<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<rss version="2.0">
   <channel>
      <title>Persistence of Vision</title>
      <link>http://www.thempi.org/pov/</link>
      <description></description>
      <language>en-us</language>
      <copyright>Copyright 2009</copyright>
      <lastBuildDate>Tue, 06 Jan 2009 13:35:23 -0500</lastBuildDate>
      <generator>http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/</generator>
      <docs>http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss</docs> 

            <item>
         <title>Big new Hollywood blog</title>
         <description><![CDATA[<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/lyl5DlrsU90&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lyl5DlrsU90&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

Andrew Breitbart's Big Hollywood blog launches today--and promises to be a clearing house for new perspectives and sharp commentary on Hollywood. Breitbart lays out his goals in a <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jan/05/a-million-stories-to-tell/"><i>Washington Times</i></a> op-ed--and already the site has drawn notice from CNN, Fox News, the <i>Weekly Standard</i>, and elsewhere. <a href="http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/">Check it out</a>.]]></description>
         <link>http://www.thempi.org/pov/2009/01/big_new_hollywood_blog.shtml</link>
         <guid>http://www.thempi.org/pov/2009/01/big_new_hollywood_blog.shtml</guid>
        
        
         <pubDate>Tue, 06 Jan 2009 13:35:23 -0500</pubDate>
      </item>
            <item>
         <title>Home sweet home</title>
         <description><![CDATA[<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/difO8Emwjio&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/difO8Emwjio&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

Think quick: define eminent domain. Now think quick again: Define eminent domain abuse. Does it feel arcane? Is it all a bit foggy? Think again -- because you can't afford to be foggy on these concepts, especially in a post-Kelo world. 

MPI fellows Michael Galinsky and Suki Hawley are working to raise awareness of eminent domain abuse in a striking new documentary entitled <i>The Battle of Brooklyn</i>. Filmed over several years, this compelling and disturbing documentary tells the story of how property developers--with the aid of local government--have worked to seize homes and businesses in Brooklyn, with the aim of replacing them with a lucrative new development that includes a state of the art basketball arena. Local residents have resisted, and have brought their case to the courts--all while demolition proceeds. 

Watch the trailer <a href="http://www.thempi.org/cgi-local/film.cgi?f=23">here</a> -- and look for this film to premiere in 2009.]]></description>
         <link>http://www.thempi.org/pov/2008/12/home_sweet_home.shtml</link>
         <guid>http://www.thempi.org/pov/2008/12/home_sweet_home.shtml</guid>
        
        
         <pubDate>Wed, 17 Dec 2008 12:17:26 -0500</pubDate>
      </item>
            <item>
         <title>Lesson plans</title>
         <description><![CDATA[<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ixc8chcvXks&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ixc8chcvXks&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

In the past few weeks, <i>Indoctrinate U</i> has played at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia, Lehigh University, UC Santa Barbara, and Binghamton University. In February, it will screen at Arizona State University. Over the past year, the film has played at over thirty campuses nationwide. If you are interested in arranging a campus screening of this film, just email us. We'll provide the DVD and everything you need to publicize the event -- and you'll be on your way.]]></description>
         <link>http://www.thempi.org/pov/2008/12/lesson_plans.shtml</link>
         <guid>http://www.thempi.org/pov/2008/12/lesson_plans.shtml</guid>
        
        
         <pubDate>Wed, 17 Dec 2008 12:09:28 -0500</pubDate>
      </item>
            <item>
         <title>What&apos;s up, Doc?</title>
         <description><![CDATA[<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wJuQQcXKLWM&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wJuQQcXKLWM&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

<i>Indoctrinate U</i> aired on the <a href="http://brain-terminal.com/posts/2008/10/24/iu-docu-channel">Documentary Channel</a> several times in October and November--and was so well received that it's coming back for an encore. Beginning in January, watch for Evan Coyne Maloney's funny and informative account of intolerance on campus. The Documentary Channel reaches approximately 25 million homes.]]></description>
         <link>http://www.thempi.org/pov/2008/12/whats_up_doc.shtml</link>
         <guid>http://www.thempi.org/pov/2008/12/whats_up_doc.shtml</guid>
        
