Chris Barrett

ACTION!

Directed by: Chris Barrett

Written by and Starring: Edbassmaster

Today, I filmed a series of videos with Edbassmaster. Tonight, I posted the first video of Marlin Woods auditioning for the next episode of Star Wars.

To the Muslims of the Twenty-First Century
Dr. Rafey. Habib

Sweet children of the future,
Do not follow us:
We are the old generation, tired, disabled corrupt.
Find your own path.

All we had to do
Was follow the Book. But we
Did not even read it. We recited it
Without knowing what it meant.
We were commanded to read:
But we cannot read.

We were blessed with oil, but we
Bled it into a curse:
We could have created Colleges, filled with the
Light of the worlds highest scholars;
Libraries, centres of the highest learning,
Schools to bring our people forward, returning to
Our glittering past; educating and
Enlightening:
Financing the learned traditions of Islam
Throughout East and West.

But we have not built even one,
Not one renowned college:
All the great scholars are in the West:
Where are our scholars?
Who comes to us to learn
Any science or art? Our colleges are
Beautiful on the outside only; inside
They are prisons of
Dullness, and decay of intellect.

Where are our great philosophers? They are
All in the past: al-Farabi, al-Ghazzali,
Ibn Arabi: they are sleeping, and we
Dare not wake them; we
Dare not hear their voices.
We have no great philosophers today, not one:
No great thinkers; our novelists
And poets speak with a
Lonely voice.

We could have forged alliances
In all spheres, culture, economics, religion:
We could have fostered science and art;
We could have built our own cars, our own
Satellites, our own space ships;
We could have renewed our great traditions
Of medicine, astronomy, science;
We could have spread Islams ideal of charity
Through Asia and Africa; we could have
Shown the world a different path, a
World consumed in darkness
And the greed of Capital: we
Could have shown the world
A path of light.

But instead, we plunged into the worlds
Darkness; we traded the poetry of our desert heart
For the urban prose of circumstance; we fostered
Ignorance and backwardness and
Utter dependence on
Western corruption. We built
Luxury hotels and playgrounds for
The playboys of the West,
While our own playboys played in Europe

But instead, we tried to be like them
Driving luxury cars, wearing
Their clothes, watching their films, listening
To their music, pretending all the time
To the strictest forms of faith, veiling
Our populations in night, in the stubborn
Gloom of a feudal past.

We cared nothing for our peoples voices;
Or for the Prophetic past which taught
Consensus and community. Our politics are
Mired in fogs of self-interest, blind to
Any broad picture of the world : we cannot
See ourselves, cannot think for ourselves:
Our ignorance mires us in blind imitation,
In the night of unreason.

We financed the narrowest Islam in many nations,
We financed activists, whose actions for half a century
Have achieved nothing; less than nothing: we are
Worse than before.

And we have done nothing for
The Palestinians: they suffer
Even more oppression,
Even more cruelty
Than before: the
Whole Muslim world lies asleep
Beneath the feet that tramp the world
In freedoms name.

Sweet children of the future,
You are orphans: your parents are dead,
They left you nothing.
Muslims of the future, beautiful
Dark-eyed men and women, be beautiful
In your words and deeds,
In your clothes and manners, beautiful
In intelligence and love:
Awake from the past centuries slumber!
Awake, to find your own freedom;
Awake to your true dream.

And do not follow us:
Our dreaming is not over, we cannot wake.
We cannot tell you which path to take:
We do not know.
We have fallen into endless night, the deep forest:
We are lost.

Seek your own path;
Seek the true dawn of Islam, which
We did not find.

Seek the true Light of the One God.

Filmed by: Chris Barrett

The Photographer Project is a personal project by Brooklyn-based photographer Brian Ach which consists of full-length studio portraits of entertainment photographers who are based in NYC.

The concept was to give the tabloid-buying public a glimpse into the lives of the people who supply these celebrity images to the media around the world on a daily basis.

The portraits were shot on 6×4.5 medium format film and also with Canon digital cameras.

The portraits are slice-of-life.

The photographers were told to dress as they would when shooting a large movie premiere; to “arrive as-is, without any embellishments.”

The Photographer Project consists of staff and freelance wire service, event, and paparazzi shooters.

The portraits are all shot in my studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. A gallery exhibit is in the planning stages, after which the pictures, along with 10 standardized questions to be answered by each photographer, will be made into a book.

The main goal for this project is to raise money for a well-known entertainment photographer in New York, Paul Hawthorne, who passed away of amylodiosis, a serious blood disease.

Over 70 photographers have come in for their portrait.

http://www.brianach.com

Filmed by: Chris Barrett

I filmed and posted a series of videos on YouTube from the 2009 Sundance Film Festival including:

Ondi Timoner’s We Live in Public Q&A
Recipient of The Grand Jury Prize: U.S. Documentary.

Accepting the Grand Jury Prize:

More videos:

Stingray Sam Q&A with Cory McAbbe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDEo-OLPbIY

Robert Siegal’s Big Fan Q & A Sundance Film Festival
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0C6bmSdgeFA

Paper Heart: Q&A with Director Nicholas Jasenovec
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76cewYZv5MU

Derrick Comedy: Mystery Team Q &A: 2009 Sundance Film Festival
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eN-ApXZgcx0

ALFRED P. SLOAN PRIZE AWARDED AT 2009 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMqUzE4Oiks

I attended the Sundance Channel’s Sundance Film Festival Party at 350 Main yesterday. I was introduced to Ryan Kearney and told him what I was up to.

This is the excerpt from his blog entry.

