"The Freedom of Speech"

Short Film by Janek Schaefer [4:40min streaming 128Mb] (c)2006

'The Freedom of Speech' is a work for typewriter and voice about the erosion of our civil liberties.
In England you can now be arrested for simply standing on the street and reading out the names of those
who died in the Iraq war so far.. This is an unacceptable situation.

The film begins with a blank sheet of paper. A 1950's typewriter firstly re-examines the classic quote
about 'sticks and stones may break your bones'. Words are powerful but should not be the cause of so much
suffering in the world. I believe that too many people worry too much about what others say to get them annoyed!...
this in turn leads us to restrictions in what we ourselves are allowed to say in the 21st century...
In the main section of the film we see the typewriter typing backwards - removing the letters and words from the page.

The sounds and images are visually related and they become confusing.. we find it hard to understand due to
the conflicting information... I finished this film on valentines day, as it seems to be my peaceful
protest against overregulation when faced with fear of the unknown...

"There is nothing more wonderful than freedom of speech" [Ilya Ehrenburg]
"Words are just words. They mean nothing unless you allow them to".