ACLU: Celebrated Writers, Actors, Filmmakers and Performers At ACLU 2008 Membership Conference

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 27, 2008
3:19 PM

CONTACT: ACLU
Maria Archuleta, (212) 519-7808 or 549-2666; media@aclu.org
 
Celebrated Writers, Actors, Filmmakers and Performers At ACLU 2008 Membership Conference
Media Opportunities Available
 
WASHINGTON, DC - May 27 - Celebrated writers, actors, filmmakers, comedians and musicians will be speaking and performing at the 2008 ACLU Membership Conference, “Stand Up For Freedom,” from June 8 through 10 in Washington D.C. Members of the media are invited to attend and take advantage of opportunities including one-on-one interviews with SOME celebrities, ACLU leaders, experts, bloggers and others.

During the intensive three-day conference, many of the entertainment personalities will discuss and share their views on ACLU priority issues with ACLU members from all across the country alongside some of the nation's top political leaders and policymakers and ACLU legislative and legal staff.

In an opening night panel that will mark the launch of a new ACLU program, Rights / Camera / Action, speakers will discuss how arts and entertainment can be used to illuminate human rights and civil liberties issues. Speakers include:
    • Ariel Dorfman, poet, playwright, “Death and the Maiden”
    • Peter Gilbert, filmmaker, “At the Death House Door”
    • Alex Gibney, Oscar-winning filmmaker, “Taxi to the Dark Side”
    • Robb Moss, filmmaker, “Secrecy”
    • Kal Penn, actor, “Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantánamo Bay”
    • Ricki Stern, filmmaker, “The Trials of Darryl Hunt”
    • Johanna Blakley, (moderator), Deputy Director, The Norman Lear Center

The conference will also feature screenings of “Taxi to the Dark Side,” “The Trials of Darryl Hunt” and “At the Death House Door.” The subjects of the latter two - Darryl Hunt and his attorney Mark Rabil, and Reverend Carroll L. Pickett, respectively - will be featured in a plenary session the following morning on Capital Punishment entitled "Race, Faith and the Courts."

Entertainment will include performances by multiethnic, L.A.-based band Ozomatli, music legend John Hiatt, and Grammy-winning musician Marc Cohn as well as comedians A.J. Jamal and Greg Proops.

WHO:Celebrities, ACLU members and leaders, elected officials, and some of the ACLU’s most inspiring clients

WHAT:“Stand Up for Freedom,” the ACLU Membership Conference

WHEN:The conference begins Sunday, June 8 at 2:00 p.m. EDT and concludes Tuesday, June 10 at 2:00 p.m. EDT

WHERE:Washington Convention Center, 801 Mount Vernon Place NW, Washington, D.C. A conference agenda and complete list of confirmed speakers and celebrities to date is available online at: www.aclu.org/conference/2008

Media can registration online at: www://action.aclu.org/site/Calendar/1422872213?view=Detail&id=103281

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