Saturday, March 31, 2012

COLLECTIVE BRAIN DAMAGE

REVIEW OF SELECTED AM DOCS FILM

a lot of damage has been done

by a myriad of different groups

chief among them was the downing of the twin towers

but other, less spectacular damage has occurred

the riff between the 'average american' and the

'average muslim' is a study that will never be fully

understood and goes back to the beginning of time

people who believe in the god of abraham

and the people who believe in the teachings of mohammad

are, to say the least, at odds

among today's many screenings at the first annual - all digital


were two films dealing with these issues

the first was the sofian khan film: brother bob

bob is a former long-haul truck driver and baptist

who has chosen to convert to islam

we see bob having problems as he tries to find god

contrasting brother bob is the reverend terry jones

the documentary brings us right into jone's church as

he holds a trial on the merits of the holy koran

the jury of 12 consisted of 10 of his church members

and 2 other muslim haters

the koran lost and was burned

- which as you remember set-off a worldwide sh#t storm

in the second screening we were introduced to 8 muslim

artists and shown in much beauty and detail their skills

and their passion as artists from their individual perspectives

the world premiere of the pia getty film: axis of light

was a beautifully filmed, meticulously directed and was

a wonderfully detailed study of these gifted people

after the screenings, festival director teddy grouya conducted

a discussion as to the audience's various reactions

which was quite lively and shouldn't have been missed

don't miss the rest of the festival and join the discussion

the festival continues through april 5th with multiple

screenings daily at the camelot theaters in palm springs