You can't get enough of documentaries...love talking about political and social issues with your friends...crave any excuse to have a party...and your favorite foods are popcorn and Junior Mints. True? If you are nodding vigorously, you might just be the perfect candidate to host your own ACLU Freedom File Film Screening!

Here's the scoop.

The ACLU has produced a series of short documentaries called "The Freedom Files." Each episode runs about 26 minutes, and deals with a current and important civil liberties issue. The topics run the gamut, but all are challenging, engaging and vitally important: the rights of LGBT individuals to adopt and raise children; the devestating impacts of our nation's policies of torture, extraordinary rendition and indefinite detention; the rights of citizens to be free from unwarranted government surveillance; and more. (Don't take our word for it: check out some clips at aclu.tv.)

These short documentaries make excellent points of departure for community discussions - in fact, the ACLU of Utah has already hosted four such discussions this year. And now, we are encouraging our members to plan Freedom Files Parties or Film Screenings of their own (see links at right).

It's very, very easy.

1. Contact our office to obtain a FREE copy of the episode you want to show.
2. Let us know if you want additional materials to share with your guests. We can help!
3. Download a simple and comprehensive Toolkit at http://aclu.tv/toolkit. Give it a quick read before you get started.
4. Decide the details: choose a format, pick a date and send an invite to your friends.
5. Ask us for support if you need it - like a speaker or moderator for your get-together.
6. Sit back and have a good time with your friends!

The best thing about hosting your very own Freedom File Party or Screening is, you can perfectly tailor it to you and your group! It can be fancy or informal, big or small, at your home or at a coffeehouse.

Need examples? No problem! Try one of these:

Screen "Freedom to Dream: Rights of Immigrants" with your church group after services on Sunday, and have everyone bring a delicious dish for a community potluck!

Watch "Freedom to Know: Sex Education" or "Freedom to Learn: School to Prison Pipeline" with the other parents in your after-school play group, and discuss how you will deal with these issues when your children begin to attend your local middle or high school.

Host a backyard barbecue for your fellow poll-volunteers, and view "Freedom to Vote: Protecting the Ballot" together to prepare for the big election this November!

Show "Freedom to Live: The Death Penalty" to your lawyer friends, and ask them for donations to help support the ACLU of Utah's on-going work to correct grave problems with our state's criminal justice system.

That Peace Corps reunion you're already planning? Why not show "Freedom from Abuse of Power: Torture and Unlawful Imprisonment" to learn more about how U.S. policies in the "war on terror" are affecting our fellow humans abroad?

Why do it?

The most important work to protect civil liberties is NOT done in a courtroom. It's done in our neighborhoods, educating each other about our Constitutional rights, and keeping ourselves informed about potential government infringement upon those rights. We need your help to ensure that all Utahns are informed about critical and on-going civil liberties in our state and across the nation.

Check out the ACLU of Utah's Freedom Files Film Screening events so far this year:

Freedom from Abuse of Power:
Torture and Unlawful Imprisonment
January 30 @ the Main Library

Freedom to Parent:
Lesbian & Gay Families
March 4 @ the Main Library

Lights...Camera...Activism!
Featuring Lisa Remington
April 21 @ Spy Hop Productions

Freedom to Know:
Sex Education
July 1 @ the ACLU of Utah

Read what The Catalyst had to say about the Files:

"The Freedom Files: Season Two" by Katherine Pioli

Contact our office today to plan for your Freedom File screening.

Your Freedom File Contact:
Anna Brower
Development Director
(801) 521-9862, ext. 100
abrower@acluutah.org