Songs of War: Musical Torture

The concept of having a song in your head, completely changes the moment you are forced to listen to it over and over again. Could you imagine what a damage a sweet, innocent, childish, television show can bring in times of war? And how music can drive you crazy? Al-Jazeera produced a shocking documentary about the use of music to torture prisoners. In the documentary, the composer of Sesame Street songs, Christopher Cerf, is investigating the use of his songs in for example Guantanamo Bay. He is confused that his creations are being used to torture people for hours and hours.

Torture through music is used to make prisoners speak during interrogations and to make them alienated and unable to think. The documentary is also touching upon the fact that Sesame Street music was used before as a torture technique in 2003 to prisoners from Iraq. The film includes an in-depth interview with Moazzam Begg, also interviewed in Shaker: A Decade of Injustice, about his time in Guantanamo and the use of torture and music.
Worth watching.

Watch the whole documentary here.

Interested in more about Guantanamo Bay?

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Shaker: A Decade of Injustice Trailer


Spectacle is pleased to announce that the official Shaker: A Decade of Injustice Trailer is online. Spread the word and get Shaker Aamer out of Guantanamo!

Watch the full film here:Shaker: A Decade of Injustice Film

February 2012 marked the tenth anniversary of the last British resident, Shaker Aamer’s capture, extraordinary rendition and incarceration in the notorious prison Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.  The controversial detention camp is universally known for its systematic use of torture and indefinite detention.  Having never been charged with a single crime Shaker Aamer has been cleared for release twice by both the Bush and Obama administrations in 2004 and 2009, and yet the reason why he is still imprisoned remains unclear. After years in solitary confinement, Shaker Aamer’s physical and mental state is rapidly deteriorating.

Saudi-born Shaker Aamer lived in Battersea, South West London with his wife and four children. He was captured shortly after 9/11in Afghanistan while he was voluntarily helping to build a school. During this time the United States were offering $5000 per suspect given to them. The alleged original reasons for his capture, his supposed ties with Al-Quaeda, have been dismissed due to lack of evidence.

Shaker Aamer: A Decade of Injustice recounts the story of his unlawful imprisonment, of the torture he has endured and the campaign that is being fought for his freedom. It outlines the possible reason why he hasn’t been released, these include his status in Guantanamo Bay as a leader and spokesperson for the other prisoners, his allegations of the UK governments complicity in his torture, and what he may have witnessed the night of the multiple “Guantanamo suicides”.

This short film (17 minutes) includes interviews with former Guantanamo Bay detainees (Moazzam Begg, Omar Deghayes, Martin Mubanga), his American lawyer Clive Stafford Smith (director of Reprieve), his local MP Jane Ellison, amongst other campaigners, journalists and human rights lawyers. It also features exclusive footage of the ongoing fight for his return taking place in London.

Shaker Aamer: A Decade of Injustice was filmed over the past three years documenting the story of the campaign to free him, their struggle, and the wider political implications of his incarceration. As years went on and nothing changed, the necessity to make the film became more urgent.

Spectacle is engaged in making investigative, community-led documentary films touching on issues such as urbanism, racism and radical philosophy. Outside the Law: Stories from GuantanamoThe Truth Lies In Rostock and The Battle of Trafalgar are some of the titles Spectacle has released since it started in the ’90s.

Order Spectacle’s DVD Outside The Law: Stories from Guantánamo

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PLEASE DONATE – BOOKCHIN ON BOOKCHIN

BOOKCHIN ON BOOKCHIN is an independent feature-length documentary about the life and times of American political thinker Murray Bookchin, who made history as the founder of the social ecology movement.

Our aim is to make a film that deeply explores the influences and experiences that have helped shape one of the most unique and distinctive voices in modern political thinking. The documentary will explore the development of Murray’s politics through his personal experiences.

We have been granted unparalleled access to Bookchin, including exclusive interview footage.
We are in the process of making the film, but need your help in order to complete it.

Please help us make this film with a donation, no matter how small. We need a lot of people who share our belief in the importance of Murray’s ideas to make a small contribution to make this well overdue film happen.