        
         <pubDate>Wed, 03 Dec 2008 14:36:42 -0500</pubDate>
      </item>
            <item>
         <title>UNder Attack</title>
         <description><![CDATA[<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/gkVM-jGNn04&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/gkVM-jGNn04&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

<i>Manhattan Magazine</i> <a href="http://digital.modernluxury.com/MANH/issue4/magazine.php?page=52">profiles</a> MPI filmmaker and <i>U.N. Me</i> director Ami Horowitz:
<blockquote>
Why is there a former Lehman Brothers investment banker running through Dag Hammarskjold Plaza with a battering ram? No, he's not some unhinged casualty of the current economic collapse. Ami Horowitz left behind his work in finance well before this recent mess because he had a higher calling: He wanted to lay siege to the United Nations, which he says is the perpetrator of one of the greatest frauds of all time. 

Horowitz is hoping to be the the U.N. what Michael Moore was to General Motors. With no previous experience in the film business, but a fire in his belly and $2 million raised from hedge fund managers, Horowitz has made a documentary, <i>U.N. Me</i>, that is set to be released in theaters this winter.

The seeds of Horowitz's mission were sown during the September 11 attacks, when he was outraged by the United Nations' inefficacy. It wasn't until five years later though, that he had an epiphany while watching Moore's <i>Bowling for Columbine</i>: He would make a documentary that would expose the United Nations for how he saw it.

Two years later, the film is in the can. Emulating Moore's style, the camera shows an incredulous Horowitz wandering the halls of the United Nations, trying to find someone actually at work at their desk. He then travels the world, covering a range of the United Nations' failings, including its inability to prevent genocide in Rwanda and Sudan, and an accusation that former Secretary General Boutros-Ghali pocketed more than a million dollars from Saddam Hussein (Boutros-Ghali was never charged with any wrongdoing).

Horowitz interviews with an often jocular approach, and peppers the film with animation and even a "peacekeepers gone wild" segment, showing U.N. personnel in Africa partying with prostitutes at a club.

Throughout his dealing with the U.N., Horowitz told them he was making a film that "highlights the role of the U.N. around the globe," so the organization has been unaware of the barbarian at their gates. "We'll have to wait to see the film to respond," says a U.N. spokesperson.

But does Horowitz really think he can sway public opinion?

"Absolutely. [<i>Super Size Me</i>'s Morgan] Spurlock was just a dude with a few thousand dollars and a camera--and look what he did to McDonalds," Horowitz says. "I'm similar. I'm just better dressed."
</blockquote>
View the trailer and support the film at <a href="http://www.unmemovie.com/index.html">UNMeMovie.com</a>.]]></description>
         <link>http://www.thempi.org/pov/2008/11/under_attack.shtml</link>
         <guid>http://www.thempi.org/pov/2008/11/under_attack.shtml</guid>
        
        
         <pubDate>Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:43:23 -0500</pubDate>
      </item>
            <item>
         <title>Grapevine</title>
         <description><![CDATA[<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/spcseGLofic&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/spcseGLofic&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

MPI film <i>U.N. Me</i> has made it to the gossip pages--where it is bumping elbows with Madonna and A-Rod, Marc Jacobs and SpongeBob, Jake and Reese, and Jennifer Aniston. The <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2008/11/16/2008-11-16_arod_flirting_with_trouble.html?page=1"><i>New York Daily News</i></a> has it that:
<blockquote>
The UN is under attack! Upstart filmmaker Ami Horowitz, a former Lehman Brothers banker, is releasing his Michael Moore-style expose of the United Nations next month. In the flick, Horowitz, taking a cue from Moore, wanders the halls of the UN building searching for someone actually working at their desk. There's also a segment called "Peacekeepers Gone Wild" that shows UN personnel partying with prostitutes in Africa. 

