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argosciv ago

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Scientology connection continued

[20. wiki: The Bridge]:

The Bridge may refer to:

Art, entertainment and media

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Film

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  • The Bridge (2003 film), directed by Bobby Garabedian, written and produced by William Zabka
  • The Bridge (2006 documentary film), a documentary about individuals who committed suicide at the Golden Gate Bridge in 2004
  • The Bridge (2006 drama film), a fictional story of involvement and disillusionment with Scientology

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[21. wiki: The Bridge (2003 film)]:

Most (re-titled The Bridge in some countries) is a 2003 Czech film directed by Bobby Garabedian and written and produced by Garabedian and American actor William Zabka. The music score was created by John Debney (The Passion of the Christ).

[22. wiki: The Bridge (2006 drama film)]:

The Bridge is a 2006 drama film directed by filmmaker Brett Hanover.[2]

A fictional story of involvement and disillusionment with Scientology, the film explicitly uses Scientology terms throughout, as well as including clips from actual Scientology promotional and training videos. It was released as free use media to the Internet in September 2006 by the filmmaker.[3][4]

The brochure of the Indie Memphis film festival stated that The Bridge was the "first feature film" about the Church Of Scientology.[5] While it is set against the background of the Church of Scientology and the Sea Org, the characters and situations depicted are fictional.


Production

The film was produced and directed by Brett Hanover,[2][6] a native of Memphis, Tennessee.[7] At the time of the film's release, Hanover was an 18-year-old student.[6] His studies in college focused on film.[6] Former Scientologists were involved in the production of the film;[1] in addition to critics of Scientology associated with Operation Clambake.[3][B] Hanover noted the film was an original script which he wrote along with his assistant director.[8][9] They wrote the script prior to eliciting input from others.[8][9] Prominent critics of Scientology later assisted with funding, input, and acting roles in the film.[8][9] The film production took place in Tennessee.[1] Hanover filmed The Bridge over a total period of six days, for a production budget of US$600.00.[10]

Distribution

The Bridge premiered at the Operation Clambake 10-year anniversary in Stavanger, Norway on September 2, 2006.[11] Operation Clambake stated of the premiere, "We are especially excited for the movie 'The Bridge' ... The world premiere in Stavanger is a great honor".[12] It was shown at the 9th annual Indie Memphis Film Festival in October 2006,[6] as a feature presentation.[13]

Hanover released copies of the film in 2006, to Google Video and Internet Archive.[3] The film credits stated: "The Bridge' is licensed as royalty–free digital media, and may be distributed online for personal viewing without permission. All offline distribution rights are reserved by Brett Hanover."[4][14]

Director requests removal of film from Internet

Jeannette Walls reported in an MSNBC entertainment column that the film had been removed from the Internet.[15] MSNBC quoted journalist and scientology critic Mark Bunker,[A][B] who stated, "It appears that Scientology has hired investigators to dig up dirt on Brett Hanover to shudder him into silence. They have succeeded."[15] In a case study on fair use, Jackson West of NewTeeVee cited the removal of the film from the Internet as an example of "a worst–case scenario of inappropriate behavior by a wealthy rightsholder toward work critical of that rightsholder".[14]

A few weeks after the film's release to the Internet, Hanover requested its removal, stating on his website, "due to copyright issues, I ask that this film be withdrawn from circulation ... Do not contact me concerning this film, I am no longer supporting it."[14][16][17] This statement itself by Hanover and all references to the film were subsequently removed from his website.[14] The Internet Archive removed the film from its site, stating there were rights issues involved;[14] YouTube and Google also removed copies of the film from their websites,[18] but the film has since been reposted by other users, and has not been removed again.