Please help make it happen and visit the INDIEGOGO site.

Thanks for visiting our page and we hope you enjoy what you find!

Like the BOOKCHIN ON BOOKCHIN Facebook page!

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Nederlanders! Help de documentaire BOOKCHIN ON BOOKCHIN bestaan!

BOOKCHIN ON BOOKCHIN is een onafhankelijke documentaire over het leven en de tijd waarin de Amerikaanse politiek denker Murray Bookchin leefde. Hij heeft geschiedenis geschreven als de grondlegger van de sociale ecologische beweging. Ons doel is om een film te maken dat in de diepte onderzoekt welke invloeden en ervaringen hebben geholpen om een van de meest unieke en onderscheidende denkbeelden in de modern politiek te vormen.

De documentaire zal de ontwikkelingen op het gebied van Murray’s politiek denken onderzoeken die zijn gevormd door zijn persoonlijke ervaringen. Al zijn ideeën zijn vast gelegd op uren van film, een paar jaar voordat hij stierf, door film maker Mark Saunders. Wij hebben toegang tot onschatbare informatie dat ondermeer bestaat uit exclusieve interviews die zijn gefilmd in zijn huis in Vermont en zijn laatste openbare optreden in Montreal. Murray was terughouden in deelname aan alles dat met persoonlijkheid verheerlijking te maken had, maar zijn biografie dekt cruciale momenten in de ontwikkelingen van radicale politieke activiteiten en plaatst de latere ontwikkelingen in zijn leven en de stroming ‘Sociale Ecologie’ in context.

Wij zijn bezig met het maken van de film, maar hebben uw hulp nodig om het af te maken. Hartelijk dank voor het bezoeken van onze pagina en we hopen dat u het interessant vindt wat u vindt. Mocht u het net als ons een waardevol project vinden, uw donatie wordt zeer op prijs gesteld en brengt ons einddoel een stukje dichterbij. Dank u wel!

Mark Saunder is een prijswinnende onafhankelijke film maker, media activist en schrijver. Zijn expertise dekt ruim twee decennia. Momenteel is hij eigenaar van Spectacle Productions. Spectacle Productions is een onafhankelijk media productie bedrijf gevestigd in London. Wij zijn begaan met maatschappelijke problemen en ontwikkelingen en onze films zijn bestaan uit een uiteenlopend aantal onderwerpen. Kijk voor meer informatie op onze website.

Klanten van Spectacle zijn onder andere: Amnesty International, Channel 4, the Rowntree Foundation, the Howard League for Penal Reform en vele anderen.

Het Spectacle Team.

Bezoek onze Indiegogopage en help!

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Peaceful Protest: a letter from Shaker Aamer – 15th July 2011

From Guantanamo detainee to his lawyer (Ramzi Kassem law Professor at City University of New York) addressed to the Guantanamo Governor, President Obama and the US Government.

” I, the signatory below, in Camp 5E (Five Echo) announce the start of a peaceful protest/hunger strike for the reasons enumerated below.

1) The opening and continuing operation of this unjust detention facility for the 9th year of my continuing and indefinite detention in the absence of any real accusation or crimes committed. Therefore I am hostage.

2) The inhumane treatment and deprivation of some of the items we are truly in need of, most importantly of which, are the family calls since they are the most crucial to our families, especially to those experiencing special circumstances.

Therefore I want these calls to take place on a continuing basis and recur once every 15 days. These family calls ought to last no less than 2 hours with further consideration given to those experiencing special circumstances. I also speak for the regular mail to be made more efficient and provide us with email.

3) The inhumane treatment is taking place at the hospital among other areas especially affecting the sick and those who are on strike and our deprivation of real treatment, health, diet and appropriate clothing which are not provided for us nor are we allowed to provide them for ourselves.

4) Not upholding the promise that both your President and Government gave on 01/21/2009 concerning the closing of Guantanamo detention facility, very few people have left ever since, although many here have been deemed to not represent any danger for the United States. Therefore, I ask you to establish justice and remove the injustice that has befallen us and our brothers in all detention centers.

