Good film - "Secret ballot" and a word re: Movielink

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Mohammad Al-Ubaydli <mo () mo md>
Date: Wed, 23 Apr 2003 07:59:12 -0400
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Good film - "Secret ballot"

Dear Dave,
over the weekend I watched an Iranian film called "Secret ballot". I thought
fellow IPers may find it interesting because of its content, and the way
that I watched it.

First, the film itself. It shows an Iranian women on election day. She is
the government's representative, charged with collecting the maximum number
of votes from a small isolated island. She must do this within eight hours,
enforcing strict voting protocols, and protected / guided by a chauvinist
policeman.

The film is particularly relevant at this time, because of the US
administration's plans to "bring democracy" to Iraq. The film shows just how
hard a task this might be. The poor woman is literally chasing voters to try
and convince them to vote. Every one of them has a different reason for not
voting, yet she patiently explains to each why they must, and usually finds
a way to bring them round. Her conversations with the policeman are
priceless.

I was very pleasantly surprised (and educated) to hear such powerful
arguments in favour of democracy coming from an Iranian film.

Second, the way that I watched the film was interesting. It was through
Movielink, a service that's already been mentioned on IP:

http://www.movielink.com/commerce/detail/ProductDetail.jhtml?id=prod290084

To recap, you need to be in the USA, with broadband and a PC (no Macs) to
download the film. Once you download it, you have 30 days to start watching
it. Once you start watching, you have 24 hours to finish.

These caveats aside, the download process was simple, and the convenience is
highly rated. All for just $5 (most of the American films are $3). The
software worked flawlessly and efficiently.

Of course, the film is also available from Netflix, Amazon.com and Amazon
UK, so there are plenty of other ways for IPers to see it.

mohammad

Dr Mohammad Al-Ubaydli
e mo () mo md
w www.mo.md


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