Sandra Schulberg

Sandra is een vriendin van ons, een geweldige, geinspireerde vrouw.

Dear Dutch Colleagues & Supporters of NUREMBERG,

I'm still in shock over what happened last night -- Ugandan officials shut down the public screening of NUREMBERG in downtown Kampala. Such a curious historical echo of NUREMBERG's suppression 60+ years ago in the US, albeit now for different reasons that I hope will become clear in the next few days.

This censorship may be the result of nervous and over-zealous police and may not imply a repudiation of NUREMBERG per se, but it is disturbing that public film showings in Uganda are subject to such CID surveillance.

Below is copy of account I sent to ICC & State Dept colleagues this morning. A reporter for the major newspaper here (New Vision) writes that he spoke with the police and they do not deny it. I'll be curious to read what the official explanation is. Story may appear in New Vision today or tomorrow.

I just spoke with Ambassador Blaak who is going to try to rectify all this, and make it possible for NUREMBERG to be screened for the public at Watoto after all. Sadly, I may have left the country by then, as I depart Monday morning, June 7.

Very best,

Sandra

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The African premiere of the newly-restored 1948 documentary film, NUREMBERG: ITS LESSON FOR TODAY, was halted last night, June 4, 2010, at approximately 7:45 pm, apparently by Ugandan officials from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), a few moments before the film was to begin in the Watoto Church auditorium in downtown Kampala.

I had just completed my introduction when one of the event organizers from the Cinema for Peace Foundation informed me that Ugandan government officials were in the lobby and had ordered the projectionist to stop the projection and turn over the film. At that point I left the auditorium in hope of meeting with the officials myself.

In the lobby, the Watoto Church media manager Barigayomwe Paul Roy pointed out the man who was head of the unit, and I was told he was with CID. I introduced myself and politely asked if it was really necessary to halt the screening and, if so, why. He said I would receive a letter of explanation, but refused to give me his name or his card. I gave him my card and information on the film.

After he left the hall, I was told by the Cinema for Peace organizers that the CID unit had taken not only both DVD copies of NUREMBERG that I had provided, but also DVDs of the other films in the Cinema for Peace series that were to be screened at Watoto next week. I'm told that CID officials also removed several of the leaflets posted on church bulletin boards, and I saw for myself that they had effaced the announcement of the June 4 NUREMBERG screening that had been posted outside the church.

Apparently CID officials questioned the two Cinema for Peace representatives (Andre Rosenberger & Franziska von der Goltz) at some length the night before, following presentation of another Cinema for Peace film, TAKING ROOT, set in Kenya.

When the the CID officials had left, the Cinema for Peace organizers informed Ambassador Mirjam Blaak (mirjamblaak@gmail.com) of what had happened. I have not managed to reach Ambassador Blaak yet, but I understand that she immediately lodged a protest. Apparently thanks to her intervention, CID officials returned to Watoto later that evening and said that subsequent screenings would be allowed, but they did not return the copies of NUREMBERG.

The Watoto Church screening would have been the first public showing in Africa.

For more details on what transpired, please contact Mirjam Blaak (email above) and/or:

Barigayomwe Paul Roy

+256776531008

roy.bariga@watotochurch.com

A private screening of NUREMBERG is scheduled for ICC delegates and NGO representatives tomorrow afternoon at 1:30 pm in the Commonwealth Banquet Hall at the Munyonyo Conference Center. Ben Ferencz is scheduled to make the introduction. Since this is a private screening for badge-holders only, I trust we will be allowed to proceed with the screening.

Best regards,

Sandra Schulberg

PS: As most of you know, NUREMBERG: ITS LESSON FOR TODAY was written and produced by Pare Lorentz and Stuart Schulberg for the US Department of War, based on a script by Stuart Schulberg that was approved by the IMT's Chief US Prosecutor, Robert H. Jackson, who was a Justice of the US Supreme Court at the time. Although widely shown in German cinemas after it was completed in 1948, the US government decided not to release it in US theaters (or in any other country) for various political reasons, all understandable in retrospect. The restored film will be shown for the first time to the American public on Sept 26 at the New York Film Festival and it will open in a regular NYC cinema on Sept 29.

For more background on the film:

www.nurembergfilm.org

http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/Shows/The_National/World/ID=1504011533

Best regards,

Sandra Schulberg
(producer of the NUREMBERG restoration)

Schulberg Productions

200 Park Avenue South

Suite 1109

New York, NY 10003

Tel +1 917 667 6077

sschulberg@aol.com

www.nurembergfilm.org>>