Horowitz, not the bashful type, goes so far as to call himself the better-dressed Morgan Spurlock in the upcoming issue of Manhattan magazine.
</blockquote>
Watch for this film. There are no Big Macs involved, but it is definitely super-sized.

For more, see <a href="http://www.unmemovie.com/">UNMeMovie.com</a>.]]></description>
         <link>http://www.thempi.org/pov/2008/11/grapevine.shtml</link>
         <guid>http://www.thempi.org/pov/2008/11/grapevine.shtml</guid>
        
        
         <pubDate>Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:28:55 -0500</pubDate>
      </item>
            <item>
         <title>Freedom&apos;s Fury for rent</title>
         <description><![CDATA[<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/fgKiTLbORJU&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/fgKiTLbORJU&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

Still haven't seen <i>Freedom's Fury</i>? Now there's no excuse. Rent it from Netflix today.]]></description>
         <link>http://www.thempi.org/pov/2008/11/freedoms_fury_for_rent.shtml</link>
         <guid>http://www.thempi.org/pov/2008/11/freedoms_fury_for_rent.shtml</guid>
        
        
         <pubDate>Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:21:29 -0500</pubDate>
      </item>
            <item>
         <title>Singing Revolution: Book and DVD</title>
         <description><![CDATA[<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DA9PmZo-2jo&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DA9PmZo-2jo&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

Over the past year, <i>The Singing Revolution</i> has screened in over 120 theaters across North America. And now it's <a href="http://www.singingrevolution.com/cgi-local/store.cgi">available</a> in DVD. There is a simple version featuring just the film, and there is a three-disc set that comes in educational and collectors' editions. These include maps, music, history, rare Nazi and Soviet propaganda footage, and lots of bonus interviews.

A lushly illustrated companion book has also just been published, and is available through <a href="http://www.singingrevolution.com/cgi-local/item.cgi?si=11">SingingRevolution.com</a>.]]></description>
         <link>http://www.thempi.org/pov/2008/10/singing_revolution_book_and_dv.shtml</link>
         <guid>http://www.thempi.org/pov/2008/10/singing_revolution_book_and_dv.shtml</guid>
        
        
         <pubDate>Tue, 14 Oct 2008 16:33:52 -0500</pubDate>
      </item>
            <item>
         <title>IU coming to TV!</title>
         <description><![CDATA[<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1QY13ai4Lb0&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/1QY13ai4Lb0&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

The Documentary Channel, which reaches upward of 25 million households via the Dish Network, will be <a href="http://www.documentarychannel.com/schedule/index.php">airing</a> <i>Indoctrinate U</i> as part of its "Controversy in America" series. The film will screen on October 27 at 9 p.m. and midnight, November 1 at 5 p.m., November 2 at 2 a.m., and November 4 at 3 a.m. (All times EST.) Be there!]]></description>
         <link>http://www.thempi.org/pov/2008/10/iu_coming_to_tv.shtml</link>
         <guid>http://www.thempi.org/pov/2008/10/iu_coming_to_tv.shtml</guid>
        
        
         <pubDate>Tue, 14 Oct 2008 16:28:05 -0500</pubDate>
      </item>
            <item>
         <title>Gotta see U.N. Me</title>
         <description><![CDATA[<<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZMwc9FaK-Os&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZMwc9FaK-Os&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

Check out <a href="http://www.unmemovie.com/">U.N.MeMovie.com</a>, the dedicated website for MPI's newest film, <i>U.N. Me</i>. This documentary is funny and terrifying by turns. It exposes how the world's foremost humanitarian organization has become the clubhouse of dictators, tyrants, and thugs--and now underwrites work very far removed from peacekeeping and human rights. View the trailer and read all about the film at the site--and if you want to see it in theaters, consider making a <a href="http://www.unmemovie.com/support.html">donation via MPI</a> that will help the cause.

