An Independent Mind plot
How do you deal with the threat of jail time for drawing a cartoon of the president? What does it mean if you are expelled from your country for singing a song? And what is it like to be convicted of Holocaust denial? 'An Independent Mind' addresses one of the most important and controversial human rights: freedom of expression. Filmmaker Rex Bloomstein explores the limits of freedom of expression through eight stories of people who have gotten into trouble for expressing their opinions. Determining this is not always easy. Sure, it's not hard to sympathize with reggae singer Tiken Jah Fakoly, who had to leave his native Ivory Coast, or with Algerian cartoonist Ali Dilem, who was sentenced to nine years in prison. But does that also apply to the Holocaust denier David Irving or to the Basque rock group Soziedad Alkoholika who ridicule the victims of ETA violence?