The ACLU FREEDOM FILES Racial Profiling

No Place for Hate Harwich will be showing this new video in January "Here in Harwich Series" of lectures and films.

ACLU Releases New 10-Part Series

The American Civil Liberties Union and Robert Greenwald to tell the stories behind the headlines in new 10-part series

Series To Reach National Audience Via Satellite Link TV, New Media, Technology And Grassroots Networks

NPFH Premiere Episode The most recent episode, "Racial Profiling," takes an unflinching look at a reality facing people of color around the country. You will meet people who have been recently harassed, threatened or jailed by the police because of the color of their skin.

Addressing Critical Civil Rights Issues Of The Day, Program Stars Real Clients And The Attorneys Who Defend Them

New York/Los Angeles, August 16, 2005 - Today, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and award-winning producer/director Robert Greenwald's Brave New Films announce an unprecedented new series entitled The ACLU Freedom Files. In ten 30-minute episodes, the series creators will explore pressing issues that are threatening the civil liberties of all Americans, regardless of political affiliation. The show will reach millions of viewers via satellite network Link TV, on college campuses across the country on Zilo TV, and via new media, technology and grassroots networks such as video blogs, podcasts, streaming video, viewing parties, screenings and more

Aiming to strip away the sound bytes to reveal how civil liberties affect real people everyday, The ACLU Freedom Files features real clients and the attorneys who defend them, as well as well-known actors, activists and comedians.

"Effects of overreaching laws like the Patriot Act or Supreme Court decisions are often talked about in abstract terms, but there is a very real human face to these issues that tends to get lost in the rhetoric," said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero. "The ACLU Freedom Files will go behind the headlines to tell their stories."

"The critical work that the ACLU is doing is the stuff of real drama," said Robert Greenwald of Brave New Films, executive producer of the series. "These are regular people, people who could be a neighbor, who have found themselves fighting to defend their constitutionally-guaranteed rights. These are important and powerful stories that we need to tell."

During first week in September, The ACLU Freedom Files launches with the premiere episode "Beyond The Patriot Act." As the House and Senate versions of the Patriot Act go to conference to create a final bill to be presented to the President, "Beyond The Patriot Act" highlights the importance of this legislation and urges members of Congress to take the time to act sensibly and bring the law back in line with the Constitution by restoring proper checks and balances.

The ACLU Freedom Files will air the second Thursday of each month across the country at 8:00 p.m. Eastern and again at 8:00 p.m. on the West coast. Utilizing what Greenwald refers to as "moving media," the dynamic new series will use interviews, documentary, comedy, drama, music and animation to directly engage and alert viewers to the importance of the issues currently facing the American public. Greenwald serves as series executive producer and Jeremy Kagan as co-executive producer. Series topics will include the Patriot Act, the Supreme Court, free speech and dissent, religious freedom, gay and lesbian rights, drug policy, racial profiling, women's rights, and youth freedoms.

The ACLU Freedom Files will premiere on Link TV, the first nationwide television channel dedicated to providing Americans with global perspectives on news, events and culture. Link TV is available to over 26 million U.S. homes that receive direct broadcast satellite television through DIRECTV and DISH Network satellite services. The ACLU Freedom Files will also be broadcast on Zilo TV, the college television network that provides programming to over 5.5 million college students nationwide.

On the Web, The ACLU Freedom Files will foster a new kind of "information activism" with the launch of its website www.aclu.tv. Like a DVD with extra features, the site will provide vital issue information for viewers, advocates and anyone who wants to learn more about civil liberties. It will also foster grassroots activism online and offline and educate teachers and students through curriculum guides and campus coordinator toolkits. The ACLU Freedom Files will also cultivate a grassroots network of podcasters, video bloggers and other web-savvy multimedia producers, to help pioneer new forms of "Do-It-Yourself" audio and video activism online.

Combining real stories and dynamic storytelling will create a powerful emotional effect that, Greenwald and Romero predict, will motivate viewers to action. Around each episode, the ACLU will hold screenings, house parties and events across the country. In addition, Zilo TV will produce and promote viewing parties featuring the series at select colleges and universities across the country.

DVDs of individual episodes of The ACLU Freedom Files will be made immediately available for purchase and information about each episode will also be available to the 1.2 million unique visitors to the ACLU website and more than 300,000 subscribers to its bi-weekly newsletter and Action Network alerts.

The ACLU Freedom Files features personal stories of average Americans, an entertaining format and the guiding vision of a respected and award-winning filmmaker. Through the powerful reach of satellite TV, blogs and the internet, the ACLU hopes to introduce more Americans, in particular young people and people living in rural America, to the ACLU's message of individual freedom and liberty.

For more information go to http://www.aclu.tv.


Robert Greenwald/Brave New Films

Robert Greenwald is the president of brave new films and the director/producer of Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism and Uncovered: The Iraq War. He is the executive producer of Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election and Unconstitutional: The War on Our Civil Liberties, which was produced in conjunction with the ACLU. Greenwald has produced and/or directed more than 50 television movies, miniseries and feature films. His films have garnered 25 Emmy nominations, four cable ACE Award nominations, two Golden Globe nominations, the Peabody Award, the Robert Wood Johnson Award, and eight Awards of Excellence from the Film Advisory Board. He was awarded the 2002 Producer of the Year Award by the American Film Institute and recently received the Liberty Hill Foundation's prestigious Upton Sinclair Award. He is currently working on the documentary Wal-Mart: The High Cost Of Low Price.

Jeremy Kagan

Jeremy Kagan is an internationally recognized director/writer/producer of feature films and television. Credits include the box-office hits Heroes, the political thriller The Big Fix, The Chosen, The Journey Of Natty Gann (Gold Prize Moscow Film Festival), Katherine: The Making Of An American Revolutionary and Conspiracy: The Trial Of The Chicago 8 (Cable ACE Best Dramatic Special). He has won an Emmy Award for Dramatic Series Directing and has worked on "The West Wing," Spielberg's "Taken," and won the 2004 Humanitas Award for his most recent film, Crown Heights. A USC professor, he has served as Artistic Director at the Sundance Institute and is on the national board of the Directors Guild.

The American Civil Liberties Union

The American Civil Liberties Union works daily in courts, legislature and communities to protect the individual liberties, rights and freedoms guaranteed in the Constitution and the laws of the United States. Founded in 1920, the ACLU is a nonpartisan, nongovernmental organization with more than 550,000 members. It has offices in all 50 states and employs more than 150 permanent staff attorneys and 2,000 cooperating attorneys, litigating more than 6,000 cases annually.

Link TV

Link TV is a non-commercial television network available in more than 26 million U.S. homes on DIRECTV channel 375 and DISH Network channel 9410. The 24-hour programming is a mix of documentaries, international news, foreign films and the best of World Music. The network recently received the first satellite-only Peabody Award for MOSAIC: World News from the Middle East, a daily news show featuring English translations of national television reports from more than 24 countries in the Middle East. Select Link TV programs are streamed on the Internet at www.linktv.org. Link TV is operated by Link Media, Inc., a California non-profit organization, with production studios in San Francisco, New York and Washington, DC. The network is funded by viewer contributions and grants from more than 25 foundations.