On a related note, check out <a href="http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/interviews/dave_mustaine_talks_politics_and_music.html">this interview</a> with Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine--who has big problems with the U.N., and tons of praise for <i>U.N. Me</i>: 
<blockquote>
When I was younger, there was one incident where a Russian diplomat was absolutely inebriated, drove through a stop sign and killed an American in New York City, then was let off because of diplomatic immunity. If anything, he should have had to have some kind of restitution for taking a human life while driving a vehicle out of his mind on alcohol. If anything, they should have recalled him and punished him at home for manslaughter. As far as I remember, nothing happened.

That made me start looking at what the U.N. stood for, and I started seeing stuff like the 'oil for food' crisis and finding out that one Secretary General was a former Nazi, and another guy was a former spy. I feel really safe having these guys run the world's organization to prevent war and promote peace. There's a new movie coming out called 'You and Me' [sic], which I had some involvement in, and it's basically the 'Fahrenheit 9/11' for the U.N. I think once people see some of the stuff, they're going to be so blown away. Just the trailer that I saw that made me commit to being part of the movie was so unnerving."
</blockquote>
That's the movie in a nutshell--unnerving, and capable of blowing you away.]]></description>
         <link>http://www.thempi.org/pov/2008/10/gotta_see_un_me.shtml</link>
         <guid>http://www.thempi.org/pov/2008/10/gotta_see_un_me.shtml</guid>
        
        
         <pubDate>Tue, 14 Oct 2008 16:12:46 -0500</pubDate>
      </item>
            <item>
         <title>From the cutting room floor: Indoctrinate U</title>
         <description><![CDATA[<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/0eDNHZyMfUM&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/0eDNHZyMfUM&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

At <a href="http://indoctrinate-u.com/pages/inside.html#terror-profs">Indoctrinate-U.com</a>, Evan Coyne Maloney writes:
<blockquote>
A man named Bill Ayers has been in the news lately as Senator Barack Obama's connections to the 1960s-era domestic terrorist have become an issue in the presidential campaign. It reminded us of a segment cut from an earlier edit of Indoctrinate U.

In this deleted scene, we told the story of how 1960s campus radicals morphed into today's academics. Three of those radicals were Ayers, his now-wife Bernardine Dohrn, and Mark Rudd. Together, they led the Weather Underground, a group committed to the violent overthrow the U.S. Government.

To bring about their hoped-for communist utopia, the Weathermen bombed dozens of targets around the country including the U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon and military recruiting stations. In executing their various attacks, the Weathermen killed a few of their own and also murdered two police officers and a security guard while robbing an armored car. They targeted the families of judges, celebrated the Manson murders, and through legal technicalities, most of them avoided jail.

Decades later, they're still unapologetic. In an interview published on September 11th, 2001, Ayers told The New York Times, "I don't regret setting bombs. I feel we didn't do enough."

What does all of this have to do with higher education? Watch the video to find out.
</blockquote>
Don't miss this deleted scene from Maloney's <i>Indoctrinate U</i>.
]]></description>
         <link>http://www.thempi.org/pov/2008/10/from_the_cutting_room_floor_in.shtml</link>
         <guid>http://www.thempi.org/pov/2008/10/from_the_cutting_room_floor_in.shtml</guid>
        
        
         <pubDate>Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:44:05 -0500</pubDate>
      </item>
            <item>
         <title>Good words for Do As I Say</title>
         <description><![CDATA[<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/uuMakmo0e5A&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/uuMakmo0e5A&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

NRO's Kevin Williamson has <a href="http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YjNjNTVlYzc3ZmNlNDhkY2M0Y2M5NjNkZTc0Y2I3OTM=">good things to say</a> about Nick Tucker's <i>Do As I Say</i>:
<blockquote>
Do As I Say is funny throughout and does''t get bogged down in the sort of angry grinding that tends to characterize too much political polemic on both sides.

