(thanks wayne)

Coming Tuesday the 12th of August, the documentary China Prep will be broadcasted by PBS – Wideangle at 9 PM (ET). The film is produced by the Dutch company Submarine (www.submarine.nl) and originally made for an European audience. A co-production with the American PBS made that a different version of the film will be presented to an American television audience. And although the American version is different than I would present it to an European audience, I am proud to announce it and hope you will have a chance to watch it. It was an enriching experience to work on the film. We had the chance to follow the daily lives of 5 very smart Chinese kids in Chongqing, Central China, during their final exam year in highschool.

Hope everything is well and I’m always curious to hear what your thoughts on the film are…

More info: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/episodes/china-prep/introduction/810/

Best Marije

Press release:

WIDE ANGLE: China Prep
Tuesday, August 12 at 9 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings)

As the world’s attention turns to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, WIDE ANGLE reports on how the next generation of Chinese leaders is being molded. China Prep follows five Chinese students through their final high-pressure year at an elite high school in Sichuan Province. Eighteen hundred students vie for spots in Beijing’s top two universities. Last year only 59 made it. Studying Monday through Saturday from 7:00 am to 11:00 pm, the students’ lives are regimented almost every minute of the day as they prepare for the end-of-year exam that can determine their fate. For many students from poor or rural backgrounds, a strong performance on the test is the only way to climb the social ladder and excel without connections. Competition is fierce and the majority of high school seniors will be relegated to vocational schools. We meet Zhang Lie, who wants to study law and become a Communist Party elite like her father; Mei Jiachin, a genius mathematician from a farming family; Chen Zhibo, a misfit science student with big plans to become China’s Bill Gates; and Gao Mengjia, a dedicated student who loves money and aspires to be a hedge fund manager. Nicknamed the “I want” generation by the Chinese press, these only children – the sole focus of their parents’ and grandparents’ nurturing under China’s one-child policy – will be the new class of corporate managers, lawyers, and civil servants who are expected to propel 21st century China to surpass the United States as the largest economy in the world. How do the ambitions of these teenagers reflect the realities of today and tomorrow’s China? Who among them will be most likely to succeed – the daughter of the Party official or the farmer’s son? Who will be the boss?

At the conclusion of the film, WIDE ANGLE host Aaron Brown will speak with Vanessa Fong, author of Only Hope: Coming of Age Under China’s One-Child Policy and assistant professor at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education.

credits
directed by Marije Meerman
interviews & research by Floris Jan van Luyn
camera by Maasja Ooms
sound by Rik Meier
edited by Gigi Wong
music by Coparck
produced by Janneke vd Kerkhof
production by Bruno Felix & Femke Wolting (Submarine)

UPDATE: Check your local listings for the TV Show called “Wide Angle”. The show is playing at different times in different markets.

Maybe the reason we often avoid politics as a culture is because often people take things personally and feelings get hurt. We have to get past that.

This has been a healthy debate. When I consider that just a few weeks ago I was complaining that nobody was twittering of substance, I am amazed.

People are taking this stuff seriously which is good. But we can’t take it personally or,I feel, we will shy away from political topics in the future. This allows other people to decide our fate.

So, I appreciate (I can’t say enjoy) the debate and hope it continues. But please keep in mind that anyone who informs themselves and is earnestly doing the best they can in a democratic process deserves respect for doing so.

I don’t know if that makes sense.

Studs Terkel has often said, “They say you shouldn’t talk about politics or religion, but that means you can’t talk about life!” I agree with that

July 17th, 2007

Friends,

The mighty CNN, in a lengthy and sad online defense of their woe-begotten ‘Sicko’ story of last Monday ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpKoN40K7mA ), has admitted that they did indeed fudge at least two of the facts in their coverage of my film and have apologized for it:

1. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN: “To be clear, I got a number wrong in my original report, substituting the number 25, instead of 251.” — My Conversation with Michael Moore, July 11th, 2007 ( http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/blogs/paging.dr.gupta/2007/07/my-conversation-with-michael-moore.html ); and

2. CNN: “Moore is correct. Paul Keckley left Vanderbilt in late 2006.” — CNN’s Response to Michael Moore, July 15th, 2007 ( http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Movies/07/15/moore.gupta/index.html ).

