I recently had the opportunity to review this video which I think is an excellent resource for people to know about. Excellent short video perfect as a discussion starter in a classroom or group. It also has a companion classroom study guide available, which is very useful and includes good teaching aids. Jennifer Smith Middle East facilitator, PeaceNet [log in to unmask] PRESS RELEASE For more information call Peter Wirth (315) 476-3396 Lines in the Sand "Modern wars are not won and lost on battlefields but in front of television screens, where attitudes and perceptions are bought and sold." With footage from Vietnam, the invasions of Grenada and Panama, Lines in the Sand illustrates how the Pentagon increasingly manipulates the news we see. Michael Deaver, who served as President Reagan's principal media advisor, said that the Persian Gulf war was such a propaganda success that a team of public relations experts could not have planned it better. This 12-minute video essay explores how information was controlled and news managed during Operation Desert Storm to keep the disturbing realities of war from affecting the conscience of the U.S. public. Lines in the Sand raises crucial questions concerning the ways that limited access to information shapes public opinion. Footage shot in Baghdad by producer and writer Ed Griffin-Nolan shows us the faces of the victims we did not see on the nightly news. An interview with a geology professor who lost his wife and four daughters in the Ameria bomb shelter along with hundreds of other civilians puts a human face on a war that was skillfully and intentionally kept from our view. "Victory - but victory at what price?" is the troubling moral question that Lines in the Sand leaves us to ponder. Now in use in hundreds of schools and churches in the US and Canada, Lines in the Sand premiered in the 35th London Film festival last November. Steven Bode, an organizer of the festival wrote "their analysis of the media coverage of the war and the questions it left unanswered is sharp, insightful, and sobering." More recently, it aired on PBS in New York, Washington, DC, San Francisco, and a number of smaller cities. Randy Pitman of the Video Librarian gave Lines in the Sand a "Four Star - Editor's Choice" rating. He wrote that Lines in the Sand reminds us that not only were the human costs of the war neither calculated nor reported - they were ignored on purpose." Lander's Film and Video Review rated Lines in the Sand in their "Highly Recommended" category. Dr. Charles Kimball of Furman University in South Carolina, whose book Angle of Vision: Christians and the Middle East was selected to be the principal text for the 1992 ecumenical study of the Middle East writes: "I am hopeful that your video will be used by many in these local church programs since it illustrates some of the issues and concerns I raise in my book. It is an important resource complementing my book." Professor William Griffen in the Education Department at SUNY Cortland writes, "Congratulations on your video - Lines in the Sand. I have used it with my college students and teachers and the feedback was dramatic. Questions and issues either minimized or ignored in the mass media were developed intelligently, making Lines in the Sand one of the most effective audio-visual aids I have used in the past decade." Gabrielle Tinto, an eighth grade student at Levy Junior High School in Syracuse wrote the following letter after viewing the video in her social studies class: "Overall I liked the video we were shown in class. It showed a side of war I hadn't seen before. For myself and others who didn't have relatives in the war, it seemed very distant. The US went in, bombed a few bases, showed their guns and the opposing side surrendered, neat quick and clean. What I never thought about were the hundreds of people, civilians, who were being killed, family members lost, homes burnt down . . . I gained a new perspective of war from watching this video." Lines in the Sand is produced by Ed Griffin-Nolan, former media director for Witness for Peace, and edited by Laura J. E. Marini. Available for $21.95, or $37.95 complete with a study guide. Send orders to Griffin-Wirth Associates, 168 Parkway Drive Syracuse, New York 13207, or call (315) 476-3396. Prices include postage and handling. Recommended for schools (junior high through college), libraries, religious organizations and community groups.