STATE OF CONTROL to Have 'Sneak Peek' Screening at UN Assoc. Film Festival

Moving Picture Institute and Rainstorm Entertainment announce today that director/producer Christian Johnston ("September Tapes", "True Life Trial by Fire", "Three Hikers") and director/producer Darren Mann's ("FightF*ckPray" , Holiday in Rwanda", "Becoming Barack") documentary STATE OF CONTROL will have a "sneak peek" screening at the 15th United Nations Association Film Festival (UNAFF) at Stanford University on Sunday, October 28th at the Annenberg Auditorium at 3:45pm. The film was produced by Steven G. Kaplan ("The Big Empty", "F*CK") for Rainstorm Entertainment, written and produced by P.G. Morgan ("Revenge of the Electric Car", "Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired), Co-edited by Douglas Blush ("Freakonomics", "Wordplay", "I.O.U.S.A." and "The Invisible War") and was executive produced by Stephen Nemeth ("Wardance", "Flow", "Fuel", and "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"). Established in 1998 for the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UNAFF has grown and earned the respect of audiences and filmmakers alike for its fearless independence and integrity. This year the festival runs from October 18th-28th, with a theme of Human Dignity.

STATE OF CONTROL follows two American filmmakers as they travel undercover in Tibet during one of the most precarious times in the country's recent history. As they document the leading Tibetan activists who are risking their lives to peacefully protest against the oppression by the Chinese government's police state, the filmmakers uncover a David-and-Goliath battle with high-stake consequences. Forced to flee and return to America, the filmmakers learn the hacking and surveillance they experienced in Tibet has followed them home. They quickly discover that not only themselves but Google, as well as several U.S. corporations, are facing the world's largest and most sophisticated internet attack in history, reaching as high up as the White House. All of this places the Tibetan existence on the precipice of a high-tech war that they lack the technology and resources to fight.

This screening takes place near the epicenter of where Chinese cyber attacks were first discovered – in Google's back yard and Silicon Valley. From the news events this month informing of computer hacking in Washington; Leon Panetta's warning of our infrastructure's vulnerability to cyber-terrorism; to the Presidential Debate this week, the subject of this film timely, compelling and is the first film addressing these urgent issues. Invitees include those working in highest level of cyber-espionage technology, Senator Dianne Feinstein, activist Tenzin Seldon and Lhamo Tso, wife of Tibetan Prisoner of Conscience, Dhondup Wangchen ("Leaving Fear Behind"), and Thor Halvorssen.

"We selected STATE OF CONTROL because it deals with Human Dignity which is the theme of the Film Festival this year - The film resonates with that theme. We also wanted to continue a dialogue between Tibetan and Chinese youth started by one of the subjects from the film, Stanford student Tenzin Seldon last year during the Dalai Lama visit at Stanford University ," said Jasmina Bojic, Founder and Executive Director of the United Nations Association Film Festival.

In addition to the Closing Night screening at Stanford University, the filmmakers recently joined forces with the activists featured in the film, including Tenzin Tsundue, a world renowned Tibetan activist, for an unprecedented Times Square media event to help the voice of the Tibetans reach a world stage.

For more information on the film, view the trailer and upcoming events, please follow on Facebook and Twitter:
http://www.facebook.com/StateOfControl?ref=hl
https://twitter.com/_StateofControl
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZz65qd9nZM

About Moving Picture Institute:

Founded in 2005 by human rights advocate Thor Halvorssen, the Moving Picture
Institute is unlike any other foundation dedicated to promoting the ideal of liberty.
At MPI, we believe that film, more effectively than any other medium, can bring the
idea of freedom to life. In keeping with that belief, we are working to ensure that
film becomes a center of genuinely democratic art in the coming years. Our goal is
to guarantee that film's unique capacity to give shape to abstract principles-to
make them move and breathe-is used to support and promote liberty.

About Rainstorm Entertainment:

Rainstorm Entertainment is a development, production, financing and sales company. Founded by Producer Steven G. Kaplan whose credits include "Terror Tract," "The Big Empty," "F*CK," "REd White Black & Blue" and "Sunset Strip." Rainstorm's mission is to produce high-quality, commercially viable, financially responsible and talent-driven feature films by writers and directors who have compelling stories and unique visions. Upcoming announced projects include "The First", "Magnet" and "It's So Easy and Other Lies".

About United Nations Association Film Festival (UNAFF):

Founded in 1998 by Stanford educator and film critic Jasmina Bojic with the participation of the Stanford Film Society and the UNA Midpeninsula Chapter, UNAFF is a community-based nonprofit organization and one of the oldest solely documentary film festivals in the US. In addition to providing early outlets for films, many of which later went on to win major awards and accolades, UNAFF prides itself in creating a community forum for discovery and dialogue about different cultures, issues and solutions. UNAFF has also screened some of the most awarded and talked about documentaries in the industry including five that went on to win Academy Awards (THE PANAMA DECEPTION, THOTH, THE BLOOD OF YINGZHOU DISTRICT, FREEHELD and TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE). For more information please visit www.unaff.org/2012/index.html.

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