‘Zero’ showings at Notting Hill & Greenwich 28th August
Posted by: Belinda McKenzie in *Events*, 9/11At Notting Hill Gate Cinema some 30 people viewed Zero, a well-heeled, intelligent-looking crowd as you might expect. They were disappointed that UK promoter Tim Sparke was not there at the end of the film to field questions, as promised. Cinema personnel were pressed to ‘find’ Tim but he was not to be found!! On the pavement outside I told them Tim is a busy gent…and tried to answer their concerns. Two in particular, names beginning with J, you know who you are! took me on. The first J who had been to one of our recent meetings at the Indian YMCA was quite angry that still nothing is being done about this issue! I said “well we are trying to do something, as you put it, I myself have been campaigning about it for over 3 years! “Yes, but why aren’t the authorities doing anything?? With half the population of the US questioning the official account of the events of 9/11, according to recent polls!” I said that it’s up to us ‘the people’ to get the truth out and put pressure on ‘the authorities’. “No it’s not up to us, it’s up to the authorities!” J persisted. I pointed out that some of the said ‘authorities’ might be in the game themselves, while others may well know about it but are keeping quiet – jobs, families, etc. Certainly they’re not doing to do anything about it unless we at the grassroots begin to make a real noise and that is precisely what the Truth movement is about - “so if you’re angry about this please join in helping us campaign about it,” I said. He went away still none too happy. Perhaps he’ll think about it and realise it is down to us, ordinary people who still possess a sense of outrage, like J himself to DO something – we’ve got to make the running here, not ‘the authorities’.
The other ‘J’ was a double J – a Journalist as he told me. He too was angry! that the film was so inferior when this issue is so important. It represented to him “an opportunity lost”. That awful background music, why the need for 2nd rate music? This could have been a much more intelligent, academically-incisive, serious film than it was (suitable for people of his calibre perhaps). I said, OK, take in the reality here – a group of young-ish guys in Italy have tried their best to do something about this issue, out of pure human conscience, and have produced a very informative film on a minimal budget. So yes, it’s not a perfect, professional film. But it’s an honest film and they have done what they possibly could within their resources and capacities. And they have pitched it deliberately at the middle ground rather than at super-intellectuals or aesthetes like yourself and that was right – translate yourself to being an ordinary member of the public and see how the film might rate from that perspective. “I am an ordinary member of the public!” he fumed, “but the film was still bad, when it could have been a good film! It could have made more of an attempt to explain what really happened, rather than leaving everything hanging in the air, there was no explanation of what where Flight 77 went if it did not hit the Pentagon, and there was no mention at all of Flight 93 which crashed in Pennsylvania!” I said the film was not designed to provide answers to the many questions it raised, that should and will be the job of a new inquiry, such as we are pressing for. And the filmmakers couldn’t put everything in, as it is it is already nearly 2 hours long! So they decided to leave out Flight 93 and concentrate on what happened in New York and Washington. “You’ll never get a new inquiry, you’re deluding yourselves, just like all those silly people who think we can stop wars!” OK, I said, so we’ll never change the world for the better, the world is as it is and that’s that, we’ve got to live with it. So what are YOU doing with your life then?! “I’m sweeping the driveway in front my own house and making it tidy, that’s what I’m doing, and maybe other people will learn from that, I’m not out to change the world because it won’t be changed” he said, or words to that effect. But we parted on reasonably amicable terms and he appeared to have enjoyed our exchange.
Afterwards I thought, well J-J, it’s great to set an example by keeping your own metaphorical front driveway tidy and that might gradually help to advance civilisation. But what if an impressive driveway-sweeper (& journo) such as yourself, having proved your level of civilisation in that respect also took trouble to keep the driveway of your and other people’s minds clean! That would be even more impressive, and advance civilisation even more!
The likewise some 30-strong audience at Greenwich Picture House were not expecting a Q & A with Tim Sparke fortunately so they were more receptive to me leafleting them and talking to them after the showing and several put their names on our mailing list. They praised the film and had been moved by it – in fact one or two were visibly in shock. I told them not to be depressed because the truth movement is growing very fast now, together we’re going to do something about this evil in the world and stop it, of which I personally have no doubt.
The last showing of Zero in London is at Screen on the Green, Upper Street, Islington (Angel tube station) on Sunday 31st August at 1 pm – if you haven’t yet seen this sensational film drop everything else and come along!
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