red Dawn. For fear of offending the Chinese government (and losing the Chinese box office) the filmmakers used CGI to replace China with North Korea as the villain in this disappointing remake.
  • Best propaganda piece for toddlers: The Lorax. The writers of this film turned Dr. Suess’ story about conservation into blatant anti-capitalist propaganda aimed at children.
  • Fan Favorite: The Hunger Games. MPI supporters demanded an award for this dystopian tale of an evil centralized government that forces its teenaged citizens to kill each other for sport.