Canceled from Freedomfest

How the most powerful libertarian organizations pressured Anthem Film Festival and Freedomfest to remove my documentary on the topic of due process and free speech.

My name is Jason Rink and I’ve been canceled – for producing a film about the importance of free speech and due process. 

The 21 minute short documentary titled “The Most Canceled Man In America” is about a controversial internet streamer and political organizer. He is an American citizen who had a half-million dollars seized from his bank account by the Department of Justice. He was added to a federal no-fly list by the Department of Homeland Security. But to this day, he has never been charged with a crime. 

This film was formally accepted to the Anthem Film Festival at Freedomfest on April 26, 2022. It was subsequently removed from the festival schedule on May 19, 2022. 

My film was “canceled” by the organizers of the Anthem Film Festival and Freedomfest. I was told by the organizers that this decision was made specifically after hearing “from the highest levels at Reason, the Libertarian Party, the CATO Institute, National Review, FIRE, and MPI, people we respect.”

The following is my statement regarding this incident.

WHO AM I?

Briefly, I want to tell you who I am.

I was first exposed to libertarian ideas during the Ron Paul 2008 campaign. I was the organizer of the largest grassroots Ron Paul Meetup in Ohio. I subsequently wrote a book on the life of Ron Paul. In 2010, I partnered with the 10th Amendment Center on the Nullify Now tour, a national event across multiple states focusing on how federalism and state nullification could be a solution to federal overreach. On that tour I made my first documentary, “Nullification: The Rightful Remedy.”

The Anthem Film Festival at Freedomfest launched my career as a filmmaker. In 2012 my film won the Audience Choice award and Best Libertarian Ideals award. This was my first attempt at documentary filmmaking. Being acknowledged by people in the libertarian community whom I respected was exactly what I needed as a new filmmaker to keep going. Since then, I have worked with many great libertarian and free-market organizations to help them produce content and I have built my own commercial production company. I write, produce, and direct film and video content for a living, and have done so for 10 years.   

WHAT IS THE ANTHEM FILM FESTIVAL & FREEDOMFEST?

The Anthem Film Festival describes itself as “a libertarian film festival.” However, a review of the films that have won awards over the years will reveal films on subjects, or by filmmakers, that aren’t strictly libertarian. In 2020, the Grand Prize went to “The Man In The Arena,” a film about the life of Roger Ailes. In 2014, the Best Overall Documentary went to Dinesh D’Souza’s “America: Imagine The World Without Her.” They appear to have a “big tent” approach to their submission criteria, accepting and awarding films with even a broad freedom message, and I support that.

Freedomfest describes itself as “an annual festival where free minds meet to celebrate ‘great books, great ideas, and great thinkers’ in an open minded environment. It is independent, non-partisan, and not affiliated with any organization or think tank.” I believe this independence is valuable. It creates a space where people holding different ideas can engage in conversation and be exposed to alternative views. Past speakers have included such non-libertarians as Andrew Yang, Marco Rubio, Donald Trump, Candace Owens, Charlie Kirk, and Paul Krugman. 

THE SUBJECT OF THE FILM

On April 10, 2022, I submitted my short film, “The Most Canceled Man In America” to the Anthem Film Festival, and the film was accepted into the festival on April 26, 2022. 

This film was screened and selected by the organizers of Anthem Film Festival, and is about the controversial “America First” talk show host, Nicholas J. Fuentes. 

Nick Fuentes is not a libertarian, nor does he claim to be. He holds views that are contrary to libertarian views. Some have asserted that he is a racist, a white nationalist, and a white supremacist. He has made what many would consider to be provocative and politically incorrect statements on topics including race, immigration, and the 2020 election, just to name a few. 

However, the focus of this documentary is not the controversial views of Nick Fuentes. His views have been covered extensively elsewhere. Instead, the documentary focuses on how the United States Government under the Biden Administration has frozen a half-million dollars of Nick’s money, put him on a federal no-fly list, but has not charged him with any crime.

It is my belief that everyone deserves the right to due process under the law, regardless of their personal or political beliefs. It is my belief that when the government violates somebody's rights simply because of their political speech - no matter what we might think about them and their beliefs - those rights should be defended.

It is my belief that this is THE libertarian position on the issue. 

And it is not a controversial one. 

WHAT HAPPENED

First of all, I am relying exclusively on first hand conversations I have had, via video call or email, with the organizers of Anthem Film Festival and Freedomfest, and what they have told me about what has happened internally surrounding this issue. I have all of my email correspondence, screenshots, and video calls that I have been directly involved in. 

It brings me no joy to have to call out the people and organizations who I have been told participated in influencing the decision to have my film removed from the festival. I’ve had a friendly relationship with some of these people for nearly a decade. I respect the work that some of these organizations have done over the years. But I cannot remain silent about this issue. 

Over the past 18 months my life has been adversely impacted, personally and financially, by this exact treatment from media platforms that have banned me for making documentary content. These platforms are run by individuals at corporations that are no friend of the ideas that I am exploring. So, while cancellation from these platforms is not ideal, it is now expected. And to the degree that this censorship hasn’t been a result of government threat and coercion of these companies to ban certain content, it’s lawful and within their right to do so. 

However, when an organization that positions itself as being independent, libertarian, and dedicated to an open-minded environment, caves to pressures applied from some of the most powerful libertarian organizations to remove an accepted film from the festival schedule, I think it’s a problem.

Shortly after the film was accepted into the festival, I emailed the organizer of the event to let them know that Nick Fuentes was planning to attend the screening. Here’s what I said:

I received a response on Thursday, May 12, 2022. They said they would allow him to appear on a panel.

