Event occurs on Tuesday at 7:00 pm
Auditorium
On Tuesday, May 6 at 7:00
pm, a public forum sponsored by the RI Progressive Democrats will be held in
the Westerly Library in Westerly to bring the
historic “Winter Soldier: Eye Witness Accounts of Iraq and Afghanistan” to Rhode Island. The documentary “Winter Soldier II: a grass
roots view” covers the event that was sponsored by Iraq Veterans Against the
War (IVAW) held in Silver Springs, MD, from March 13 thru 16 in 2008 where members
of spoke publicly and candidly of their service in Iraq and Afghanistan. Also
expert analyst testimony was given to express the rationale behind IVAW’s
positions (see ivaw.org for details.) Although this remarkable testimony was
typically ignored by the corporate media (the first iconic Winter Soldier held
February 1971 was largely ignored as well), two RI independent filmmakers, Paul
Hubbard and Robert Malin, have produced a piece that captures the spirit of the
Winter Soldier event and allows voices of veterans to be heard.
The forum will begin with
some background remarks from the filmmakers. The 90 minute piece will then be
shown followed by a question and answer period. The testimony has been
conscientiously vetted for accuracy by the IVAW. The public is, however,
cautioned that this testimony deals with the realities of these wars, not the
complacent denial so prevalent in the usual reporting.
About the Filmmakers…
Malin and Hubbard have been
providing issue awareness pieces for activists for the since 2000. Malin’s
P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act event with Jerry Elmer is a part of the Westerly Library and
ACLU’s permanent collection. His “Hope for a Sustainable Future” tied for first
place at the Rhode Island Film Festival Green RI Film contest and was shown by
the Sierra Club as part of their awareness fundraiser. Malin’s Westerly Granite
Story which was produced for the Babcock-Smith House is an important piece
preserving Westerly’s history that has been shown many times. The have worked
with Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now and Hubbard’s “John Pilger” piece is Democracy
Now’s most requested download. Hubbard recently had a piece included in the
“Experiencing the War in Iraq”
exhibit in Pawtucket, RI. Together they worked as documentarians
for Dennis Kucinich’s presidential bid including several campaign commercials. Music
from their award winning Katrina Benefit piece was included in BBC reporter’
Greg Palast’s “Big Easy to the Big Empty.”
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Winter Soldier