Free China Wins American Insight’s Inaugural Free Speech Film Festival Grand Prize

American Insight’s Inaugural Free Speech
Film Festival Grand Prize Winner
 

“Free China: The Courage to Believe”

A Film by Michael Perlman of “Tibet: Beyond Fear”
Produced by Kean Wong from NTD Television 

Best selling author and former Chinese Communist Party member featured in film attends
 Free Speech Awards Ceremony May 16th at the Benjamin Franklin Hall, Philadelphia

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: (NEW YORK, NY – May 17th, 2012) After winning the top award in the “International Political and Cultural Documentaries” category at the Awareness Film Festival in West Hollywood over the previous weekend, the film “Free China: The Courage to Believe”, took the grand prize at American Insight’s inaugural Free Speech Awards Ceremony on Wednesday May 16th  at the Benjamin Franklin Hall in Philadelphia.  The film was screened in it’s entirety in front of a full house of close to 300 people.

Founded by Margaret Chew Barringer, American Insight, has been dedicated to promoting Free Speech and The Spoken Word since 1983 and is a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization. The inaugural Free Speech Film Festival is American Insight’s latest program and is the culmination of 6 years of research into the historical origins of Free Speech. The Festival is a “goodwill, grassroots, sustainable program that unites celebrity judges, students, scholars, educators and the general public in conversations about the past, present and future of Free Speech.”  Topics submitted include censorship, resistance, inequality, courage, change, and hope. Award winning films will be distributed free of charge to high schools globally.

The Free Speech Awards Ceremony was moderated by local celebrity presenters and included: CNN, BBC and PBS commentator on politics and international affairs, Anne-Marie Slaughter; Executive Director of ALCU-PA, Reggie Shuford; former CNN Bureau Chief and veteran producer of broadcast news, Karen Curry; and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, C.K.Williams.

Margaret Chew Barringer, American Insight & Free Speech Film Festival founder said during the Awards Ceremony;  “This year’s Free Speech Award winning film was created by two superb young film makers, based on a book written by one young woman, who had the courage to say no to both government and cooperate fascism. There is no way towards peace, the Quakers say, peace is the way. I hope this film changes our world.”

 Karen Curry, Former CNN New York Bureau Chief, also commented “When you can tell a story that’s a pretty broad story through two intensely compelling characters like Jennifer and Charles, from a filmmaking standpoint, I thought that was really pretty extraordinary.”

Free Speech Festival Moderators for the evening were: Vernon Odom: ACB’s Action News reporter since 1976; Bob Craig: WRTI Host of Big Band Jazz + Voices of Jazz. 

Also in attendance at the Awards Ceremony was Ms Jennifer Zeng, best selling author who is the main subject of the award-winning film “Free China: The Courage to Believe.”  The film examines widespread human rights violations in China through the remarkable stories of Ms Zeng, a mother and former Chinese Communist Party member and Dr. Charles Lee, a Chinese American businessman, who along with hundreds of thousands of peaceful citizens are tortured and subjected to slave labor for their spiritual beliefs in the persecuted Falun Gong meditation practice.  The director of the film Michael Perlman, producer Kean Wong and Dr. Charles Lee also attended the Awards Ceremony.

 More About the Film: “Free China – The Courage to Believe”                                                      

This timely documentary film provides new information that connects China’s widespread human rights violations with systemic unfair trade practices and state-sanctioned organ harvesting for profit.

The film documents specific US companies that profit from enabling the Chinese leadership to suppress dissidents and sheds light on the recent lawsuit filed by the Human Rights Law Foundation against Cisco Systems for allegedly implementing an elaborate surveillance apparatus that has led to the detention and torture of many Chinese prisoners of conscience. The film also explores how Internet technologies are aiding human rights activists in China and around the world by allowing uncensored information into closed societies. In addition, the film highlights how a re-emergence of traditional Chinese culture and spirituality are helping bring about a new China.

 The film is a co-production between World2Be Productions and NTD, a non-for profit, predominantly Chinese and English language TV broadcaster headquartered in New York with correspondents in over 70 cities worldwide.  

Interviewees in the film include:

Dr. Charles Lee, Chinese American Businessman 

Jennifer Zeng, Former Chinese Communist Party Member, best selling author of “Witnessing History: One Chinese Woman’s Fight for Freedom”. (Now an Australian citizen)   

Hon. David Kilgour, Former Canadian Secretary of State (Asia-Pacific)

Rep. Chris Smith, US Congressman, Senior Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee (Chairman of its Africa, Global Health and Human Rights Subcommittee)

Ethan Gutmann, Author of “Losing The New China” and Contributor for The Asian Wall Street Journal

For more information, please visit: www.FreeChinaMovie.com

Newsclips and write ups of the event can be found at www.FreeChinaMove.com/media

From the left: Margaret Chew Barringer, American Insight & Free Speech Film Festival founder, Charles Lee, Jennifer Zeng, Michael Perlman, Kean Wong, at the award ceremony on May 16. 2012.