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Swedish Director Johannes Wahlstrom & DP Fedor Lyass, talk about the making of MEDIASTAN, after the World Premiere and Skype Q+A with Producer Julian Assange at RAINDANCE FILM FESTIVAL. This film candidly shows the journey of the Director as he travels around Central Asia asking local Press agencies if they want to publish Wikileaks material revealed by US soldier Bradley Manning & what issues would stop them, in an attempt to reveal the differing boundaries of freedom of information in various countries. Playing at times like a real life Borat as those who disseminate the News explain their take on life & their country with unquestioning candour, the film brings up some interesting core questions about who controls knowledge & information, how & why. eg. Should the public be protected from knowing too much of what's really going on because if they knew the truth, they or their country would be too destabilised; Does the public even want to know the truth?; What's the point of doing investigative journalism when the world always has been and always will be corrupt? Assange's response to this via Skype was that investigative journalism is required just to stop the forces of evil & corruption getting any worse than they already are. Also that people aren't apathetic, they just feel disempowered. Whatever your views on the contentious Wikileaks phenomenon and all that surrounds it, this film will give you food for thought. If you want to see this film, let your interest be known - apparently one major potential outlet for Mediastan said its subject matter & style would interest only a tiny minority.. As TV & mainstream movie fare become ever more mindless & producers use viewing figures to justify funding & buying more of the same, those who want to watch thought provoking, original content need to make their voices heard & demand to see the wealth of films that are being made by committed indie filmmakers who are struggling to survive. Well done Raindance for showing such films, provoking public debate & helping give them a first push into the wider world.