This must have been an unprecedented event in test-screening history. The most anticipated and highly secretive Machiavelli Hangman (http://www.hangmanmovie.com) was screened to an audience of approximately three hundred people who seemed as eager as the fans of Star Wars. “Even though this is so low-budget I feel completely buzzed out from all the talk. I didn”t feel like this eager when I went to see Revenge of the Sith and I”m one of the biggest Star Wars fans there is!” admitted John Welsh, one of the audience members.
The viewers all had to go through an individual screening process before they were admitted into the room. They all signed a non-disclosure form not to release any information from the film that is said to contain some information about the John F. Kennedy assassination.
Besides those eager group that would finally get a glimpse into the big secret, there were also a dozen of protestors rallying against the release of the film. “This is a travesty of our values. Like the Da Vinci code, they”re lying to the public and passing it off as truth, said an angry protestor who preferred to remain unidentified.
When asked if she had seen the film, she explained that she would never sit through anything that she had heard so many disturbing things about.
After the two-hour screening, the audience members were given a packet and asked to keep it closed until they were in the privacy of their own homes. There were mostly big smiles on everyones faces coming out of the theatre and some faces so pale, one would have thought they had seen ghost.
“It”s definitely something when you go in and you sit in that dark room not really knowing what to expect and then you”re hit by surprise after surprise. You don”t see it coming and you can”t blink because you”re so afraid you”d lose some vital information on the screen, says Catherine Ajemani.
When asked what the film was about, each person would shake her head and walk away without an answer. This must be a sign that what they saw behind those closed doors must have involved them to a greater degree than a Hollywood film would.
This is an extremely important event that will open a lot of eyes and minds to how the American public is kept in the dark and how the media is used to deroute our awareness of things, said Julia Strumfeld, an associate producer on the film.
