October 22, 2005

The Liberty Film Festival, 2005

It's no exaggeration to say that last year's Liberty Film Festival changed my life. Until then, it had seemed to me almost as though I were the only Conservative in Los Angeles.  The festival introduced me to many others and initiated a series of events that has made a tremendous difference in the people I know and the activities I'm engaged in.

Govindini Murty and her husband Jason Apuzzo are the Directors of the festival. Govindini told me that as of Day One of this year's festival, they'd already sold more tickets than they had for all of last year's.

Here's the lobby with people arriving for the evening (merged from 3 separate pictures -- can be clicked for a larger image): 

From left to right, screenwriter and Festival Panelist Craig Titley, Steve, Govindini, and Tim Watkins, producer of last year's phenomenal In the Face of Evil:

Here's Govindini and Jason, addressing the audience:

David Horowitz:

Evan Coyne Maloney (at podium), with Blaine Greenberg and Stuart Browning:

As David Horowitz began to introduce Maloney's film, two audience members rushed onto the stage and ran towards him threateningly, shouting, "You have no right to speak!" They were quickly surrounded and escorted out of the hall. An audience member was heard to ask, "Who were they?" Quipped Horowitz, "They're called Communists." 

When Maloney took the stage, he commented, "David was up here exercising his right to free speech, and they literally said, 'You have no right to speak.' .... That's not uncommon on college campuses." 

The films screened included:

• Fellowship 9/11. A satire in which a Michael Moore style interviewer attempts to expose why the war against Sauron was wrong.
• Evan Coyne Maloney's Brainwashing 201: The Second Semester, which blows the lid off of attempts in our colleges to repress freedom of thought.
• Dead Meat, by Stuart Browning and Blaine Greenberg, shows that health care in Canada is a nightmare in which people wait years for hip replacements, knee replacements, heart surgery, etc. -- with some even dying before the surgery takes place. In Canada it's illegal to pay a doctor or buy insurance -- that is, for people. For pets it's legal. And if your pet needs a doctor, there's little or no waiting.
• Broken Promises: The United Nations at 60. Documents how the U.N. has collaborated in unthinkable massacres.
  

If you're in L.A., don't miss the rest of the festival.