User:Tgebbie72/sandbox/Hard to Believe (2015 film)

Hard to Believe (2015 film)

Hard To Believe (Chinese: 难以置信; pinyin: Nányǐ zhìxìn) is a 2015 documentary film by Ken Stone about the Organ Harvesting in China and how doctors became murderers.

The film uses archival and propaganda footage from the era as well as interviews with doctors participant and victims, and examines the issue of forced live organ harvesting from Chinese prisoners of conscience, and the response-or lack of it-around the world.

In the United States, the film garnered largely positive reviews[1]. It broadcasted on America's PBS TV, and "Highly Recommended" by Video Librarian Magazine [2]for Educational Use. It won 14 Film Awards, including 2017 Global Cinema Film Festival of Boston 2016 International Film Festival for Peace, Inspiration & Equality, 2015 Global Film Awards Humanitarian Award etc.

Impact

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Since release of  “Hard To Believe," significant changes have happened in relation to the issue:

  • H.Res 343[3] passed unanimously in 2016, calling for an investigation into the crime of organ harvesting of prisoners of conscience in China.
  • The European Parliament unanimously passed a similar resolution
  • The New York Times best-selling book, "Larry's Kidney" by Daniel Asa Rose[4], which promoted transplant tourism for American patients to China and discussed in "Hard To Believe",  was slated to become a Hollywood movie featuring Will Ferris -- since release of "Hard To Believe" that movie production has now been put permanently on hold.
  • A U.S. Congressional Hearing was held on the issue of organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience in China, including Ethan Gutmann, who features in "Hard To Believe"
  • The New York Times reported on the issue—for the first time—and ran a series of three articles on the topic
  • Partnership with the International Coalition to End Organ Pillaging in China, whose membership of academics and professionals has grown significantly as a result of screenings of "Hard To Believe"
  • A positive change in public perception of the Falun Gong community in the West. In post-screening interviews, we've noticed a significant trend of audience members who say they have seen Falun Gong protests on North American streets before but hadn't paid attention to their plight, but that after watching "Hard To Believe" they feel a responsibility to pay attention to this issue and find out more (here are some video examples of such audience feedback)

Film Awards

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Creation International Film Festival, 2018 Winner Best Documentary Feature

Cinema WorldFest Awards, 2018 Best In Show

Cinema WorldFest Awards, 2018 Award of Excellence, Documentary Feature

London Film Awards, 2017 Winner Gold Lion Award

Winner of Best Documentary Editing, 2017 Global Cinema Film Festival of Boston

Winner of Best Documentary, 2016 Hoboken International Film Festival

Winner Award of Excellence, 2016 International Film Festival for Peace, Inspiration & Equality

Winner of Best Documentary, 2016 Brightside Tavern Film Festival

Winner of Outstanding Achievement, Accolade Global Film Competition 2015 Humanitarian

Winner of Outstanding Achievement, 2015 Global Film Awards Humanitarian Award

Six Awards of Excellence, 2015 Accolade Global Film Competition in the categories of:

Documentary Program / Social Change / Religion / Ethics / Health / Medicine

Two Awards of Excellence, 2015 IndieFEST Global Film Award in the categories of Liberation / Social Justice

Notes

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  1. ^ "Morning Sun (film)", Wikipedia, 2018-04-01, retrieved 2018-07-12
  2. ^ "Video Librarian || Video Reviews and News for Librarians and Film Lovers". Video Librarian. Retrieved 2018-07-12.
  3. ^ Ileana, Ros-Lehtinen, (2016-06-13). "H.Res.343 - 114th Congress (2015-2016): Expressing concern regarding persistent and credible reports of systematic, state-sanctioned organ harvesting from non-consenting prisoners of conscience in the People's Republic of China, including from large numbers of Falun Gong practitioners and members of other religious and ethnic minority groups". www.congress.gov. Retrieved 2018-07-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ "Larry's Kidney - Daniel Asa Rose - E-book". HarperCollins Publishers: World-Leading Book Publisher. Retrieved 2018-07-12.
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