By submitting these demands, I affirm our right to life. We want our freedom and the right to return to our homes since I am innocent of the charges (if there were any) you have levied against us. I ask that you establish justice that you claim to be a foundation of your country.

After these years of hardship we have spent here – and which I manage to do only through the grace of God, otherwise I would have lost my sanity – I want you to consider my case as soon as possible and give me the right to a just and public trial or set me free without conditions.

Shaker Aamer ISN 329″

Following this letter, Shaker Aamer was instrumental in organising a peaceful hunger strike and protest in Guantanamo on the tenth anniversary of the opening of the prison on January 11th 2012

Spectacle has made a short film about Shaker Aamer to mark the 10th anniversary of his incarceration. Watch Spectacle’s new video on Shaker Aamer and please sign the petition @ www.freeshaker.com. Get him out of Guantanamo!

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Shocking: New report from Shaker Aamer’s lawyers “They want me harmed”


Spectacle has made this short film about Shaker Aamer to mark the 10th anniversary of his incarceration. Watch Spectacle’s new video on Shaker Aamer and please sign the petition @ www.freeshaker.com. Get him out of Guantanamo!

Ramzi Kassem, Professor of Law at City University of New York and lawyer, is one of Shaker Aamer’s US attorneys. These notes, recently unclassified, were made during his visit to Shaker on Shaker on January 27th 2012.

They record Shaker’s words.

“I am being mistreated because I refuse to comply in the face of injustice. Prison authorities keep telling me that I have to become ‘compliant.’ I reply that it is they who have to become compliant.  It is a constant 24 hour struggle. They force me to fight every step of the way. I’m a free man. Don’t try to humiliate me.”

CONDITIONS IN CAMP FIVE ECHO
From July 15th to December 3rd 2011, Shaker was held in total solitary confinement in Camp 5 Echo, – a punishment block for prisoners who are regarded as not compliant or who have too much influence over their fellow prisoners. The cells are half the size of the cells elsewhere, allowing for very little room to kneel for prayers. The cells contain only a steel bed, a squat toilet and two taps. Shaker was confined to his cell for 22 hours day and night with only 2 hours in the recreation yard from 6am to 8am.

“… the squat toilet is difficult to use, there are foul odors, bright lights shine on detainees and air conditioners keep it extremely cold. It is decrepit, filthy and disgusting.”

SLEEP DEPRIVATION
Shaker described the sleep deprivation methods used by the guards, including regularly shining a flashlight in his face and liberally spreading detergent around which filled his cell with a strong smell “so that he couldn’t breathe…so many ways Lucifer can think of… speaking loudly though the night with all kinds of noises- cleaning ,moving things, shaking the locks of the cells, turning the lights on and off…..sleeping in the light..no darkness to sleep..”

DENIAL OF BASIC NEEDS
Another method of punishment was to remove basic comfort items such as combs, toothbrush, and nail clippers. On January 27th, Shaker said, “Today is the first day I take a shower since 3/12/2011 and shave because I am coming to see you.”

Previously he has had to “shower from the toilet, I take water and shower from the same place I take shit”.

Even the Styrofoam plastic cups were banned.

“I have to drink my hot coffee and tea from water bottles.”

FURTHER ABUSE IN CAMP FIVE
On December 3rd, Shaker was moved out of Camp 5 Echo back to Camp 5. However, the punishment continued. Shaker states that he was prohibited from having toothpaste and toilet paper in case he used them to cover the camera in his cell, which monitored his every move.

DAILY FORCED CELL EXTRACTIONS
Every day, from Dec 3rd to his lawyer’s visit on January 27th, Shaker states that he was subjected to “Forced Cell Extractions.” This is a form of cruel treatment used to confuse and disorientate prisoners, often called “frequent flying” and carried out with violence.

“I got beaten up on my knee and my finger is almost broken. Swelled for a few days… they refused to give me any treatment not even a knee brace. Bruises and swelling all over my body. Squeezing my neck so bad I could not breathe. Try to break my hand and fingers. Pressure on my back, stomach and chest, so much pressure. Tight, the plastic cuffs, so tight the blood circulation stop.”

