9500 Liberty
Encyclopedia
9500 Liberty is a 2009 documentary film
about the struggle over immigration in Prince William County, Virginia
. It was directed by Annabel Park
and Eric Byler
.
The film chronicles an eight-week period wherein an "Arizona-style" immigration crackdown was implemented and quickly repealed. 9500 Liberty began as an "interactive documentary," allowing its viewers to not only comment, but to help determine direction and additional coverage of the story, which was uploaded to a YouTube
channel as footage was shot. These videos were combined with additional unreleased footage (including the directors' attempts at citizen journalism and civic duty amidst an antagonistic climate) to create the documentary.
9500 Liberty garnered four film festival awards, and was released theatrically in select cities; it was picked up by MTV Networks
for a Sept. 26, 2010 cable premiere.
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
about the struggle over immigration in Prince William County, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. It was directed by Annabel Park
Annabel Park
Annabel Park is a documentary filmmaker, political activist and community volunteer.- Early years :Born in 1968 in Seoul, South Korea, Annabel immigrated to the United States with her family when she was nine years old, and was raised in Texas and Maryland...
and Eric Byler
Eric Byler
Eric Byler is an American film director, screenwriter and political activist. He identifies as hapa biracial, born to a Chinese American mother and a white American father. He grew up in Virginia, Hawaii , and California. He graduated from Wesleyan University in 1994, majoring in film...
.
The film chronicles an eight-week period wherein an "Arizona-style" immigration crackdown was implemented and quickly repealed. 9500 Liberty began as an "interactive documentary," allowing its viewers to not only comment, but to help determine direction and additional coverage of the story, which was uploaded to a YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
channel as footage was shot. These videos were combined with additional unreleased footage (including the directors' attempts at citizen journalism and civic duty amidst an antagonistic climate) to create the documentary.
9500 Liberty garnered four film festival awards, and was released theatrically in select cities; it was picked up by MTV Networks
MTV Networks
MTV Networks is a division of media conglomerate Viacom that oversees the operations of many television channels and Internet brands, including the original MTV channel in the United States...
for a Sept. 26, 2010 cable premiere.