I was actually surprised by this decision, but thought it would be interesting. In this forum, people would have a chance to ask us direct questions about the film. Even people who despise Nick would be welcome to engage in the process. However, I had not yet confirmed that Nick was willing to accept the panel invitation, and I responded:

Paul Escandon, my filmmaking partner and the director of the film, sent a message to Nick the following day. He did not respond or confirm his participation at any time over the next 3 days.

However, on Monday morning, March 16, 2022, Anthem Film Festival sent out the email below. It listed both the screening of the film and the fact that Nick was to appear on a panel.

As soon as I saw the email, I immediately sent a response to the organizer of Anthem Film Festival as follows:

Shortly after I sent this email, the Anthem Film Festival website was updated. My film was still listed, but they removed Nick’s participation in the panel. 

And let me be clear: I was absolutely fine with that decision.

But the damage had already been done. Over the course of the next few days, some people on Twitter began to call out Anthem Film festival for giving Nick a platform. 

But removing him from the panel was not enough for some. They wanted the entire film removed from the schedule. 

My film was removed from the official schedule at some point on or before Thursday, May 19, 2022.  On that day I got on a video call with the Anthem and Freedomfest organizers to discuss the issue. On that call I was advised that while the Twitter activity from some select individuals in the libertarian movement had an influence, “it was actually when we were hearing from the highest levels at Reason, the Libertarian Party, the CATO Institute, National Review, FIRE, and MPI, people we respect” that lead to the decision to remove the film. I was informed that they believed the film “didn’t do enough to disparage Nick’s views.” Since the film is not publicly available to view, I can only assume these critics arrived at this conclusion from watching a 95 second trailer for the film. 

The organizers admitted they did not do proper due diligence before announcing the panel. To their credit, they did attempt to contextualize the film to these critics, highlighting the actual issues of the film.

Apparently, this was not enough. The critics wanted the film removed.

Ironically, after the film was removed, I was still scheduled to speak at Anthem. The talk was entitled “Canceled: Fighting the Speech Police.”

I advised them that there was no way I could speak on that topic at an event that literally canceled my film. I asked them to remove it from the agenda.

This is cancel culture. And it’s happening right inside one of the few places I thought would not stand for it.

WHERE THINGS STAND NOW

As of today, May 26th, 2022, the film does not appear on the schedule. 

Its status was changed a week ago in the film submission website from “Selected” to “Undecided,” which is the current status.

I wanted to issue a statement immediately after my phone call with the organizers last week, but they asked me for a little time to see if they could work something out. I let them know I was skeptical that they would reinstate the film, but granted their request. After one week, I’ve been told they are still deliberating. But I feel I have allowed enough time, and needed to speak out on the issue.

Here’s why.

THE MOST CANCELED FILMMAKER IN AMERICA?

Over the past 18 months, I have been suspended from multiple social media platforms. Why? For posting a movie trailer on another film I’ve been working on about January 6. 

My Twitter account, which I had for over 10 years, with thousands of followers, was suspended on January 12, 2021.

Then, an alternate account I had was suspended on December 5th, 2021 shortly after appearing on the Tucker Carlson show to talk about my film. 

This time, Twitter CONFIRMED I was banned for violating their rules against “evading permanent suspension.” 

I am permanently banned from Twitter. My films are banned from twitter. 

The only reason I currently have an account is because I continue to evade permanent suspension by opening new accounts and building them up again from scratch. 

This account will almost certainly be banned once it reaches 1,000 followers, as has been the case on other occasions.

My Facebook account, which I had for over 10 years, with over 4,000 friends, along with dozens of business pages and groups, were all banned on January 13, 2021. It has never been reinstated. I have been rebuilding a new Facebook account but am BANNED from using Facebook ads for any purpose. This has cost me $90,000 in annual revenue from clients for whom I was handling digital marketing. 

I have lost a YouTube channel. 

I was banned for life from Vimeo, an account I had for 10 years with over 4,000 videos. The reason? Two private videos, and one public video, with a combined total of 36 views, related to this film.

Finally, the the Federal Government has contacted me because I was present in Washington DC filming a documentary on January 6th.

I have almost no platform to speak from. I have little reach on social media. I am not a high level individual at a libertarian think tank, non-profit, or publication. I don’t have access to the influence or resources these people have, and have used, to pressure Anthem and Freedomfest to remove my film. I don’t have the “respect” that they have.

My income does not depend on libertarian donors liking me or supporting me. I am funding everything I am doing out of my own pocket. Neither Paul, nor I, have ever received a single dollar from Nick Fuentes or America First for the production of this film, as some have suggested. Most of the people who have worked to get my film canceled at Freedomfest have no idea who I am or what I believe. 

I have put everything on the line to make these films. My public stance on these issues, and my commitment to making important and provocative content, has closed many doors professionally for me. I have counted the costs, and I am “all in,” because I have the courage of my convictions.

I believe that we are facing some of the most serious problems we have ever faced as a society, and that the future of freedom, liberty, and free expression are at stake. The events of this past week have shown me that there are influential people and powerful organizations within the libertarian movement who want to silence me. They claim to stand for these ideals, but either don’t have the courage, or the commitment, to stand up for them when it becomes too costly.

I realize that, by publishing this, the small likelihood of this film being accepted back into the Anthem Film Festival may have gotten even smaller. That’s fine. The issue is bigger than that for me.

Given what’s happened over the past week, will Anthem and Freedomfest even take a chance on controversial films and speakers in the future?

Will films simply be rejected to avoid the possibility of angering sponsors, exhibitors, and donors?

Will independent filmmakers slowly stop telling these stories because they cannot find a single festival, venue or platform where they can show them?

I know this won’t stop me. I just hope that I’m right in believing that there’s still a significant audience of open-minded, freedom-loving people who see value in the kinds of films I will continue to make.