Jonah Goldberg makes an appearance in the film, and he's in good form. By far my favorite stunt in the film has do to with Michael Moore's trust and investment portfolio, which includes interests in Halliburton, General Electric, and other defense contractors. Moore denies that he has any such investments, so the filmmakers get a copy of his trust's tax returns to document them. Moore refuses to look at it, so they do the obvious thing and employ a cake decorator to replicate the documents on delicious baked goods. Hilarity ensues as the police are dispatched to the Moore compound to deal with this dangerous dessert. It's beautiful stuff. Ted Kennedy gets ambushed, George Soros lampooned and, against all odds, you will learn something new and depressing about the Clintons' real-estate endeavors in Arkansas. (Yes, my eyes rolled when Clintonian real-estate deals came up, but hang on, it's an interesting segment.)
</blockquote>
<i>Do As I Say</i> celebrated its world premiere at the American Film Renaissance Film Festival on October 2, where it both entertained and outraged hundreds of audience members. 

Sign up at <a href="http://www.doasisaymovie.com/">DoAsISayMovie.com</a> to bring it to a theater in your area--and become eligible to win a free iPod nano in the process!]]></description>
         <link>http://www.thempi.org/pov/2008/10/good_words_for_do_as_i_say.shtml</link>
         <guid>http://www.thempi.org/pov/2008/10/good_words_for_do_as_i_say.shtml</guid>
        
        
         <pubDate>Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:36:31 -0500</pubDate>
      </item>
            <item>
         <title>Independent film</title>
         <description><![CDATA[<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5_KqMjZVgJY&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5_KqMjZVgJY&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

Can Hollywood transcend the vagaries of the market? There's no time like the present to ask that question. 

Writing for the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/13/business/media/13carr.html?ei=5070&emc=eta1"><i>New York Times</i></a>, David Carr suggests that the answer may be "yes":
<blockquote>
Hollywood comes by its indifference honestly. Certainly, the stock prices of the big media companies that own the film industry are getting pounded on the market along with the rest of us, and the canyons are no doubt full of little rivers of blood as individuals watch their net worth shrink.

But out there at the box office, it is still morning in America. Four major movies opened on Friday, and they came on the heels of seven movies the week before, most of which did quite nicely, thank you. The fact that "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" has topped the box office for two weeks running and has taken in over $52 million may be one of the signs of the apocalypse, but not the kind that has anything to do with credit default swaps.

"It's times like these that some of those jokes about the people in Los Angeles seem valid," said Peter Bart, the editor in chief of Variety. "There has always been the suggestion that this city is not acutely conscious of what is going on in the rest of the world, and this is one of the times when it lives up to the reputation. There are many people here who don't read a lot and because of that are less obsessed by what is happening back in New York."

Spend any time here, and you will soon learn that Hollywood lives by its own clock. Because movies are generally large endeavors that take time to come together, they reflect things that were happening three years ago while the studios' capital outlays speculate on the needs of the market three years hence.

After taking a big hit during the Depression, the Hollywood box office came back strong--and this time could be no different. The consumer might consider a night of watching the serial disaster movie on CNBC or CNN, or decide to head to the movies instead, which is why the people who finance Hollywood continue to make large bets that people will still go to the movies.

In the last few weeks, billions--not from the federal government, but from actual banks--are being invested even as brokers back East stare into the abyss of their trading terminals.

Reuters reported last Thursday that JPMorgan Chase--one of the industry's go-to financiers--knocked out three big deals, including a venture between the Reliance ADA Group of India and Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks SKG. The bank has already put up $125 million--and $600 million more from other lenders is on hold for the moment, but there's no reason to think the deal won't go through.

JPMorgan also wrapped up a $350 million deal for Media Rights Capital, the company that is making the latest Cameron Diaz movie and was the leader in gathering the $1 billion to finance the digital upgrade of 20,000 movie theaters to help increase the capacity to show 3-D films.