SHAKER IS DENIED MEDICAL CARE
Clive Stafford Smith, Director of the legal charity Reprieve, listed Shaker’s many serious medical problems in his letter to Foreign Secretary William Hague following his visit to Shaker on November 17th 2011. He stated that Shaker was “gradually dying in Guantanamo.” Shaker states that he had received, “No privacy, no medical care whatsoever” in Camp Five Echo.
Shaker’s account to Ramzi Kassem in January 27th ended with this shocking account of his fears for his life.

“THEY WANT ME HARMED”
“Since 3/12/2011, when they moved me out of 5 Echo, I am going to rec. alone and I haven’t seen my doctor for long time and I refuse to take any meds. from the medical staff. I am very worried about my health and my life in this place. I feel so vulnerable and any time they can do anything to me no one knows.”

I have been on hunger strike since 15/7/2011 and my weight went from 208 pounds to 148 pounds but they did not give me the tube to feed me so I start to eat fruit and salad sometimes so I don’t harm my body. I have no doubt they want me to be harmed.

One thing I know for sure if something bad happen to me it happens with the hand of the American. I will never harm myself. I have a wife and kids I want to go back to. Anything happen to me, they done it.   There is so much to say about the evil they do in this place, specially the small things that no one pay attention to it, but one thing you just need to know:

” They control the air we breathe. Control the light, control the noise, control the food, control the water. The control everything and they use it against me any time they want. All that you need to know about this place you just need to read 1984 by George Orwell. I swear to my only Lord there is no human being in this place. Guards with no feeling, they do what they are told, regardless of anything.”

URGENT APPEAL FOR SHAKER AAMER’S RETURN
It is unlikely that conditions have improved for Shaker Aamer since this report of January 27th. Every day he continues to be abused and tortured. Shaker is in fear for his life. His only wish is to be allowed to return to his wife and family in the UK before “anything happens to him.”
Shaker Aamer has been imprisoned in Guantanamo in the harshest of conditions for over ten years, despite having been cleared for release since 2007.

Please do all you can to save Shaker Aamer, his life is in danger.
Time is running out for Shaker. Please join our campaign to demand his return to end his appalling abuse and torture.

Joy Hurcombe
Chair the Save Shaker Aamer Campaign
29.4.2012

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Bookchin on Bookchin needs your support!

Our second update on the the workers movement and social domination. Murray Bookchin’s concerns and thoughts on oppression.

Watch the second update clip here!

Please contribute to this important project.

Spread the word, tell your friends and colleagues, share our video on Facebook, blog about the project and Tweet. Anything you can do to help spread the word will be of tremendous service and is enourmously appreciated. If you can’t spare any money, then share your thoughts. All feedback and comments are more than welcome.
You can reach us at BookchinBiog@spectacle.co.uk. Feel free to email us with any questions or comments you have. We know how important it is to have all your questions answered, so just get in touch and ask away! We’ll answer all emails promptly.

Visit our Indiegogo page and support!

 

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Help Spectacle’s documentary BOOKCHIN ON BOOKCHIN happen!

BOOKCHIN ON BOOKCHIN

The compelling story of an American political thinker, philosopher, writer, social ecologist and anarchist.

Bookchin’s story can and should be told to the world. And you can be a part of this project. Support BOOKCHIN ON BOOKCHIN during our Indiegogo campaign and help us reach our goal and beyond!

BOOKCHIN ON BOOKCHIN is an independent feature-length documentary about the life and times of American political thinker Murray Bookchin, who made history as the founder of the social ecology movement. Our aim is to make a film that deeply explores the influences and experiences that have helped shape one of the most unique and distinctive voices in modern political thinking. The documentary will explore the development of Murray’s politics through his personal experiences, drawing off hours and hours of filming. We have been granted unparalleled access to Bookchin, including exclusive interview footage at his home in Vermont and his final public appearance in Montreal. Murray was reticent to engage in anything that smacked of the personality cult but his biography covers key points in the development of radical politics and sets in context the “Social Ecology” of his later life. We are in the process of making the film, but need your help in order to complete it. Thanks for visiting our page and we hope you enjoy what you find!