Reception

Cory Doctorow reviewed the film for Boing Boing, and commented, "It's not a bad movie — it moves a little slow, some of the dialog is stilted, but not bad for an indie feature shot in five days, and the information about the Church jibes with my own research into its practices."[3] Chris Davis of Memphis Flyer wrote, "This locally produced feature directed by Brett Hanover uses materials created by the Church of Scientology and stories told by former members of L. Ron Hubbard's controversial sci–fi religion to build a tragic narrative about misplaced faith and insidious fraud. Scientologists will hate it. People who hate Scientologists won't like it nearly as much as the Tom Cruise episode of South Park."[1] The Commercial Appeal characterized the film as a "fact–based dramatization of life inside the Church of Scientology".[7]

Journalist and Scientology critic Mark Bunker observed, "It took a lot of courage to make the movie and a lot of talent to make it a good movie."[19] Allmovie classified the production as a feature film "Religious Drama", involving themes of "Cons and Scams".[2] Jackson West of NewTeeVee commented, "the production value is minimal and the structure episodic, making for a somewhat wooden narrative. But the premise and script were helped by efforts from former Scientologists and anti-cultists to craft an allegorical critique of the Church of Scientology."[14] American skeptic and activist freethinker, Jim Lippard, recommended the film stating, "Watch it, it's pretty well done."[18]

See Also

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[23. wiki: The Profit (film)]:

The Profit is a feature film written and directed by Peter N. Alexander. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in France in 2001.[2] Distribution of the film was prohibited by an American court order which was a result of a lawsuit brought by the Church of Scientology, although the filmmaker says that the film is not about Scientology. As a result, The Disinformation Book Of Lists and The Times have characterized The Profit as a banned film in the United States.[3][4]

The film was described by its producers as a work of fiction, meant to educate the public about cults and con men. It was widely seen as a parody of the Church of Scientology and its founder, L. Ron Hubbard. The main character L. Conrad Powers leads an organization called the "Church of Scientific Spiritualism", and many elements about both the Church and Powers' life portrayed in the film, have been compared to Scientology and Hubbard. The film was mainly produced and shot in the Tampa Bay Area, and the cast included actors from the area and cameos from a few Scientology critics.

The Church of Scientology did not think favorably of the piece. Representatives from a Scientology affiliated group,[5] the Foundation for Religious Tolerance of Florida came to protest against the film, and the film's producers asserted that they were harassed by Scientologists. Initially, representatives of the Church stated the film had no resemblance to Scientology, but later the Church initiated litigation to block the film's distribution. As a result of a 2002 court order from the Lisa McPherson case, a Pinellas County judge blocked further distribution of the film in the United States. According to the film's attorney the injunction was lifted in 2007, but distribution was blocked due to a conflict with one of the producers, Bob Minton. The film generally did not receive positive reviews from local press, and reviews in the St. Petersburg Times criticized over-the-top acting, and noted that the director should have instead produced a non-fiction documentary piece if he wanted to educate others about cults.

[24. wiki: The Bridge to Total Freedom]:

The Bridge to Total Freedom, or simply "The Bridge", is a metaphor used by the Church of Scientology to describe believers' advancement within the religion.

Scientology holds that believers advance to a state of Clear when they have freed themselves from the "reactive mind". This takes place in auditing, and is said to be a lifetime commitment.[1] According to the church, by reaching Clear status, followers are more self-confident, happy, and generally successful in careers and interpersonal relationships. Beyond the state of Clear, Scientologists move through several auditing steps called Operating Thetan (OT) levels. An OT is a state of spiritual awareness in which an individual is able to control self and the environment.[2] According to D. R. Christensen, Scientology is "an individualistic religion with a hierarchical organization of the soteriological system, called the Bridge". The Bridge is described by the church as a series of soteriological steps.[3]~

[25. wiki: Scieno Sitter]:

Scieno Sitter is content-control software that, when installed on a computer, blocks certain websites critical of Scientology from being viewed. The software was released by the Church of Scientology in 1998 for Church members using Windows 95.[1][2] The term "Scieno Sitter" was coined by critics of Scientology who assert that the program is a form of Internet censorship.[1][2]


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