Furthermore, CNN confirmed that all of our statistics in “Sicko” are the correct numbers from the sources we cited. Although CNN still prefers to use older World Health Organization statistics, we will stick to using this year’s Bush administration stats and more recent U.N. data. (In “Sicko,” we consistently use only U.N. Human Development Statistics unless it’s for studies they don’t do or have recent numbers for.) CNN did apologize for these two factual errors, but no apology seems to be coming for the rest of their errors. These days, to get the mainstream media to admit they were wrong is rare; to get them to admit it twice, as they have with “Sicko,” I guess should be considered a whopping victory. Will they eventually apologize for the rest, or for their reporting on the war? Will the Cubs win the World Series this year?

So the truce has been signed, the peace pipe has been smoked. And the public is left with a much more cautious and wary eye when it comes to CNN. To be fair, this is what happens when you have to grind out “news” 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with a staff you have shrunk through layoffs over the years (like all the broadcast networks have done). You end up rushed and having interns do your research. You have robots replace live camera operators. And, if you’re CNN, you are constantly dodging the accusation that you are “too liberal.” So when you do a piece on someone like me, you have to make sure you add superfluous and standard ad hominems attacking me simply to prove that you are NOT too liberal. I get it.

Until the last month or so, I have not appeared on a single national TV show for nearly 2 and 1/2 years. After the attacks I had to endure three years ago, from a media intent on questioning my patriotism because I dared to speak out against the war when none in the media would, I decided I had had enough and would simply concentrate on making my next film. I had no desire to participate in networks that were complicit in the war because of their refusal the challenge the commander in chief.

I have to admit, though, I do feel kinda bad taking it all out on Wolf Blitzer. It’s not like he’s the official representative of the mainstream media. I mean, he’s from Buffalo, for crying out loud! He said to me at the end of the show last week to please come back on “anytime you want.” I will take him up on that offer and appear again with him tomorrow (Wednesday). I’m not expecting a dozen roses or make-up sex — I only want a promise that there will be no more distorted distractions so we can have a decent discussion about the REAL issues like why 18,000 Americans die every year because they don’t have a health insurance card. More than 300 of them died this week. As Ehrlichman said to Nixon in “Sicko”: “The less care they give ‘em, the more money they (the insurance companies) make.”

THAT’S the only thing we should be talking about. How profit and greed are killing our fellow Americans. How profit and private insurance have to be removed from our health care system. CNN should join me in asking why our 9/11 rescue workers aren’t receiving medical care. Somebody should send a crew to Canada to find out why they live longer than we do, and why no Canadian has ever gone bankrupt because of medical bills. And all of the media should start saying how much it costs to go to a doctor in these other top industrialized countries: Nothing. Zip. It’s FREE. Don’t patronize Americans by saying, “Well, it’s not free — they pay for it with taxes!” Yes, we know that. Just like we know that we drive down a city street for FREE — even though we paid for that street with our taxes. The street is FREE, the book at the library is FREE, if your house catches on fire, the fire department will come and put it out for FREE, and if someone snatches your purse, the police officer will chase down the culprit and bring your purse back to you — AND HE WON’T CHARGE YOU A DIME FROM THAT PURSE!

These are all free services, collectively socialized and paid for with our tax dollars. To argue that health care — a life and death issue for many — should not be considered in the same league is ludicrous and archaic. And trust me, once you add up what you pay for out-of-pocket in premiums, deductibles, co-pays, overpriced medicines, and treatments that aren’t covered (not to mention all the other things we pay for like college education, day care and other services that many countries provide for at little or no cost), we, as Americans, are paying far more than the Canadians or Brits or French are paying in taxes. We just don’t call these things taxes, but that’s exactly what they are.

See you all when I’m back on CNN tomorrow — where the discussion will be not be about whose statistics are right, but rather about the guy without insurance who died while I was writing this letter.

Yours,
Michael Moore
mmflint@aol.com

http://www.michaelmoore.com/

P.S. Oh… I forgot to tell you about Paris Hilton. Apparently cooped up for too long at home since getting out of jail, she decided to head out for a night on the town. But where does she go? Clubbing? Cruising down the Strip? No! She and her sister decide to go see “Sicko.” ( http://mail.ywww.tmz.com/2007/07/10/paris-loses-sis-in-pap-crush/ ). Now THAT’S news! So, no more bad words about Paris Hilton!

His achievement required political clout, and that, too, is on display. Soon after he formed Citigroup, Congress repealed a Depression-era law that prohibited goliaths like the one Weill had just put together anyway, combining commercial and investment banking, insurance and stock brokerage operations. A trophy from the victory – a pen that President Bill Clinton used to sign the repeal – hangs, framed, near the covers.

source

Be brave man, take a stand. You can’t be the Progressive Candidate without getting on board the equality train all the way.