|
INSIGHT TV PROUDLY ANNOUNCES THAT "THE AMBASSADOR" NOW EXISTS IN AN AMERICAN VERSION!
"Democrats - and anyone who claims to care about human rights anywhere - ought to see The Ambassador"
David Corn, The Nation
"This film is an excellent example of untradtional journalism on foreign news"
The Norwegian Freelance association, giving the "Freelancer of the Year" 2005 award to Erling Borgen |
|
|
The Ambassador
A documentary about human rights and human dignity
58 minutes
Beta SP
Norwegian, English and Spanish versions (subtitled)
Directed by: Erling Borgen
Camera: Alejandro Reynoso
Editing: Line Bie
Music: Ragnar Bjerkreim
Finished: June 2005
Produced by:
INSIGHT TV, Elisenbergveien 5, 0265 Oslo, Norway
Phones: 47 22 55 38 30 / 47 9506 5101 (cellular)
www.erlingborgen.com
The film was shown twice on Norwegian State Broadcasting (NRK) in January 2005.
 
John Negroponte as Ambassador to Honduras in the 1980s (left) and Ambassador to Iraq 20 years later (right)
INSIGHT TV, the only TV-production company that only makes documentaries about human rights, is proud to present our new TV documentary, "The Ambassador".
Our staff has worked with this project for more than a year, and great research effort and large resources have been required in order to be able to present our new documentary to an international audience.
The film will give its viewers loads of new knowledge and insight, and will draw historical lines from the conflicts in Vietnam and Central America, to post-Saddam Iraq and
The documentary, "The Ambassador", is the story about the former US ambassador to Iraq, now intelligence chief, John Dimitri Negroponte.
Mr Negroponte was controlling the largest US embassy in the world together with an army of 160 000 soldiers. Today he is in charge of the 15 US intelligence agencies.
"The Ambassador" tells how Mr. Negroponte was running brutal civil wars in Central America in the l980s.
He was appointed ambassador to Honduras by president Ronald Reagan in l981, and was ambassador until l986.
Human rights organizations all over Central-America today, say that Negroponte as ambassador to Honduras, covered up grave human rights violations.
He did that in close cooperation with the leader of the death squadrons in Honduras, general Gustavo Alvarez.
  
Rigoberta Menchu General Gustavo Alvarez Bishop Medardo Gomez
The Nobel peace prize laureate from Guatemala, Rigoberta Menchu, says in the documentary that Negroponte should be put up for trial.
Bishop Medardo Gomez from El Salvador says that the name Negroponte, bring terrible memories to people all over Central-America. "He brought war and terror on us", says the bishop.
This is a shocking documentary about war, terror and lies.
The story about John Negroponte, the former ambassador, who now is the intelligence tzar of the United States.
About the director, Erling Borgen:
Erling Borgen has made more than 70 documentaries about human rights issues. He recently won the prestigious freelancer of the year award in Norway for his film about Negroponte.
He was correspondent for Norwegian TV and radio in Latin-America from l988 to l992. He was correspondent in Asia(based in Beijing) from l996 to l999.
He has written seven books and two plays.
He is running the only TV-production company in Scandinavia making only human rights documentaries.
www.erlingborgen.com |
NEWS:
NOVEMBER 1st:
ERLING BORGEN AWARDED PRESTIGIOUS "FREELANCER OF THE YEAR", DUE TO HIS FILM "THE AMBASSADOR"!
August 18
INSIGHT TV proudly presents the brand new American version of the documentary The Ambassador! With the help of Terry Carter as a narrator, INSIGHT TV has made a new and updated version of the film. We have of course included the latest developments in Negroponte's infamous diplomatic career, being given the job as the new US spy chief by President Bush.
Americans, and any non-Norwegian, would love this new version, and we have allready been invited to screen the film at cinemas in both San Francisco (California) and Austin (Texas) this fall. We are also happy to inform you that the film also has been invited to our neighbouring country Sweden's most important documentary film festival, TEMPO. The film will be screened at the Stockholm festival in November.
For any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact INSIGHT TV. We are very hounoured by all the nice e-mails and letters we receive from all over the world.
Please also press "The Debt of the Dictators" button in the menu on the left. You may have this film for free by vontacting Norwegian Church Aid at Norwegian Church Aid (www.nca.no). Please note that the film do not exist in the American format NTSC, but it comes in four languages: English, French, Spanish and Portugese.
April 11
"The Ambassador" was screened in Berkeley, California on Saturday. The organizers reports that around 200 people came to see the film and participate in the following discussions.
The speakers were Conrado Enriquez, a Honduran who emigrated in 1976 but whose family
remained; Mary Jo McConahay Latin American editor for the Pacific News
Service, who spent much time in Central America and Iain Boal, who is
at UC Berkeley and is a human rights activist and social historian.
INSIGHT TV can also reveal that the film will be screened in Tegucigalpa, Honduras tomorrow, in an event hosted by COFADEH (The Committee for the family members of the disappeared in Honduras).
April 1
INSIGHT TV is proud to anounce that "The Ambassador" will be presented to an American audience for the first time. The grand happening will take place in the Californian town of Berkeley, Saturday April 9.
March 2nd
The Ambassador receives good critics in the American magazine The Nation.
Washington editor David Corn writes in his article "Negroponte's Sins.. On Film" that:
Democrats--and anyone who claims to care about human rights anywhere--ought to see a new documentary called The Ambassador, which was made by Norwegian filmmaker Erling Borgen.
....it is powerful indictment, for it presents human rights victims directly speaking about and to Negroponte, who supported a military and a government that killed and disappeared hundreds if not thousands of civilians
The documentary--more than once--shows Negroponte testifying before the Senate in 2001 and saying there was "no substantiation of any systemic human rights violations" in Honduras. The statement seems either a lie or a fantasy, as various Honduran human rights advocates describe the extensive pattern of human rights abuses practiced by the Honduran military when Negroponte was ambassador.
And he concludes:
The film does make a compelling case that there is no way that Negroponte could have been unaware of the rampant and systemic human rights violations committed by his partners in the contra war. Yet for two decades he has denied he knew anything. This man, then, is either out of touch or not being honest. In either case, his appointment should be thoroughly scrutinized. If Bush wants America to lead a global campaign for freedom and democracy, he should not be entrusting a top post to a fellow who has credibly been accused of ignoring, if not condoning, war crimes.
Please read David Corn's article about our film: http://www.thenation.com/capitalgames/index.mhtml?bid=3&pid=2229
February 23rd
Human Rights group in California buy 15 copies of "The Ambassador" to send to all members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence who are leading the Negroponte hearing.
February 18th
Negroponte is now promoted by President Bush! According to New York Times, former Ambassador John Negrponte will be the new "Spy chief" in the US.
He will be director of a new intelligence department, and will have the coordinating responsibility for the CIA and 14 other intelligence agencies.
The man who ignored grave human rights violations in Central America in the 1980s will now have the responsibility of a $ 40 billion annual budget and several hundred thousand employees.
"The Ambassador" is now promoted to the inner exclusive circle of the Bush administration.