”Perhaps the most compelling real fact that radicals in our era have not adequately faced is the fact that capitalism today has become a society, not only an economy” Bookchin 1991.


Murray Bookchin (1921-2006) was a pioneer of the ecology movement, and was a significant social theorist on the Left throughout his life. He was an anti-capitalist and an advocate for the decentralization of society along ecological and democratic lines. He called for alternative energies and wrote prophetically about pesticides, cancer and obesity. His writing on anarchism, specially his 1971 book Post-Scarcity Anarchism, lifted and sustained the movement from the 19th century into the 21st century. His life paralleled major American and international events, such as the Great Depression, World War II, the Vietnam War and the counterculture movement. We’ll ask how a large part of the 20th century, with all that’s come and gone, has helped shape his thoughts and theories. In 2006 Bookchin died after a long and active life as a revolutionary, being deeply involved in the labor movement, in the civil rights movement, in urban activism, and in Green politics. In 1974 he co-founded the Institute for Social Ecology. In 1992 the british newspaper The Independent, referred to him as ”the foremost Green philosopher of the age.” It called his 1982 book The Ecology of Freedom one of the ”classic statements of contemporary anarchism.”

His books include Our Synthetic Environment, The Spanish Anarchists, Towards an  Ecological Society, The Ecology of Freedom and The Limits of the City.




The director of BOOKCHIN ON BOOKCHIN is Mark Saunders, an award-winning independent film-maker, media activist and writer. His expertise in the field spans over two decades. He is currently running Spectacle Productions, an independent London-based production company which he founded in 1990. Clients include Amnesty International, Channel 4, the Rowntree Foundation, the Howard League for Penal Reform and many others. Previous film credits include: The Truth Lies in Rostock, The Battle of Trafalgar, Exodus from Babylon and Despite the City. His films have been broadcast internationally and exhibited at galleries, including Tate Britain, the National Film Theatre, the Institute of Contemporary Art, Musee des Beaux-Arts,  the National Media Museum and the Photographers Gallery. 




Why should you help us make this movie?
We think it’s important that Murray Bookchin is preserved on film; sharing his thoughts, telling us his stories and showing us a side of himself very few people have had the opportunity to see. You are supporting a truly independent documentary about a remarkable man who believed political movement at a local level was necessary, anticipating the global protests that have since swept our screens. This past year alone, the Arab Spring, the Occupy Movement, environmental and student protests worldwide have demanded change. In a climate of pervading political and social dissatisfaction, Murray’s thoughts and theories have as much resonance today as they did back then.

Murray Bookchin was a  theorist of the anti-globalisation movement before its time, an ecological visionary, an advocate for direct action and a polemicist. He believed in the unconventional, the non-traditional, hence us looking for a funding platform that allows us the independence and freedom to make a documentary faithful to ours and Murray’s vision. Indiegogo provided just this; it made it possible to reach out to Murray Bookchin followers all over the world. On the right you’ll see the pledge levels with corresponding rewards. You can donate to our documentary and in return receive some fantastic rewards. We have a project we believe in and now need your help to make it a reality! 



How your contribution will help


We are an independent non-profit group and all funding and support will be used to cover production costs for our film. We’ve had no commissioning money and no access to conventional funding. Every dollar we raise will go towards:


* Post-production Editing and Mastering.

* We have hours and hours of exclusive footage and the only way to finish this film (and give it that award-winning touch) is to hire an editor to work on it full time. This will include Color Correction and Sound Mixing.

* Music rights.

* Archive material – we need to cover the huge costs of acquiring licensing rights to what we consider key historical moments, significant elements to his story.

* 
Marketing, promotion and awareness.

* To organize and host local screenings and to submit the work to world-class festivals.


* 
Our fundraising goal has been set at the minimum level at which we can make this documentary. We would like to raise a lot more than that because all the money will go to making the film that much better. Should we exceed our goal, rest assured that the money will go straight into the film. Please lend you support. Every extra penny helps!



