[Peace] Fwd: [Peace-discuss] Co-sponsorship Request for "The Ground Truth" Public Screening

Fri Sep 8 10:44:46 CDT 2006

It appears to me that we should sign on as a sponsor to this film.  
However, it is not always prudent to sponsor a film we haven't seen.  
--mkb

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Jen Tayabji <tayabji at shout.net>
> Date: September 7, 2006 10:51:36 PM CDT
> To: <Peace-discuss at lists.cu.groogroo.com>
> Subject: [Peace-discuss] Co-sponsorship Request for "The Ground  
> Truth" Public Screening
>
> Would AWARE be interested in cosponsoring?
>
> Thanks,
> Jen
>
> ------ Forwarded Message
> From: "Aaron Patrick Smith" <redherng at shout.net>
> Reply-To: redherng at shout.net
> Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2006 17:00:22 -0500 (CDT)
> Subject: Co-sponsorship Request for "The Ground Truth" Public  
> Screening
>
> Dear Organizational Representative:
>
> My name is Aaron Smith, I am the Assistant Director of the Illinois
> Disciples Foundation and a co-coordinator of the Progressive
> Resource/Action Cooperative (PRC). The PRC (www.prairienet.org/prc)  
> is a
> multi-issue, multi-tactical activist organization with the mission of
> working for peace and social justice. It consists of students and
> community members working in the community to promote human rights,
> democracy and self-determination for all people. PRC is a program  
> of the
> Illinois Disciples Foundation (www.prairienet.org/idf), and a  
> registered
> student organization (RSO) at the University of Illinois.
>
> I am writing to ask that your organization agree to co-sponsor an  
> upcoming
> public screening of the new documentary "The Ground Truth" that the  
> PRC is
> planning to hold at the IDF on Wednesday, October 11th, 2006 at  
> 7pm. "The
> Ground Truth" is a powerful film that documents the experiences of
> veterans who have served in the war in Iraq and the effects that  
> service
> has had on their lives. It stunned audiences at the 2006 Sundance film
> festival, and this will be it's first public showing in Champaign- 
> Urbana.
> PRC is organizing this showing in conjunction with other public  
> showings
> aroung the U.S. on October 11th, to mark the 4th anniversary of the
> Congressional authorization of "Use of Force Against Iraq". For more
> information about the film, check out http://www.thegroundtruth.net or
> look at the synopsis at the end of this e-mail. This screening will be
> free and open to the public.
>
> Agreeing to co-sponsor entails letting us use your organization‚s  
> name on
> all our publicity as a co-sponsor.  Also, we would ask that you  
> help us
> publicize the event by announcing it to your membership/e-mail lists,
> encouraging your members to attend the event, and possibly putting  
> up some
> of our flyers. Monetary donations to help us defray the costs of  
> putting
> on the showing will be appreciated, but are not required.
>
> If your organization would like to co-sponsor, please reply to me  
> by the
> deadline of Friday, September 15, 2006 at 5pm.  Feel free to  
> contact me
> with any questions regarding the event or about co-sponsorship.  I can
> also be reached by phone at the IDF at 352-8721.  Thank you very  
> much for
> your support, and we hope to hear from you.
>
> In Solidarity,
> Aaron P. Smith
> IDF Assistant Director
> PRC Co-Coordinator
>
>
> *******************************
> The Ground Truth Documentary
>
> Synopsis:
>
> THE GROUND TRUTH stunned filmgoers at the 2006 Sundance and  
> Nantucket Film
> Festivals. Hailed as "powerful" and "quietly unflinching," Patricia
> Foulkrod's searing documentary feature includes exclusive footage that
> will stir audiences. The filmmaker's subjects are patriotic young
> Americans - ordinary men and women who heeded the call for military
> service in Iraq - as they experience recruitment and training, combat,
> homecoming, and the struggle to reintegrate with families and  
> communities.
> The terrible conflict in Iraq, depicted with ferocious honesty in  
> the film
> - is a prelude for the even more challenging battles fought by the
> soldiers returning home - with personal demons, an uncomprehending  
> public,
> and an indifferent government. As these battles take shape, each  
> soldier
> becomes a new kind of hero, bearing witness and giving support to  
> other
> veterans, and learning to fearlessly wield the most powerful weapon  
> of all
> - the truth. Features interviews with Charlie Anderson, Kelly  
> Dougherty,
> Paul Reichoff, and other veterans.
>
> Director‚s Statement (Patricia Foulkrod):
>
> This film is not about the right or the left, or about blue or red  
> states.
> It is about the hundreds of thousands of U.S. soldiers who have been
> released by the military after serving in Iraq - and the truth they  
> hope
> to share with their fellow citizens.
>
> I produced and directed THE GROUND TRUTH because I felt it was time to
> stop hiding behind the politics. No one was writing or talking about
> thousands of invisible injured soldiers, for the most part young men
> returning to young wives who must now be their caregivers.
>
> It became clear, while filming, that the broken hearts and  
> shattered lives
> that I was seeing were profound and pervasive - whether the  
> soldiers and
> their families were for or against the Iraq War.
>
> I wanted to show how insidious and deep the effects of killing in  
> combat
> truly are - whether in self-defense or not - so we could create a  
> national
> dialogue about our "consciousness of killing." I also felt I had to
> capture the aloneness and despair many returning soldiers silently
> experience when their psychological and physical needs are not  
> recognized
> or provided for.
>
> Those needs for soldiers have not changed since Harold Russell and The
> Best Years of Our Lives. It is sixty years later, and we need to  
> recognize
> not only that the U.S. is in very different war circumstances but also
> that our fighting men - and, now, women - face tremendous  
> challenges back
> home.
>
> So I tried to create a film that might blow the yellow ribbons off the
> trees, and encourage people to really wrap their arms around our  
> soldiers
> and their families. I wanted us to sit with the broken hearts and  
> troubled
> minds of these young veterans, so we can take responsibility for their
> suffering that is being experienced in our name.
>
> And most important, I wanted to share with all Americans the profound
> wisdom these young men and women have to impart. Their first step to
> healing is our listening.
>
> Ground Truth Gatherings:
>
> Community showings of the documentary on Wednesday, October 11th˜the
> fourth anniversary of the Congressional authorization of „Use of Force
> Against Iraq.‰
>
> http://www.thegroundtruth.net
>
> ------ End of Forwarded Message
>
> _______________________________________________
> Peace-discuss mailing list
> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
> http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/peace-discuss

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