OFFICIAL STATEMENT

The Liberty Film Festival® (LFF) was founded in July of 2004 by independent filmmakers Jason Apuzzo and Govindini Murty to foster free speech and a diversity of ideas in the film community.  With annual events held in West Hollywood, along with numerous screenings, panel discussions, and symposia, the Liberty Film Festival® quickly established itself as the premier organization for freedom-oriented conservative, libertarian, and independent filmmakers in America. 

The Liberty Film Festival® screened over 80 films between 2004 and 2008, of which almost fifty were premieres and approximately thirty achieved distribution.  Festival events attracted approximately 12,500 attendees, and received extensive coverage in the national and international media.  The LA Times, New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, USA Today, Variety, Hollywood Reporter, Human Events, and Townhall.com all covered the festival; the LFF was also featured numerous times on ABC, CNN, Fox News, Fox Business, MSNBC, AMC, NPR, and also on the U.K.’s BBC, French Canal Plus, Japanese NHK, Italian RAI, and Dutch national TV. 

Best Film winners at the Liberty Film Festival® included “In the Face of Evil: Reagan’s War in Word and Deed," “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West,” and "Border War."  The LFF is also committed to celebrating Hollywood’s classic movie heritage, and hosted tributes to directors Cecil B. DeMille, Raoul Walsh, John Ford, and Fritz Lang, to actors John Wayne, Ronald Reagan, and Charlton Heston, and to novelist Ayn Rand.

The LFF’s on-line film magazine Libertas®, founded in January of 2005 by Jason Apuzzo and Govindini Murty, similarly became an immediate success, and within its first few years was attracting over three million hits a month.  New York Times film critic A.O. Scott called Libertas® “insightful as well as provocative,” and LA Times film columnist Patrick Goldstein called Libertas® “a must read.”  In 2007, Libertas® was voted one of the top three culture blogs on the internet during the 2007 Weblog Awards. 

Due to the changing nature of the independent film world, the Liberty Film Festival® and Libertas® went on hiatus in the summer of 2008, but plans are in the works for a renewed and reimagined LFF and Libertas® to reemerge in the future.  The LFF’s founders, Jason Apuzzo and Govindini Murty, remain committed to helping independent filmmakers achieve their artistic visions, regardless of the ideological strictures that Hollywood or anyone else may place on them. 

Digital filmmaking technologies and the internet have democratized filmmaking, and now all those who wish to express themselves artistically in the cinema can do so.  The Liberty Film Festival® encourages those who would like to chart a new direction in filmmmaking to pick up cameras and show the world new and compelling artistic visions. 

Our many thanks to the fans, filmmakers, Board of Advisors, donors, and volunteers of the Liberty Film Festival® - and to the readers and writers of Libertas® - for their years of enthusiasm, hard work, and support.  It has been a pleasure working with all of you.  Thank you also to the many well-wishers who have written us inquiring about the LFF’s plans.  As a special note, we would like to remind everyone that the Liberty Film Festival® and Libertas® trademarks are solely and exclusively owned by Jason Apuzzo and Govindini Murty, and that they have ongoing plans for the LFF and Libertas® that will be announced in the future. 

Please stay tuned for further news and announcements, and we hope you enjoy the latest film production by Jason Apuzzo and Govindini Murty, the provocative film KALIFORNISTAN.

LFF Mailing Address:

The Liberty Film Festival

P.O. Box 4522

Palos Verdes, CA 90274

Please note: The LFF and Libertas® are not currently accepting any unsolicited films, screenplays, books, manuscripts, posters, T-shirts, DVDs, CDs or other materials of that kind.  All such items will be discarded unopened.  Otherwise, we welcome letter correspondence.  Please include a return address, an email address and phone number so that we may respond to your inquiry.