"Heist" Creating Big BUZZZZZ at SBIFF

It was a great day for Heist at the 2012 Santa Barbara International Film Festival! Our first screening was SOLD OUT with people being turned away. I encouraged them to return for our next screening which is Feb. 4th at 10am.  Donald will be there. Sally, Hollis and I fielded great questions from the audience that was clearly pretty saavy about current events but the audience expressed over and over how Heist gave them critical new information. They applauded us for taking a very complex story yet managing to distill it down into a very clear narrative.

Post screening we attended a reception held by the Fund for Santa Barbara which has nominated Heist for its Social Justice Documentary Film award. We were blown away by the Heist buzz there! I kept getting the sense that people feel Heist is representing them, their voice and empowering them to fight back against the systemic money based corruption that is destroying our democracy. A day I will always remember! 

New Review from "The Word" blog

"At a time when many documentaries are done only to further some political agenda, Heist remains true to educating the public and offer solutions, resting the blame with the politicians on both sides of the aisle, large corporations and big banks that have contributed to the demise of the American economy; protecting the rich and leaving the poor to struggle, 'sink or swim.'"
Oscar Flores, The Word

Social Justice Award for Documentary

We are so honored that "Heist: Who Stole the American Dream?" has been nominated for the Fund for Santa Barbara's Social Justice Award for Documentary Film during the 2012 Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

Heist screens at SBIFF on Friday January 27 at 1p and Saturday February 4 at 10am. When Co-Director Donald Goldmacher and I first began working on the film, we knew something was deeply wrong with the country. We spent years researching and reading many books by authors who were way out in front of this crisis. Donald has a deep, personal and vast historical understanding of the importance in a capitalist system of the need for a social safety net like the New Deal which has now been all but totally eradicated by both Republicans and Democrats alike.

As a lifelong social justice activist, Donald has dedicated his life to observing, documenting and bringing about social change. His example has changed my life. As a journalist, it was constantly drilled into me to be objective and to not bring my personal politics into whatever I produced.

However, in the long process of making Heist I am proud to say that I too am now an activist and public interest journalist, truly believing in my heart that no American can afford to sit on the sidelines and allow a very small number of people to continue to destroy our middle class and democracy. As a result of the last 40 years of policy making in the U.S. a record number of Americans--nearly 1 in 2--have fallen into poverty or are scraping by on earnings that classify them as low income. Those in positions of power to make change are disconnected from this reality and under the ruse of the mythical free market they have shamelessly turned their backs on millions of Americans.

It is up to us to force change through whatever talents we possess. Our greatest hope for Heist is that grass roots democracy groups will use our film as an educational tool to help bring about this critically needed social and economic change.

The Scoop from Santa Barbara: see Heist with your friends

While the Santa Barbara International Film Festival doesn't sell single tickets (except the front row just minutes before the screening begins) there is a way. Gather up your friends, buy a 4-Film MiniPak for $57 or a 10-Film MiniPak for $125 and go in a group. One hour before the screening, change your ticket for a boarding pass, er, theater pass. Seating isn't assigned, but order of entry is, just like many airlines. Then you are free to wander. Seating begins 20 minutes before the screening. One caveat:  Premium package PASS holders are seated first. If you are among the last to pick up your theater pass, you could get bumped. 5 minutes before, they open 'rush' seating, $15 a pop, front row seating.

The Metro 1 seats 150: if it looks like the Jan 27 and Feb 4 screenings will sell out, they just may book a third in one of the Festival's TBA slots.  Onward!