Other ways you can help
Spread the word, tell your friends and colleagues, share our video on Facebook, blog about the project and Tweet. Anything you can do to help spread the word will be of tremendous service and is enourmously appreciated.  If you can’t spare any money, then share your thoughts. All feedback and comments are more than welcome.
You can reach us at BookchinBiog@spectacle.co.uk. Feel free to email us with any questions or comments you have. We know how important it is to have all your questions answered, so just get in touch and ask away! We’ll answer all emails promptly.

Visit our Indiegogopage and support!

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Chel-batter-sea’s temple of power

Football-orientated-eyes from all over the world were focused on Chelsea during the weekend of  May 19th 2012. The London football club  became world champions after the Champions League final against Bayern München. After a breath taking penalty session, Chelsea won and became officially the best football club worldwide. This has put London and their famous club owned by one of the richests men on earth in a global spotlight. Just in times when the club is exploring new possibilities for a powerful new stadium.

Two weeks ago the football club was already in the news about the submitted bid to buy Battersea Power Station to transform it into a new stadium for the blue team. The Battersea Power Station. Once the scenery of Pink Floyd’s ‘Animals‘ album including the event of  a disturbing and trouble making pig flying around London. Now this might going to be the scenery of football supporters running and cheering around Battersea? Well, eventuality the people who own billion’s can own any power, including a power station.

On the evening of the FA Cup final against Liverpool (4th of May 2012), Chelsea confirmed the existence of a bid on Battersea. Roman Abramovich’s showed his interest in the decommissioned power station with plans to build his own 60.000 seats stadium. For the symbolic price of £1 and the promise to renovate all the chimneys he might turns this icon of London into his icon of power.

It looks a bit like an attempt of Abramovich to become Britian’s next biggest property owner. Just when the world thought he was already creating the biggest venue (read: his home) ever. An 150 million place, which combines 9 different apartments into one incredibly huge house for the Abromovich family. Abramovich is currently the 68th  richest person in the world, according to the 2012 Forbes list, with an estimated fortune of $12.1 B.

Will Abramovich become the owner of the Battersea Power Station? Besides the fact that there is an helicopter landing strip very close to Battersea, which is very useful for Abramovich (unfortunately his own private Boeing can not land there, which is a bit inconvenient, but his yacht with paparazzi reflecting lasers can be parked outside in the Themes).

There need to be plans made for transporting all the football supporters during the sports events. Is Abramovich really turning The Power Station into a stadium? And if he turns it into a stadium, how are all the supporters  arriving there? There is a lack of infrastructure at the moment, which is common knowledge.

Updates will follow as soon.

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Liquid Bombs and Price Explosions

The fear for agitation during the London Olympics 2012 is tangible. The number of security staff is doubled compared with last year’s plans and this includes a doubling of  the costs for security. This makes the overall cost of the Olympics 2012 so far around £11bn. This summer, London will experience the biggest UK military mobilisation since the Second World War. Despite these high security policies, an attempt to smuggle in a fake bomb was successful according to The Sun.

Water bottles that can be used as liquid bombs, are a fear of terror and the reason the Olympic organisation has sharpen the safety policies, which are now turning  into airport safety policies equivalents. Visitors are not allowed to bring their own refreshments anymore, which leads into food prices that are the real criminal activity. A price explosions that is getting out of hand.

Is the organisation taking advantage of the banning of foods and drinks from the area? A sandwich is approximately going to cost £4.90  and a hot dog could fetch £5.90. Apparently you can expect some high standard food quality, but do cheering people  really fancy a haute cuisine hot-dog while watching sports? You can bring their own baby food snack (without bottle?) though.

Weapons and whistles are also prohibited. And any expression of political or religious opinion in the shape of cheering material are also a no go. Weapons, obviously. But whistles? Well the athletics must be thankful for the ban of whistles, meaning also no Vuvuzela’s which are weapons for the ears and distracting both athletic and supporter. It would have been amazing watching a game of table tennis while listening to a Vuvuzela concert though.

No but really, 6 quid for a hot-dog?

 

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