American INSIGHT's Free Speech Film Festival Set for 5/16

American INSIGHT's first annual Free Speech Film Festival on Wednesday, May 16, 2012, will take place in the Benjamin Franklin Hall of the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, PA. Creative filmmakers from 16 nations around the world entered their work as a response to the subject of Free Speech. The Festival has been created and developed over a period of six years by founder and chairman, Margaret Chew Barringer, and over fifteen university students enrolled in American INSIGHT’s Internship Program, based upon their detailed research into the history of Free Speech.

We know that the essence of Free Speech is self-expression. “We are the ones who give words power, and our voices communicate our experiences to the world,” says American INSIGHT Board member, Jake Paine.

American INSIGHT's Free Speech Film Festival is a goodwill, grassroots, sustainable program that unites celebrity judges, students, scholars, educators and the general public in conversations about the past, present and future of FreeSpeech.

The mission of the Free Speech Film Festival is to promote Free Speech, not war. Topics submitted in 2012 include censorship, resistance, inequality, courage, change, and hope.

Free Speech Film Festival Celebrity Presenters for 2012 thus far are: CNN, BBC and PBS commentator on politics and international affairs, Anne-Marie Slaughter; Executive Director of ALCU-PA, Reggie Shuford; former CNN Bureau Chief and veteran producer of broadcast news, Karen Curry; and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, C.K.Williams.

Tickets are on sale now at FreeSpeechFilmFestival.org. All tickets will be sold online, on a first-come, first-served basis. No tickets will be sold at the door.

A private reception for Donors and Celebrity Presenters begins at 5 PM. Celebrity presentations begin at 7 PM. Screening of the final award-winning film begins at 8 PM, and the Free Speech Film Festival 2012 Award will be presented at 9:00 PM.

The American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia was founded in 1743 by Benjamin Franklin. The building is adjacent to Independence Hall, and across the street from the Liberty Bell. American INSIGHT's mission is to produce, promote and distribute historical documentaries, and to broaden exposure to historical information through the use of emerging technologies.

The Free Speech Film Festival is an American INSIGHT program developed to honor today’s global Free Speech movement. American INSIGHT is a nonprofit cultural institution that has featured Free Speech and the Spoken Word since 1983.

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