Millersville University is preparing for a possible Monday morning visit from Westboro Baptist Church, an anti-gay Kansas church group known for protesting military funerals.

Last weekend, Westboro added MU to its online picketing schedule, saying it will picket the screening of an anti-hate film to be shown Sunday night at the campus.

“After today’s screening, you will know that God hates people and sends people to hell,” the church said on its Web site.

This week, MU students were preparing to stand alongside the Westboro group as “peacekeepers.” Campus police planned to have extra officers on hand.

But no one knows if the Westboro group actually will show up, or where the group will assemble on campus.

Read complete article here

The documentary explores why people hate and focuses specifically on the Iraq War, the conflict between Israel and Palestine, hostilities toward the LGBTQIA community, and Christian hate groups.

Terree Stevenson, Director of Multicultural Student Affairs, said the film is being brought to campus to encourage thought about the hate speech.

“We’re bringing this film to campus to spark conversation about the issue,” she said. “We want to encourage thought among students.”

A question-and-answer session with the filmmaker, Mike Ramsdell, will directly follow the screening, which is co-hosted by the Student Union on Black Awareness; LGBTIQ Resource Center; President’s Commission on Racial and Cultural Diversity; Office of Multicultural Student Affairs; Office of the Chaplain; Women’s Resource Center; House of Peace and Justice; Amnesty International; B’nai B’rith Hillel; Tauheed; STAND; PRIDE and the Sociology/Anthropology Department.

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See the full interview:

The event will be held at 7 p.m. in the Hill University Center Alumni Auditorium, 1400 University Blvd. Admission is free. The event is sponsored by the UAB Office of Student Involvement and Diversity. Call 205-934-8225 for more details.

The 90-minute film by Ramsdell, of Under the Hood Productions, examines some of the most venomous ideologies and violent conflicts of the modern age, including the White supremacist movement, Muslim extremism, Palestinian Intifada, Israeli settlers and soldiers and U.S. forces in Iraq.

“A lot of the film was shot in Alabama,” says Ramsdell, “and a lot of contacts were made there. The Southern Poverty Law Center gave me a small grant to keep shooting.”

Ramsdell says he shot video at the Donaldson Correctional Facility in West Jefferson County and at Ku Klux Klan rallies in locations just outside of Birmingham.

“The Anatomy of Hate” features first-hand footage and interviews with leading experts in sociology, psychology and neurology and personal stories of hatred and redemption. The film reveals the emotional and biological mechanisms that make mankind susceptible to hate.

“The Anatomy of Hate” was named “Best Political Documentary” at the Philadelphia Independent Film Festival and was an official selection for Docufest in Atlanta in 2009.

Other sponsors for the event include the Ford Foundation Difficult Dialogues Initiative Grant and UAB Digital Community Studies.

For more information about the film, visit the Web site at www.anatomyofhate.com.

About UAB
Known for its innovative and interdisciplinary approach to education at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is an internationally renowned research university and academic medical center and the state of Alabama’s largest employer.

CLICK TO HEAR INTERVIEW

ACCESS Screens Documentary “The Anatomy of Hate: A Dialogue for Hope”
Dearborn Arab American center to host free dinner, film, and discussion

DEARBORN, MICHIGAN (PRWeb) March 1, 2010 — As one of many events scheduled across the country in support of “The Night of 1000 Conversations”, the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) will sponsor an open dialogue following a free screening of the award-winning documentary, “The Anatomy of Hate: A Dialogue for Hope”.

“This event is part of a larger nationwide grassroots campaign launched by The Rights Working Group to raise awareness of the dangers of profiling,” explained Nadia Tonova, Advocacy & Policy Supervisor for ACCESS & NNAAC. “We chose Flint director Mike Ramsdell’s eye-opening documentary because it not only explores the ideologies of hate, but teaches ways to overcome them. This powerful film moved one critic to say, ‘like medical anatomy, [the film] cuts to reveal, and in deeply revealing it moves us toward healing’.”

The film will be shown at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center in Dearborn on Friday, March 5, 2010. Following the film, guests will be treated to a dinner and discussion with Mr. Ramsdell. The event will take place from 6-9 p.m. Tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis, and must be reserved. There also will be materials from the 2010 U.S. Census available, and a speaker from the Census Bureau will speak about the importance of being counted.

“In today’s world the fear is palpable – used in politics, marketing, and media it saturates our collective ether and has driven a divisionary wedge through this world like never before – East vs. West, gay vs. straight, right vs. left, us vs. them, etc. My goal was to make a film that understands this process and how it leads to all acts of war, violence, and hate. Albert Einstein said, ‘Peace can only be achieved through understanding.’ I believe that, and I believe that such understanding is achieved through genuine engaged dialogue,” said Mike Ramsdell. “I have been honored to start that dialogue all over the world with this film. As a native of Flint, I am all the more honored to be working in my home state with such a significant organization as ACCESS. I spent five years entrenched in the exploration of hate, violence and war, and it has led me to a most unexpected conclusion – hope.”

