this will be in the paper monday, but for all you lucky people who read my blog, you get to read it now.


This Divided State To Travel Country
By Sam Garfield

   The Center for American Progress announced in affiliation with
Campus Progress a nationwide tour for Steven Greenstreet's
controversial documentary This Divided State. The tour will make stops
at 22 of the nation's top universities and colleges. Among them are
Princeton, Yale, Harvard, Cornell, and NYU.
   The film will be the first in Campus Progress's "Reel Progress Film
Series."  It will premiere in Washington D.C. on March 23 and then
begin its tour at nearby George Mason University on March 28. Michael
Moore has been invited to the premier.
   This Divided State covers the eruption of public interest and
involvement in the visit made by Michael Moore in October of last
year. It focuses on the strong opposition the visit received, and the
overwhelming uprising of students in support of the freedom for
Michael Moore to come and speak, regardless of their support for his
message.
   The tag line for the film "Death threats, Bribery, and Family
Values" describes some of the more exciting contents caught on film.
It also covers lawsuits surrounding the controversial visit.
   The documentary even includes footage from very early on due to
Greenstreet's "film-maker's intuition."
   "I always keep my ears open for stories that have potential to
develop into something bigger," said Greenstreet recalling why he had
started filming for the documentary in the first place. In this case,
Greenstreet's intuition paid off a lot more than he had expected.
   The young film-maker spent so much time on the film that he ended
up dropping out of BYU. "I was spending all day at UVSC," he said, "I
just decided instead of hurting my grades to drop out of school."
Grades aside, the film has kept him so busy that he currently has not
made plans to continue with his film degree at BYU.  "I learned two
years worth of film school in five months," said Greenstreet.
   Not only is the film's exposure good for Greenstreet's budding film
career, but it is also good for UVSC. Phil Gordon, professor and chair
of the communications department, said "I think [the tour] is an
amazing UVSC promotional opportunity."
   "This will really help promote UVSC's national reputation," said
Gordon, "all these top schools are wanting to see what our students
are doing and what our campus is like. They will be talking about our
school at Harvard, UCLA, [and] Berkeley."
   Gordon is anticipating that the film's promotional capabilities
will help attract new students from out of state and interest new
potential faculty members who might not have considered coming to UVSC
before.
   Greenstreet has hopes that the film will have a strong impact on
students around the country. "People just aren't getting along when it
comes to civil discourse on America," said Greenstreet, "there are a
lot of wedges between a lot of communities."  He is enthusiastic that
this "slice of history will improve civil discourses" and show people
"how to get along with opposing viewpoints."
   "The media portrays [issues] as republican vs. democrat," said
Greenstreet, "and This Divided State shows that there are many [other]
voices that need to be heard."
   The tour will conclude back where the film was conceived, Utah. The
final screening will be at the University of Utah on May 3.  This, as
well as all of the other screenings (excluding the premiere), will be
free of charge.
   Within a few months after the tour Greenstreet plans to release a
DVD of the documentary. In addition, a few companies have expressed
interest in sponsoring a full theatrical release of the film.
   Those seeking further information about the tour or the film itself
can visit www.thisdividedstate.com. During the tour, an online journal
will be kept by Greenstreet with updates and other tour information.