Manufacturing Consent

"Manufacturing Consent" is the first and only film about Noam Chomsky,
world renowned linguist, philosopher and social activist. As a boy during
the Depression he ran his uncle's newsstand in Manhattan. Today he is a
fiercely outspoken critic of The Press and one of America's leading
dissidents. His current bibliography contains over 800 entries, including
more than 70 books. According to citation indexes in the Arts, Humanities
and Social Sciences, Chomsky is the most-cited living author and ranks in
the top ten ever -just behind Shakespeare, Plato and Freud.  When Bill
Moyers had him on the PBS "World Of Ideas" series, Chomsky's interview
generated more requests for transcripts than any other guest in the 50
program series.

Though Chomsky was once described in The New York Times Book Review as
"arguably the most important intellectual alive," in the film, he is quick
to deflate the pomposity of that claim. He is simply a man with the moral
courage to state his beliefs openly, aligning his values and visions with
the so-called "ordinary" person.  Now, more than ever, these are qualities
necessary to preserve a civil society-of which public broadcasting is a
major component.

Funny, challenging, but surprisingly accessible, "Manufacturing Consent"
explores Chomsky's political life and his probing analysis of the media. In
a dynamic collage of original footage, archival gems and imaginative
illustrations, this epic, award-winning film stands light on its feet,
favoring a contemporary, engaging style.

Media in the 20th Century are omnipresent and, some would claim,
omnipotent. "Manufacturing Consent"  encourages discussion about the state
of media and the media state. Chomsky's analysis focuses on the theory and
practice of propaganda in democratic societies where populations not
disciplined by force are subjected to more subtle forms of ideological
control. He reveals how mainstream news coverage of world events mobilizes
public support for the "special interests" that dominate society through a
process he calls "the manufacture of consent."

Drawing on wide-ranging and persuasive examples-and two compelling
case-studies (the media's role in the Gulf War, and the suppression of
information about East Timor) the film shows how information must be
filtered to serve powerful, and too-often private, agendas. As a
counterbalance to the daily dose of info-overload, Chomsky encourages
people to extricate themselves from this "web of deceit" by undertaking "a
course of intellectual self-defense." He argues that the alternative media
are more democratic, offering citizens greater participation in social and
political life.

To create "Manufacturing Consent" the filmmakers traveled with Chomsky
through 7 countries and 23 cities. They witnessed a tireless and gentle man
challenging, and being challenged by, the public and the press. Out of more
than 120 hours of original footage and images gathered from 185 archival
sources, they have created an informative, yet amusing mosaic portrait.

The film includes an international array of journalists and several of
Chomsky's critics. PBS's Bill Moyers, Robert MacNeil and William F. Buckley
Jr., author Tom Wolfe, conservative John Silber, and New York Times
editorial writer Karl E. Meyer are interviewed about, comment on, or debate
with, Chomsky. Also appearing: ABC's Peter Jennings, Executive VP of CNN,
Ed Turner, Nightline Producer Jeff Greenfield, and several alternative
media activists including Alternative Radio's David Barsamian and Z
Magazine's Michael Albert and Lydia Sargent.

"Manufacturing Consent" has become a phenomenal world-wide documentary hit.
Invited to more than 50 international film festivals, it has won 15 awards,
including four Gold Awards in Nyon, Chicago, Bombay, and the National
Educational Film and Video Festival, three Public's Choice Prizes, and two
International Press Prizes.

The film has toured theaters in the United States, Australasia, Canada and
Europe, grossing over $1.2 million (CDN) in more than 300 cities worldwide.
In the US it played to packed theaters in over 230 cities.  Many screenings
have been standing-room-only. In its opening week in San Francisco it was
the city's #2 grossing film-second only to "Indecent Proposal". In Paris,
"Chomsky, les medias et les illusions necessaires" has been playing for
more than a year. The film has been versioned into French, Japanese,
German, Italian and Spanish and broadcast by 15 national TV networks,
including Britain's Channel 4 , the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, SBS
in Australia, many of Europe's public systems and in Taiwan. In Canada, the
companion book to the film became a national bestseller. (Mark Achbar, ed.,
Black Rose Books, 1994)

"Manufacturing Consent" has generated over 350 pages of press-running about
97% positive. The New York Post gave it four stars, calling it "meticulous"
"playful" "innovative" and "a shock to the system." The Washington Post
said it was "well-supported, confidently reasoned, imaginatively presented
and, without a doubt, seductive." Variety (where it was on the list of the
50 top-grossing films for 6 weeks) described it as "insightful,
informative, accessible and surprisingly entertaining." Rolling Stone:
"Excellent".  The Nation: "fast-paced and funny, with a warm and endearing
character at the center." The Hollywood Reporter called it "eye opening,
mind-expanding entertainment at its best."  The Village Voice marveled that
the film is "a feat...draws young and old and holds them rapt." Vincent
Canby of The New York Times weighed in with "an invigorating introduction
to one of the least soporific of American minds."

For the Public Television broadcast the film will be presented in a special
2-hour version. The full length (165 min.), educational and home video
versions, along with an illustrated, 270 page companion book to the film
are now being distributed by Zeitgeist Films in New York , tel: (212)
274-1989, fax: (212) 274-1644.  There is also a toll free number:
1-800-MANU-CON (1-800-626-8266).

For details about how your Public TV station can tap into CEN's U.S.
broadcast premiere of "Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media,"
please have the program manager of your local public television station
check the CPM dacs for the May 1st offer or have them call the Central
Educational Network at (708) 390-8704.

The right wing has mobilized its enormous financial and logistical support
to pressure PBS to stay clear of programs like "Manufacturing Consent" and
other films with progressive agendas.  Public TV stations are hearing from
the Christian Coalition, the American Family Association and televangelists
like Jerry Falwell & Pat Robertson.  Are they hearing from you?

We sure hope so.

Sincerely,

Mark Achbar / Peter Wintonick
Co-producers / Co-directors
"Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media"

NECESSARY ILLUSIONS
PETER WINTONICK, FRANCIS MIQUET
24 MOUNT-ROYAL WEST, SUITE # 1008
MONTREAL, QC CANADA H2T 2S2
TEL: (514) 287-7337 FAX: (514) 287-7620
E-MAIL: necillu@cam.org

NECESSARY ILLUSIONS WEST
MARK ACHBAR
1826 WEST 14TH AVE.
VANCOUVER, BC CANADA V6J 2J9
TEL: (604) 736-6350 FAX: (604) 736-6352
E-MAIL: mark_achbar@mindlink.bc.ca

"Manufacturing Consent" was co-produced by Necessary Illusions and the
world-renowned National Film Board of Canada.

(This document taken from http://www.crl.com/~jeffj/manconsent
on Sun Oct 22 06:21:36 EDT 1995)