Director Ramsdell is currently touring college campuses, film festivals and community events to animate community dialogue. In recent months, reactions to the film from screenings around the country include: ‘amazing’, ‘awesome’, and ‘intense’. Additional information on screenings can be found at: http://theanatomyofhate.com/category/screenings

About ACCESS
The Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) is a nonprofit agency committed to advocating for and empowering individuals, families, and communities. ACCESS provides a wide range of health and human services, employment services, youth programs, educational and cultural programs and civic engagement, advocacy, and social entrepreneurship services. www.accesscommunity.org

About Under The Hood Productions

A production company launched in January 2003 in Atlanta, GA by filmmaker Michael Ramsdell to develop and produce thought provoking, independent narrative and documentary films, like “Montclair” and “The Anatomy of Hate”. A native of Flint, Michigan, Ramsdell currently resides in Brighton, Michigan with his wife and children.

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Media Contact for UTH Productions:
Donna Lehman

MarketUP, LLC

dlehman@market-up.com
770-565-7275

Media Contact for ACCESS:
Emiliana Sandoval
Communications Specialists
313-842-5128
esandoval@accesscommunity.org

I didn’t actually speak with her, but her comments were forwarded on to me via email through the reporter covering the story. Below is the propaganda flyer the group distributed.

GodHatesFags Protest Flyer

Mike Ramsdell 09-09-09 Interview

See the review at IMAFilm

View video

The full article may be read here:
From KKK, Mideast to church, film explores hate and hope

Story Highlights

ATLANTA, GA August 27, 2009 – Winner at the Philadelphia Independent Film Festival 2009 for Best Political Documentary, The Anatomy of Hate; A Dialogue for Hope by filmmaker Michael Ramsdell of Under the Hood Productions, will screen at 6:00 pm on Saturday, August 29, 2009 at the Carter Center in downtown Atlanta as part of this year’s Docufest independent film festival.

This ninety-minute film reveals the shared narratives found in individual and collective ideologies of hate, and how humans as a species can overcome them.

“It’s a film that challenges, informs, and inspires. An invaluable tool for anyone who believes that the path to peace is through a deeper understanding of our common humanity”, said Michael Bochenek, Amnesty International, Director of Policy.

The creation of The Anatomy of Hate represents one determined man’s quest for answers to an age-old question: Why do we hate? Initially moved by the horrors of 9/11 and wondering how he might help create a better world, Ramsdell began a six year odyssey that led him to capture some of the most venomous ideologies and violent conflicts of our time including the White Supremacist movement, Christian fundamentalism as an anti-gay platform, Muslim extremism, the Palestinian Intifada, Israeli settlers and soldiers, and US Armed Forces in Iraq.

“What I found was, for me, life changing,” stated Ramsdell. “There was no boogieman, no devil, nor any single person or group of evil at the center of all this violence, war, and hate. Instead I found a planet full of creatures doing their best to fill the void of existence with limited psychological tools, and emotional shortcomings – myself included. And instead of embracing these shortcomings and using them as empathetic links to our fellow men, I discovered that our psyche turns them into mythological monsters that we can project onto others, declaring those ‘others’ as inferior, evil, or deserving of death.”

Gritty, often harsh first-hand footage is interspersed throughout the film with thought-provoking interviews with leading sociological, psychological, and neurological experts; along with tales of redemption told by former ‘haters’ to show both the emotional and biological mechanisms which make all people susceptible to acts and ideologies of hate.

However, the film also demonstrates how these very deep human traits make us equally capable of overcoming them, and that’s where hope is revealed.

“Hope that if man creates hate, he can also un-create it. And indeed I met some amazing people doing just that – overcoming their cultural hard-wiring to reach across enemy lines”, Ramsdell added, “More than anything, I believe it is dialogue that will move us past the barriers of fear, cultural conditioning, and stereotypical thinking – to an understanding aligned with the eternal truth that we are all one. It is my highest vision that this film, and its core concepts, will serve as a catalyst for that dialogue.”

The filmmaker states that his creed as a social change entrepreneur is: “Nothing can happen without understanding. Nothing will happen without hope. Nothing does happen without action.”

Michael Ramsdell will be available to answer questions following the film screening and at the Docufest after party.

For more information about the film, Mike Ramsdell, and persons featured in the film, visit: http://anatomyofhate.com/about

About Under The Hood Productions
A production company launched in January 2003 in Atlanta, GA by filmmaker Michael Ramsdell to develop and produce thought provoking, independent narrative and documentary films, like “Montclair” and “The Anatomy of Hate”. A native of Flint, Michigan, Ramsdell currently resides in Brighton, Michigan with his wife and children.

