Persistence of Vision

Indoctrinate U is a campus classic that really hits home--which is why students across the country continue to organize screenings at their schools. Coming October 13: a free public screening at Seton Hall University, at 8 p.m. in the Nursing Ampitheater. Be there!

Tomorrow, opponents of the Atlantic Yards project will make their case in court. Intrepid MPI fellows Michael Galinsky and Suki Hawley will be covering events. Meanwhile, Galinsky took a moment to talk about The Battle of Brooklyn with Nets Are Scorching.

Excerpt:

Our film is a character-driven, verite documentary that mostly follows a few of the people fighting the project, so we'll want to get their take on the situation. The idea of a verite documentary film gets confusing because most people are used to Michael Moore or old school PBS docs. We aren't journalists and we're not activists either. The idea of this film isn't to get to the bottom of everything that's happened along the way but instead to follow characters as they deal with some of the situations that they face. ...

my faith in government has been severely shaken by the process of working on this film.
I started this project because I read the initial article in the New York Times and I was struck by the fact that it sounded like a press release. As such, I was curious about what was really going on. I don't live right by the footprint, but my daughter was going to daycare two blocks away so I was very familiar with the area.

A few years before the project was announced, my wife and I bought a beat up house and spent the next few years learning how to fix it up. When you go from being a renter to a home-owner you take a little bit more interest in your community because you become invested in it. After about 3 years we had a baby. With a baby you really start to meet the people around you- and you rely on them for information about day care, etc - You really start to build roots. Still, I didn't even know what a community board was until I started to shoot.

As I followed the story, I saw how the government and the community interacted and it wasn't pretty. On a basic local level, there was some responsiveness to what the community wanted; but when the politicians who made the decisions had less connection with the community, they could take the community for granted more easily.
With a project of this size, the impacts on the surrounding communities promises to be profound, yet nobody who was affected by the project was given any real opportunity to have their opinions taken into consideration.

This week, The Cartel is playing at four theaters in New Jersey--AMC Loews Menlo Park, Jersey Gardens, Cherry Hill, and the Showroom at Asbury Park. And on Saturay, it will open at one more: the AMC Loews East Hanover 12. Check local listings for times.

Indoctrinate U director Evan Coyne Maloney has released a short film on the rise and fall of the Obama brand. Worth a look.

Finally -- Nick Tucker's sharp, timely, and funny look at fiscal hypocrisy within our progressive elite is yours for the asking. Do As I Say is coming out on DVD this month. Order your copy now at DoAsISayMovie.com.

On Friday, October 23, Do As I Say director Nick Tucker will appear on the nationally syndicated radio talk show, the Michael Medved Show. Don't miss it!

Sign up to see The Cartel at TheCartelMovie.com.

The Cartel has won the award for Best Full-Length Documentary at the Downbeach Film Festival in Atlantic City, as well as the Silver Screen Award at the Nevada Film Festival.

Congratulations to director Bob Bowdon!

Find out about screenings and sign up to see the film at TheCartelMovie.com.

On Monday November 2, at 6:45 p.m., The Cartel will screen at the Princeton Garden Theater in Princeton, NJ. A Q&A with director Bob Bowdon will follow. The event is free and open to the public. To be added to the guest list, please R.S.V.P to erik@thempi.org.

MPI founder Thor Halvorssen recently appeared on Poliwood, Lionel Chetwynd and Roger Simon's PJTV series on Hollywood and politics. In Can the Internet Save Hollywood?, Halvorssen talks about MPI's innovative marketing models, the rise of internet-based film distribution, and MPI's role in bringing excellent content to a public that wants it--but otherwise would not get it. He also announces that 2081, Chandler Tuttle's magisterial adaptation of Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron" will soon be available on DVD and a download-on-demand format.

Indoctrinate U is now available as a digital download through Amazon Video on Demand--and is free to subscribers of Pajamas TV. If you have not seen it, do! And if you have, invite some friends over and watch it with them.