About LFM
Original design for the Freedom Tower, New York
Welcome to Libertas Film Magazine™ (LFM). LFM is a new on-line film magazine focusing on the idea of freedom as expressed in movies and popular culture. ‘Libertas’ takes its name from the Latin word for ‘liberty’ – which is the animating principle behind the films and artists we’ll be covering on this site.
LFM is a further development of the popular film blog Libertas® (2005-2008), which was created by Jason Apuzzo and Govindini Murty in 2005 as the official blog of The Liberty Film Festival®. Libertas was the first film site devoted entirely to conservative discussion of film. New York Times film critic A.O. Scott called Libertas “insightful as well as provocative,” and film columnist Patrick Goldstein wrote that “Libertas is one of the few websites that actually takes movies – and their cultural influence – seriously” in his 2006 LA Times Feature on the site and on the Liberty Film Festival. In 2007, Libertas was voted one of the top three culture blogs on the internet during the 2007 Weblog Awards.
The original Libertas featured filmmakers Jason Apuzzo and Govindini Murty, author David Ross, economist Michael Kim, novelist Andrew Klavan, and Big Hollywood editor John Nolte among others. The Liberty Film Festival and Libertas went on hiatus in the summer of 2008, with Libertas returning in its current form in the Spring of 2010. Over time we will be adding select posts from the old Libertas into the new LFM archives.
The new Libertas has a different emphasis from that of its predecessor. Whereas the prior Libertas spent most of its time critiquing the ideological content of Hollywood entertainment – much of which is still inimical to freedom – the new Libertas Film Magazine is focussed on positively promoting films that celebrate freedom, democracy, and the dignity of the individual. LFM aims to bring to people around the world the experience that movie-goers once only had by attending the Liberty Film Festival in person in Los Angeles. Each day Libertas features short films, webisodes, movie clips and trailers, podcasts, as well as news and reviews of pro-freedom films that are currently in theaters or are available on DVD. The new Libertas site has also been designed in a wider format so that movie lovers can have the option of watching films, whenever possible, in high-definition. Libertas’ goal is to show our readers movies they can enjoy – not just to warn them about movies to avoid. The editors of Libertas have also created an exciting on-line store with over seven hundred classic, contemporary, and foreign films with pro-freedom themes that are available for purchase on DVD or by video download – including dozens of films shown at the Liberty Film Festival.
A young Iranian woman, after voting.
LFM also addresses other aspects of popular culture that are important to filmmaking – such as music, fashion, photography, theater, literature, art, and design – with a view to provoking a creative discussion across pop culture genres and forms.
LFM celebrates the democratizing of film. Talented, free-thinking artists from America and around the world are now using digital technology to make films that celebrate freedom and the individual. LFM features the best of these independent and foreign films – and occasionally even Hollywood films – that promote the ideas and values that are vital to the future of democratic civilization.
LFM is the new voice for freedom in movies and popular culture. Join us each day … and free your mind.
If you wish to contact LFM, you can reach us at: [info @ libertasfilmmagazine.com]