Media Contact:
Donna Lehman
MarketUP, LLC
770-565-7275
dlehman@market-up.com

Thanks to all those who made this festival happen!

http://twitter.com/Piff2009

LAPEER — Armed with only his camera, his credit card and an idea, Michigan filmmaker Mike Ramsdell set out to answer one question: What makes us hate?
Ramsdell, a Flint native who now lives in Brighton, began his film-making journey shortly after graduating in 2000 from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
Set off by the events of Sept. 11, Ramsdell, like a lot of people, felt like he needed to understand why, if all people at their core are the same and have the same needs and wants, things could get so violent and go so wrong.
The father of two said that he, in a way, felt obligated to make the film because it was one way he could make a difference.
“I’m not a soldier, I’m not a politician, I’m a story teller,” he said.
Almost eight years later, what Ramsdell discovered can be found in his full-length documentary film Anatomy of Hate.
Distribution of the film began in February in what Ramsdell, 35, calls the grassroots part of the distribution process. After a screening was held in his hometown of Flint, members of the Lapeer County Equal Rights Alliance found out about the film and decided they would like to show it in Lapeer.
A free screening of Anatomy of Hate is set for 7 p.m. Friday, June 5, at the PIX Theatre in downtown Lapeer. A discussion with Ramsdell follows the screening.
“(The film) is really good,” said LCERA member Gale Crooks. “This is really relevant … It’s very powerful.”
Along with members of hate groups, the film talks to a number of social behavior experts.
With limited funding, Ramsdell’s filmmaking process began in the United States around 2003 when he interviewed and spent time with members of a white supremacy group. Around 2006 he was able to fund a trip to the Middle East. But then he was faced with the problem of how to find the people he wanted to talk to.
“You can’t call the West Bank and say: ‘Hey I need to speak to a terrorist,’” said Ramsdell.
Instead he enlisted the help of a native tour guide, offering him cash for information and contacts. And while Ramsdell was led into some dangerous situations, he said he felt safe almost the entire time.
“I’m a pretty savvy guy,” he said. “I’m pretty confident.”
The risks paid off, and Ramsdell was able to finish his film.
One would think interviewing terrorists and members of supremacist groups would lead Ramsdell to have feelings of despair, but he said just the opposite is true.
In all of his work he said he didn’t meet one person who was full of hate or evil, just people who had taken the wrong path in seeking fulfillment.
“I feel like I learned an enormous amount,” he said.
The biggest surprise to Ramsdell? “(The) amount of hope I came away with.”
He said the idea that one person can really make a difference rings out loud in his film. The idea that because humans created the hate and violence they can also take it away, leads to the hopeful feeling.
Also making Ramsdell hopeful is the fact that Lapeer is one of the first places to screen the film.
“I’m incredibly excited about Lapeer,” he said.
Ramsdell encourages any other city or group interested in screening his film to contact him at his production company www.underthehoodproductions.com.
Along with the distribution of this film, Ramsdell is working on various scripts and another documentary film, War Photographers.
“I’m honored and proud to do what I do,” he said.
Details on the Lapeer Anatomy of Hate screening: 810-793-7229.

This film, like medical anatomy, cuts to reveal, and in deeply revealing it moves us toward healing. Amidst a welter of powerful images and confessional/testimonial interviews of adults caught up in vicious circles of violence, producer Mike Ramsdell brings us the haunting faces and voices of children learning and practicing hate. Later he shows us children being taught compassion through play—opening up to what philosopher and mythoanalyst Sam Keen refers to in the film as humanity’s “bright potentialities” for happiness and fulfillment, potentialities that are squandered daily by us adults in wars and ubiquitous hot and cold internecine conflicts.

The film does not spare us the brutal facts and images of violence and hate, from the holocausts in Europe and Rwanda to lynchings and gay bashing in America. But this is not the pornography of war and hate. The viewer’s need for a safe distance to consider these nightmare realities and the hunger for hope and meaning that they engender are met with, in exquisite timing, by the authoritative voices and surprisingly warm presence of scholars and scientists such as philosopher Sam Keen, and social psychologist Sheldon Solomon, who show us that there is a possible escape from the dismal trajectory of human history.



These scholars rely on Ernest Becker’s powerful insights to reveal the underlying causes and potential solutions to war and senseless violence. Central to Becker’s thought is the idea that the super-normal potential for violence in humans stems from exactly the same self-affirming meaning systems and identifications (god, country, tribe) that validate our lives and actions and empower us to avoid the otherwise paralyzing apprehension of the inevitability of our personal death and of all those we cherish. The light of these meaning systems casts an ever broadening and darkening shadow—the creation and demonization of human enemies who are seen as essentially different from us. The fuel of violence and hate is fear—fear of powerlessness in the world and fear of the other, the enemy—who also is always the enemy of our God and our good. As Keen says in the film, war is always a theological act, a method of destroying the enemies of God.



