Persistence of Vision

If you are, come see Indoctrinate U! Evan Coyne Maloney's funny and thought-provoking exploration of individual rights on campus will be showing on March 5 at Drexel University's Mitchell Auditorium. Hosted by the Student Liberty Front, the screening is free and open to the public.

Right.org is sponsoring an anti-bailout video contest, with a grand prize of $27,599, or the equivalent of one American's bailout burden. Submissions should be 30 seconds in length--and should make viewers laugh, cry, learn, or all three. Deadline for submission is May 25--and all guidelines are here.

If you haven't seen MPI's latest Moving Minute yet, watch it now. It's our most popular one yet, drawing over 12,000 views and attracting links from Instapundit, Volokh.com, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and many others. Thanks everyone!!

Indoctrinate U director Evan Coyne Maloney appeared on CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight last week--and earned rave reviews from Dobbs. Check out the segment above -- and be sure to see the film if you haven't already. It's showing at Manhattan's Village East Cinema on March 24 as part of the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival, and has been airing on the Documentary Channel all winter. Plus, it's still going strong on campuses across the country. On March 19, it will be at Georgetown; on March 23, it will show at Dalton State College in Georgia; and on April 16 it will be at UC San Diego for its second annual run.

Contact us if you would like to arrange a campus screening. Or just order the film on your own from Indoctrinate-U.com. And watch our Events Page for the latest news on screenings.

Tomorrow night kicks off the first annual Venezuelan Liberty Film Festival, to be held in Caracas--and to feature two inspiring and timeless MPI films, Freedom's Fury and The Singing Revolution. Co-produced by MPI founder Thor Halvorssen, these films have been dubbed into Spanish through a partnership between MPI and the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), which Halvorssen founded and runs. Freedom's Fury tells the story of the bloody and intense water polo match between Hungary and the Soviet Union at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics; The Singing Revolution recounts how Estonia liberated itself from Soviet rule through a peaceful revolution anchored in song.

Co-sponsored by the Chacao Cultural Center, the Asociacion Civil Unidad Nacional (National Unity Civic Association), and HRF, the three-day event aims to inspire, educate, and encourage discussion about human freedom.

On Wednesday, March 18, the America's Future Foundation will be hosting a roundtable discussion entitled Liberty on the Big Screen. MPI fellow and 2081 director Chandler Tuttle will be joined by Duncan Scott (Duncan Scott Productions), Maura Flynn (documentary producer, publicist, and board member at American Film Renaissance), Michael Pack (Manifold Productions) and Tanja Stumberger (research associate at the Cato Institute).

The panelists will discuss recent movies that promote the values of freedom, and assess how the 2009 Oscar nominations stack up against free market values.

If you are in Washington, don't miss it. The event will take place at the Fund for American Studies (1706 New Hampshire Ave NW). Drinks are at 6:30, discussion at 7:00 pm. Roundtables are free for AFF members and $5 for non-members. RSVP to cindy@americasfuture.org.

MPI fellows Nick Tucker and Lucas Abel have teamed up with the Pacific Research Institute's Lance Izumi to make an excellent short film on why vouchers are necessary -- and on what President Obama should learn from Sweden. Kudos to the New York Times for running it on the opinion page.

Don't miss the new documentary, Brothers at War. A riveting documentary from newcomer Jake Rademacher, the movie follows four combat units in Iraq in order to understand the experience, sacrifice, and motivation of Rademacher's two brothers. Embedded with active units, Rademacher risks everything - including his life - to tell his brothers' story.

Roger Ebert writes that "This is not a war film. It is a life film. ... What you hear is guarded optimism, pride in the work, loyalty to the service. This is deep patriotism. It involves risking your life for your country out of a sense of duty."

Brothers at War is opening across the country in the coming days. On March 20, it will open in Akron, Ohio, at the Regal Interstate Park 18 - Regal Cinemas. On March 27, it will open at:
* Augusta, GA (near Fort Gordon, US Army)
* Shreveport, LA (near Barksdale AFB, US Air Force), Cinemark Tinseltown 17
* Clarksville, TN (near Fort Campbell, US Army), Carmike Governor's Square 10 - Carmike
* Hampton, VA (near Langley AFB, US Air Force), AMC Hampton Towne Center 24 - AMC
* Newport News, VA (near Fort Eustis, US Army), AMC Kiln Creek 20 - AMC
* Killeen, TX (near Fort Hood), Hollywood Stadium 14 - Hollywood Theater
* San Antonio, TX, Bijou at the Crossroads, Santikos
* Cleveland Heights, OH (Ohio National Guard), Cedar Lee Cinema
* Dayton, OH (near Wright-Patterson AFB, US Air Force), Regal Hollywood 20-Fairfield Commons - Regal Cinemas
* Decatur, IL, Carmike Hickory Pointe 12 - Carmike
* Oceanside, CA (near Camp Pendleton), Regal Oceanside 16
* Monterey, CA (near Presidio of Monterrey, DOD), Osio Cinema

Brothers at War will also be coming soon to Savannah, GA; Tacoma, WA; and Norfolk, VA.

Kudos to MPI fellow Ben Lewis, whose Hammer & Tickle aired this week on BBC Two. The channel reaches every home in the United Kingdom.

MPI founder Thor Halvorssen also founded--and now runs--the New York-based Human Rights Foundation. HRF works tirelessly on behalf of freedom, with a particular emphasis on defending and securing foundational rights for people living in Latin America. But the mission and the message are global--hence the Oslo Freedom Forum, to be held in Norway from May 18 - 20. Speakers will include a host of former political prisoners, whose stories of determination will anchor the conference's celebration of essential human rights. They are: Elena Bonner, Vladimir Bukovsky, Palden Gyatso, Kang Chol-Hwan, Armando Valladares, Ramon Jose Velasquez, Harry Wu, and Leyla Zana. FInd out more about them--and the conference--at OsloFreedomForum.org.

For years there has been growing uproar about the Brooklyn-based Atlantic Yards project, a massive development initiative in which local government and a private developer are using eminent domain to seize homes and businesses--and so facilitate what locals and critics describe as a greedy land grab that violates the property rights of those who live and work on the site. There have been protests and lawsuits. And, now that the economy is taking a nosedive, the project--which has torn down buildings and has begun to erect new ones--may simply cease. Just last week, architect Frank Gehry said in an interview that he didn't think the project would be completed. And this week, the spin is on to neutralize the damaging impact of his statement.

The entire saga is a riveting and remarkable instance of community activism, corporate hubris, and governmental rudderlessness when it comes to grasping and respecting the law of the land. And, thanks to MPI fellows Michael Galinksky and Suki Hawley, it will soon be a feature film. Check out the trailer for The Battle of Brooklyn, and please consider making a contribution to this timely and important film.

You might remember April 9 as the anniversary of the day back in 2003 when U.S. troops arrived in Baghdad--and when you probably spent time in front of the television, watching them pull down that huge statue of Saddam Hussein. But there's another reason--also associated with freedom--to take note of the date. If you live in Los Angeles or Orange County, April 9 is the day you should tune into PBS to watch The Singing Revolution. It will run on KOCE at 7 p.m. This is the U.S. television premiere of this spectacular film. Be there--and be ready for a profoundly moving story of how tiny Estonia liberated itself from Soviet tyranny through the peaceful power of song.