There is enormous pent-up demand for films that will be ready in 2009 and 2010 because the writers' strike held up production and then the threat of an actors' strike pinched schedules. But the industry seems to have collectively decided that actors won't risk a strike during a huge economic headwind. Approximately 50 movies from the various studios have received some sort of approval and will enter production soon, according to Variety.
</blockquote>
The bottom line? "Studios will come under pressure from their stock-punished parents back East, but no one wants to be caught with no movies to show when the forest fire finally abates."

And that's a wrap.
]]></description>
         <link>http://www.thempi.org/pov/2008/10/independent_film.shtml</link>
         <guid>http://www.thempi.org/pov/2008/10/independent_film.shtml</guid>
        
        
         <pubDate>Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:19:16 -0500</pubDate>
      </item>
            <item>
         <title>Must See: The Stoning of Soraya M.</title>
         <description><![CDATA[<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3XyKyOhNsSA&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3XyKyOhNsSA&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

Freidoune Sahebjam's sobering and astonishing <i>The Stoning of Soraya M.</i>, the true story of how an Islamic mob in Khomeini's Iran stoned an innocent woman to death because she was wrongly assumed to have committed adultery, was an international bestseller when it was published in 1994. Now it is a film. And it is not to be missed.

"This is one film that will not appear quietly and disappear without notice," write Hot Air's <a href="http://hotair.com/archives/2008/09/12/film-review-the-stoning-of-soraya-m/">Ed Morrissey</a>. "I attended a pre-release screening last night, and it reminded me of all the reasons I love film as an art form and as a medium of communication.  When it finally makes it to the theaters, people should line up to see this powerful, dramatic, and disturbing representation of a true story."

Produced my MPower Pictures (which also produced <i>An American Carol</i>), and directed by MPI fellow Cyrus Nowrasteh, <a href="http://www.thestoning.com/"><i>The Stoning of Soraya M.</i></a> was recently named second runner up for the People's Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival. The <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/awards_festivals/fest_reviews/article_display.jsp?JSESSIONID=HG3kLJtHv88jnwsknJ1dDpcMCVWmhlpwpr90pkFgJG4ByJF28QG1!-1378948968&&rid=11676"><i>Hollywood Reporter</i></a> sums the film's power up in one word: "stunning."]]></description>
         <link>http://www.thempi.org/pov/2008/09/must_see_the_stoning_of_soraya.shtml</link>
         <guid>http://www.thempi.org/pov/2008/09/must_see_the_stoning_of_soraya.shtml</guid>
        
        
         <pubDate>Wed, 24 Sep 2008 17:03:35 -0500</pubDate>
      </item>
            <item>
         <title>&quot;Revolutionary&quot;</title>
         <description><![CDATA[<object width="425" height="339"><param name="movie" value="http://www.movieweb.com/v/V08I01hmnsvAER"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.movieweb.com/v/V08I01hmnsvAER" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="339"></embed></object>

Kathleen Parker is one of the top syndicated columnists in the country--her circulation numbers are second only to those of George Will. And this morning, she <a href="http://townhall.com/Columnists/KathleenParker/2008/09/17/charles_dickens_hearts_david_zucker?page=full&comments=true">pronounces</a> <i>An American Carol</i> "revolutionary." It's funny, she says--and, as a film that methodically punctures Hollywood's sacred cows, "it's brave given the risk of peer ridicule and the potential for career suicide." All in all, she notes, "the film makes a serious and necessary point that can't be missed amid the laughter and the outrage: America is not the enemy."

<a href="http://www.americancarol.com/"><i>An American Carol</i></a> will be in theaters nationwide on October 3.]]></description>
         <link>http://www.thempi.org/pov/2008/09/revolutionary.shtml</link>
         <guid>http://www.thempi.org/pov/2008/09/revolutionary.shtml</guid>
        
        
         <pubDate>Wed, 17 Sep 2008 13:19:58 -0500</pubDate>
      </item>
      
   </channel>
</rss>