The film never breaks the trance-like experience of having more reality before us than we are used to, but it is nevertheless not emotionally relentless. Animation with voice-over narration is used to clarify and give emphasis to theory—and provide a break from brutal images and powerful monologues—without breaking the tone of serious challenge and opportunity that undergirds the whole film. The stories of diverse individuals are interwoven in clear counterpoint to each other throughout the film. We are shown the redemption stories of a murder and a would-be bomber of a gay congregation, and follow combatants on opposing sides in the wars and hot conflicts of the Middle East. We are shown no demonized caricatures. Even in the unredeemed, the film reveals humanity in its complexity.



Anatomy of Hate is recommended for anyone who wants to move beyond naive or cynical views of human nature to more deeply understand the psychological and cultural forces that have tied history to repetitive violence and which provide the clues to undoing the knot.



Reviewed by Henry Richards, a Seattle-based forensic psychologist and longtime Ernest Becker Foundation (EBF) member.


Along the way, the Flint native has encountered average Americans, mothers of suicide bombers, white supremacists, leaders of the militant Palestinian movement Hamas and American soldiers.

Ramsdell considers “moviemaking the greatest job in the world” because it affords him the opportunity to tackle any topic he chooses.

His first film, a Robert Altman-esque ensemble piece titled “Montclair,” will be shown Friday through Sunday in the theater at the Flint Institute of Arts, 1120 E. Kearsley St. It’s part of the museum’s periodic series of film screenings introduced by locally affiliated moviemakers.

Ramsdell, 34, of Brighton wrote, directed and produced the drama based in Montclair, N.J. He will speak on and answer questions about the film at the Saturday and Sunday screenings.

“One of the things that’s always frustrated me being a married man is that most of cinema’s portrayal of marriage is ‘Cinderella-happily-ever-after’ or some form of marital abuse,” said Ramsdell. He’s the son of Richard Ramsdell, manager of Flint’s Farmers’ Market, and Betty, a retired school counselor.

“There’s a ton of drama in marriage that has nothing to do with those things,” added Ramsdell, who’s married and has a daughter. His wife, Jennifer, is pregnant with their second child.

“One person wants to go right and another wants to go left. That’s what we found fascinating — to try and make a movie without an antagonist or a bad guy.”

The main characters, Jay (Justin Barrett, who also serves as executive producer) and Amy (Alecia Hurst), are the spine of the movie, Ramsdell said. “Through them, we meet the other characters — their friends and neighbors — who are all at different stages of relationship.”

“Montclair” recently completed a successful run on the festival circuit, playing at the Atlanta Film Festival, Charlotte Film Festival and the Palm Beach Film Festival. It was one of four films chosen to play at the Stratford Upon Avon Film Festival and won best screenplay at the Cinema City Film Festival of Universal Studios.

“We had offers for DVD distribution, but none were very lucrative,” said Ramsdell, a 1991 graduate of Flint Central High School. “We’re waiting to see what the next year holds.”

Ramsdell — who holds a bachelor of fine arts degree from the North Carolina School of the Arts — is completing his second film, a documentary titled “The Anatomy of Hate.”

To make the movie, he traveled across the globe to “try to understand what makes people do the things they do to each other.” He started the project soon after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Ramsdell spent time filming white supremacists, including Billy Roper, head of the White Revolution, a neo-Nazi organization based in Arkansas. “I traveled with him to rallies, marches and festivals,” he said.

“I was never doing it to judge anybody,” Ramsdell stressed. “My goal was to find the common mechanisms operating in all of us.”

He also filmed members of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., while they were picketing and protesting.

The church runs numerous Web sites, including GodHatesFags.com and GodHatesAmerica.com.

Ramsdell flew to Israel, where he filmed leaders of Hamas, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade (a network of West Bank militias affiliated with former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s Fatah faction) and Israeli soldiers. He also shot footage in the West Bank of victims of suicide bombers on the Israeli side and family members of bombers on the Palestinian side.

“It was a fascinating experience,” he said. “One day, you’d be talking to the mother of a suicide bomber and then to the mother of a victim of a suicide bomber.”

Ramsdell traveled to Iraq, where he spent a few weeks embedded with a calvary division of the U.S. Army and at a combat support hospital in Baghdad.

“It was obviously difficult to work on,” the filmmaker said. The documentary will be released in the fall.

“You see so much pain and death. But I met a lot of people who are doing incredibly positive things.”

Boston was awesome. The film festival ran the same week as the marathon, so not only did I get to drink with filmmakers, but also with the most elite runners in the world. On top of it all, my wife came for the ride, which she never does. In short it was a great few days, and the audience in Boston was fantastic. Here are what a few of the audience members had to say.