“Later on at the party, I ran into someone from last weekend who had blocked me out while I was videotaping Efren Ramirez (Pedro from NAPOLEAN DYNAMITE) dancing with some actress. That “someone” turned out to be Chris Barrett, a subject in the documentary THE CORPORATION, who met Ramirez back in 2004 (when both of their films screened at Sundance). And that actress turned out to be Laura Harring from MULHOLLAND DRIVE.

So what’s Barrett been up to since THE CORPORATION? He and Ramirez wrote a book together called Direct Your Own Life, and Barrett’s documentary AFTER SCHOOL, about teacher-student sex scandals, is in post-production.

And then we shook hands, which can mean all sorts of things at Sundance. In this instance, though, I think it meant “no hard feelings.”

For the full blog visit:
http://www.sundancechannel.com/festival/blog/2009/01/beer-oclock-at-the-sundance-channel/

Gen Art is excited to announce that it will be co-hosting two important events at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, both celebrating actors who are committed to independent cinema: 7 Fresh Faces in Film with 7 For All Mankind on January 16 and Its Better in the Dark with Black – Kenneth Cole on January 17.

On Friday, January 16, from 10pm-1am, 7 For All Mankind and Gen Art will honor seven talented up and coming actors at the 2nd annual 7 Fresh Faces in Film celebration taking place at the Hollywood Life House at 692 Main Street, Park City. Hosted by Virginia Madsen, the anticipated event will feature seven rising stars who will be toasted by members of the film and fashion communities.

Each one of the 7 Fresh Faces has at least one film premiering at this years festival. The honorees include: Zach Gilford (Dare, TV – Friday Night Lights), Tania Raymonde (The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle, TV – Lost), Pell James (Shrink, Zodiac), Louisa Krause (Toe to Toe, The Babysitters), Charlyne Yi (Paper Heart, Knocked Up, TV – 30 Rock), Jess Weixler (Peter and Vandy), and Mark Duplass (Humpday, The Puffy Chair, co-wrote/co-directed Baghead).

The group was carefully chosen by members of Gen Art and 7 For All Mankind based on their past and current projects. These talented actors are poised to become the breakout stars of the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and we expect them to make tremendous contributions to the entertainment community. This aligns with our own mission to support the artists who influence us. said Leilani Augustine, VP of Marketing at 7 For All Mankind.

RollingStone.com has teamed up with Powerhouse Pictures Entertainment to premiere an exclusive interview from their upcoming feature documentary film, After School, directed by Chris Barrett.

Collingswood, NJ (PRWEB) January 16, 2009 — RollingStone.com has teamed up with Powerhouse Pictures Entertainment to premiere an exclusive interview from the upcoming documentary feature film, After School, directed by Chris Barrett. After School examines the disturbing nature of teacher student sexual relationships.

The newly released clip features an interview with Jason Eickmeyer, a young man who had an affair with a female teacher at his New Jersey high school. The raw footage compliments Rolling Stone’s feature article, written by Sabrina Rubin Erdely, entitled “Sex, Lies and Phys Ed: He was a star athlete at Hammonton High, she was the hottest teacher in school — and the sparks were instant. What happens when every boy’s fantasy becomes reality?”

Filmmaker Chris Barrett has been documenting Jason Eickmeyer’s story on camera for over two years; Eickmeyer’s account is fundamental to the film’s examination of the student teacher sex phenomenon. “We are honored to release our first raw clip of footage from After School through Rolling Stone. The segment of Jason Eickmeyer offers viewers a glimpse at the inner workings of a fifteen-year-old’s mind – when he decides to spend the evening at his teachers house.” Director Barrett goes on to say, “After School will delve more deeply into the topic of teacher student sex than any other media outlet has.”

The film features Owen LaFave, the ex-husband of the infamous ex-eighth grade reading teacher, Debra LaFave, who had a sexual relationship with her fourteen-year-old student. The film follows Owen’s cross-country travels, his interviews with over thirty teachers, students, media personalities, and experts, in search of an explanation for his wife’s behavior.

After School is currently in post-production.

For more information, visit: http://www.AfterSchoolDocumentary.com
Director Chris Barrett will be available for interviews in person at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.

About Chris Barrett
Chris Barrett is a filmmaker and author. He is featured in the Sundance award-winning documentary, The Corporation, and has been profiled extensively in media such as USA Today, New York Post, and People Magazine. He co-authored the book, Direct Your Own Life, published in the summer of 2008 through Kaplan Publishing. His co-author is actor Efren Ramirez, best known for his role of Pedro in the film Napoleon Dynamite. Chris is a partner in Powerhouse Pictures Entertainment, a film production company.

The highlight of the opening day Sundance Film Festival press conference were the remarks of Robert Redford describing President Bush as a “Lame-duck guy”

“You’ve got a lame-duck guy going out, but he sure has done a lot of quacking in the last while. So therefore, the sooner they’re gone, the better, and therefore, I’m very excited by the change that’s coming.”

I just arrived in Park City, Utah for the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. I picked up my credential at the filmmaker office and just sorting through my schedule for the day. I just gave a nod to Spike Lee, who is sitting across from me. I was at Silverdocs Film Festival last year when Spike Lee gave his endorsement for Barack Obama.
Here is my video:

I just got a Google news alert from Deadspin.com. The Gawker blog posted a story about Jason Eickmeyer’s Rolling Stone article.
The posting is called:
The Downside Of Doing Your Teacher
We’ve covered many, many instances of teacher/student-athlete fornication. The latest issue of Rolling Stone reveals that even though it seems like every teenage boy’s fantasy, it can really fuck a kid up…

It’s been almost five years and Eickmeyer still hasn’t recovered and continues to be hung up on Ms. Tapp, who was finally fired from Hammonton High about two years after their affair. The RS story, written by Sabrina Rubin Erderly, pulls generously from a soon-to-be completed documentary about the male student/teacher sex phenomenon called “After School.”
Click here for the full story