Ground Noise and Static (DVD-R)

GROUND NOISE & STATIC
untold stories of the 2008 presidential conventions
An independent documentary by Franklin López (subMedia.TV) and PepperSpray Productions. Footage from over a dozen indy journalists drives this searing exposé of police brutality and democratic rights. Ground Noise & Static tracks the rise of the new activist movement and the parallel rise in repression in America. Available now online or on DVD. (30 minutes)

In the wake of this summer's defiant protests in St. Paul and Denver comes Ground Noise & Static, the instant underground hit from Franklin López and PepperSpray Productions.

The documentary is dedicated to learning from the conventions, reporting on how organizers relied on successful tactics and adaptive management. As the conflict intensifies in the host cities, the video exposes the latest wave of police aggression against protestors, indy journalists, and media activists.
 
This summer's protests were unprecedented. Volunteers started preparing their "welcoming committees" a full year in advance. But before and during the conventions, police attempted to cripple the movement by raiding activists' homes, seizing equipment and arresting key individuals.

Mainstream journalists mostly tuned out the raids, arrests, and brutality – but the indy crew's pepperspray-smeared lens stayed locked on the action. We witness:

A Special Ops team breaking into the living room of a shared house with guns drawn.
A slow-motion ballet of bike cops shoving a young woman to the ground and ramming her with a bike. 
The now-famous clips of police cuffing Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! and putting her into a paddy wagon while she pleads with them.
The less-famous shots from her colleague Nicole Salazar's dropped camera, which recorded her anguished screams as she was thrown down and stomped by police.
Uniformed veterans for peace facing down a riot squad in order to deliver a letter to Barack Obama and the Democratic delegates.

The indy teams went to extraordinary lengths to capture and secure this gritty footage despite losing members to jail and cameras and computers to the raids. They recruited volunteers, borrowed equipment from comrades, and coordinated safe locations for reviewing and edit this ground-breaking video.

Ground Noise & Static covers both conventions from beginning to end with images and stories that will burn into the nation's conscience. Franklin López, PepperSpray Productions, and a small army of contributors demonstrate once again that media activism is the courageous answer to unlawful attempts at social control.

Award-winning producer Franklin López ("The Stimulator") creates and broadcasts stinging street-level news and art.  He  heads up subMedia.TV, a Vancouver-based video production company famous for the current events series "It’s the End of the World As We Know It and I Feel Fine."
 
PepperSpray Productions is the prolific Seattle media collective that produces independent video from the front lines of the battle against the corporate state. Its program “Indymedia Presents” airs in Seattle on Thursdays at 8:30pm (SCAN Channel 77) with regular time slots on about 20 channels nationwide, so check your local listings.

Ground Noise & Static is a tactical film, a manifesto, a snapshot of the movement - with an
evocative soundtrack by musicians Ajay Khosla, John Sheehy, Omar Torres, Hammerklavier, and more.

View or download for free: http://submedia.tv/stimulator/2008/10/06/ground-noise-and-static/
Order the DVD: http://submedia.tv/stimulator/2008/10/06/ground-noise-and-static/