Will show Rural Idaho Stories: living without health insurance tonight in Council Idaho to the Adams County Democrats. In addition I will show my short film. "Dear Mr. Minnick" which is a appeal to Congressmen Minnick to vote for health care reform this coming week in the House. I will post the link when I have downloaded it to YouTube.

Resurrect the Rural Idaho Stories

I am interviewing a person this weekend in McCall that represents the folks who will suffer if health care reform is not completed soon. I hope to get a brief film out in a week or two to my congressmen and Senators and on the net to answer their inaction.

The Last two reviews from Sundance

Sorry for the delay got back late from Sundance and only now getting some time to report.

Freedom Riders, is a documentary on the Freedom Rides in the deep south in 1961. Originally organized by The Congress of Racial Equality, James Farmer group, the film was directed by Stanley Nelson and will be shown on PBS next year on the 50 anniversary of the Freedom Rides. It had great interviews with civil rights advocates, Segregationists and Bobby Kennedy's aide from Justice Department. The movie does an excellent job of putting you in that place and time and showing the courage of young people, risking their lives for justice. Need some of that determination to make U.S. health care reform happen. Stanley Nelson, the director was able to get never before seen film clip of Martin Luther King in a church in Ala. surrounded by the Klan speaking to the frighten crowd as he negotiates with Bobby Kennedy for protection which comes in the nick of time in the form of troops. Highly recommend this film.

The Kids Are All Right, is a film with Annette Bening and Julianne Moore who play a long term committed lesbian couple in L.A. the couple have respectively given birth to two children, a boy and a girl by the same sperm donor. When the teenage kids want to know their biological father, in enters the dad, played by Mark Ruffalo. The script was excellent. I especially liked Annette's character who is a doctor. They got the doctor mind set down and Annette Bening nailed it. I understand it has been bought by Focus Films. The movie is a good response to the anti-gay marriage folks who see gay couples as the fall of civilization when in fact gay couples are just trying to have love and long term companionship like most of the rest of us. Take that you bigots.

I am now back to normal life. Miss the conversations on the bus with like minded people, miss the good food and especially miss thought provoking films. As Redford stated the purpose of Sundance is to get beyond the surface and go deep to find out what is really happening in our selfs and in the world around us.

Report from Sundance, Four Movies seen so far

Been so busy at Sundance this is the first time I have had a chance to report. I have seen four movies so far.

Gasland was a documentary by a North East Penn. film maker about his journey when he received a notice from a gas company asking to drill on his family land. What he found out visiting others who have had their land drilled was shocking. Contaminated water, some water that would go on fire. We find out that Dick Chaney got thru Congress the exemption from the clean water and clean air act. Great advocacy movie.

Shock Doctrine, a documentary based on Naomi Klein which shows the link of Milton Friedman political economic views of free market, little public services to poverty and right wing dictators like in Chile and Argentina and of course in the U.S. Robert Redford was on the panel discussion afterwards and talked about his own struggles to fight the good fight. What an interesting, value driven person. Of course Jacki was in love.

Bran Nue Dae was a Australian musical that was an aborigine cast manly and lead actors. It was a joy and a could counter point to yesterdays heavy movies. It recognized the history of oppression but brought such joy. You can hear it on I-tunes. The director brought her new born to the showing and talked about filming in Broome Australia on the West Coast, a multinational town that the author was raised in and reflects his own multinational roots.

Our last movie tonite was Contracorriente (undertow) a Peruvian drama about a fisherman who was married and was having a child but had a male lover. A very beautiful movie, that explored what it meant to be a man, a human being and be gay in a hostile world. It brought tears to your eyes.

Had a lot of good conversations with film lovers and film makers. One guy I meet did a whole short drama on a small video camera and it has one awards in Anchorage and Seattle film festivals.

I will try to download pictures tomorrow. Will see two movies tomorrow, Freedom Riders a documentary on the civil rights event and The Kids are Right, a drama.

Off to Sundance tomorrow. Maybe will get inspired for another project,