A film by Jean-Philippe Tremblay
Featuring Julian Assange, Danny Glover, Daniel Ellsberg & Dan Rather
Opens in Toronto on Friday, February 15, 2013 @ the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema
In 2005, the members of DOCFACTORY, Shadows of Liberty’s producers, read Ben Bagnikian’s groundbreaking work, ‘The New Media Monopoly’, and were inspired to document today’s disintegrating freedoms within the U.S. media.
In 2007 the journey of making Shadows of Liberty began, when the Federal Communications Commission held Media Ownership Hearings across the U.S. Thousands attended to speak of their outrage towards the media monopoly crisis.
Shadows of Liberty reveals the extraordinary truth behind the news media: censorship, cover-ups and corporate control.
Filmmaker Jean-Philippe Tremblay takes an intrepid journey through the darker corridors of the American media landscape, where global conglomerates call the shots. For decades, their overwhelming influence has distorted news journalism and compromised its values.
In highly revealing stories, renowned journalists, activists and academics including Julian Assange (Editor-in-chief, WikiLeaks); Danny Glover (Actor & Director); Dan Rather (News Anchor CBS 1981 – 2005), give insider accounts of a broken media system. Controversial news reports are suppressed, people are censored for speaking out, and lives are shattered as the arena for public expression is turned into a private profit zone.
Tracing the story of media manipulation through the years, Shadows of Liberty poses a crucial question: why have we let a handful of powerful corporations write the news? We’re left in no doubt – media reform is urgent and freedom of the press is fundamental.
Director Jean-Philippe Tremblay states finally: “This film is dedicated to the journalists, heroes of our time, who give their lives and freedoms for our information. Presenting the voices that are not heard or given a platform is what Shadows of Liberty is about… This film attempts to inspire change and accountability by championing the idea of an independent media where truth and integrity are the norm, and not the exception.”
