John Grisham Introduces Makers of 9500 Liberty Film

Also, check out John Grisham's 7-minute speech last night prior to the showing of Annabel Park and Eric Byler's powerful new documentary ("9500 Liberty") on the immigration debate in Prince William County during 2007 and 2008. The film screening and speech by John Grisham was part of a fundraiser for the Legal Aid Justice Center, an organization which "provides legal representation for low-income individuals in Virginia." The event was held at the Rosslyn Spectrum Theater in Arlington, with several hundred people - including Prince William County board member Frank J. Principi and Police Chief Charlie Deane - attending. Also speaking was former Arlington County Board chair Walter Tejada.

The film itself was excellent, with a compelling narrative structure and strong characters - both heroes and villains. Undoubtedly, the biggest villains in the film are anti-immigrant blogger/Help Save Manassas founder Greg Letiecq and Prince William County board chair Corey Stewart (R), who is portrayed as Letiecq's puppet and as a person with no core beliefs beyond his own burning political ambition. The heroes of the film are Annabel and Eric themselves, who evolved from being observers to active participants in the emotionally charged battle over immigration in Prince William County. Other heroes include Chief Deane, Frank Principi, bloggers Alanna Almeda and Elena Schlossberg of anti-BVBL, numerous people who spoke at "citizens' time," former Prince William County board member Hilda Barg, and 9500 Liberty wall creator Gaudencio Fernandez.

If you made it tothe event last night, you certainly were in for a powerful experience. If you missed it, my understanding is that another screening is scheduled for June. I'm also hoping that a distributor picks this up and gets it the much wider exposure it so richly deserves. Kudos to Annabel Park and Eric Byler for making this movie, and more broadly for getting involved!

P.S. There's also a cameo appearance by Ben Tribbett of NLS, in which he gives Alanna Almeda the idea of starting a blog. It's very funny the way it's portrayed in the film; you can almost literally see the lightbulb going on above Almeda's head as Ben talks about how he would fight against the anti-immigrant blog BVBL.