As some of you know, Annabel Park and I directed a film called 9500 Liberty which is being talked about right now because events in our film mirror the controversy unfolding in the state of Arizona. Annabel and I wanted to make clear that when we speak about immigration in general, and about local enforcement of federal immigration law in particular, we are representing ourselves as independent filmmakers. We are not speaking for Coffee Party USA.
Like most other Americans, we have our opinions on matters of public policy. But as we have said before, if we had limited Coffee Party to the political opinions of only our earliest members, we would have missed out on the creative and intellectual contributions of a wide spectrum of Americans who believe in fact-based, civil dialogue about America's future.
Below is a video that best encapsulates what we learned from making 9500 Liberty. And below that is a press release that went out today.
Film on "Probable Cause" Immigration Checks to Screen on Capitol Hill Tonight
Filmmaker Annabel Park to address Congress members, Staffers
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 22, 2010
(Washington) - The Congressional Tri-Caucus will host a screening of the award-winning documentary 9500 LIBERTY tonight at 6:30 PM at the Rayburn Building. The film chronicles the political, social, and economic impacts of Prince William County, VA's short-lived "probable cause" standard for immigration status checks.
When: Thursday, April 22, 2010 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Where: Rayburn Building Room 2167, 50 Independence Ave SW, Washington
Annabel Park, who recently founded the Coffee Party movement, co-directed the film which began as an "interactive documentary" series on YouTube in October of 2007. The feature-length film has won three film festival awards since its premiere last fall, and is receiving added attention in light of a similar "probable cause" law passed by the Arizona legislature. Both laws were drafted by Immigration Reform Law Institute attorney Michael Hethmon, who is interviewed in 9500 LIBERTY after defending the controversial legislation before Linda Chavez and the United States Commission on Civil Rights.
Park stressed that her appearance on Capitol Hill today is as an independent filmmaker, not as a spokesperson for the Coffee Party, but she said in the future she does plan to discuss the immigration issue with Coffee Party members and contributors nationwide.
