Join director Luis Argueta for a special sneak preview of his moving documentary, "abUSed: The Postville Raid" at Rozz Tox on May 10 at 8pm.

Iowa Public TV will air the film on the fifth anniversary of the raid, May 12 (check your local listings), but join us Friday, May 10 at 8pm, for a special screening and chance to meet the award-winning director and immigration activist Luis Argueta.

Mr. Argueta will be present at this screening to introduce the film and take questions about current immigration issues, the lingering effects of the 2008 raid, and his new film, "The U-Turn," a follow-up to "abUSed."
Also in attendance will be Guatemala producer Bea Gallardo Shaul and Iowa producer (and former Quad Citian) Adam Burke.
Voluntary donations will be accepted to assist the victims of the raid and their families and to help produce the upcoming "U-Turn" film.

abUSed: The Postville Raid has received both critical acclaim and broad praise from communities across the country.  The film has been screened at over 200 venues, including colleges, law schools, immigration and workers' conferences, faith-based communities and at the OIM/CMS Conference on Irregular Migration for the UN Permanent Delegates in NYC. It has been an official entry in 16 international film festivals, receiving the Best Documentary Audience Award at CINEMASSÍ Film Festival in Finland (2012).

For additional information please contact Luis Argueta at luisarguetaa@gmail.com or 646.418.3599 or Adam Burke at atomburke@gmail.com or 319.331.6638.

NEW YORK, N.Y. May 6, 2013 abUSed: The Postville Raid, the documentary by award-winning director, Luis Argueta, will have its Iowa broadcast premiere on IPTV World on May 12, 2013.  This broadcast will commemorate the 5th anniversary of the devastating immigration raid on a meatpacking plant in the Heartland of America.

The program will air on May 12 at 5:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. on IPTV World as part of the WGBH-produced documentary series called "America Reframed."

abUSed: The Postville Raid weaves together the personal stories of those directly affected by the largest, most brutal and expensive Immigration raid in the history of the United States putting a face on the national debate about immigration.  However, the story of the Postville raid is not just about immigration, but how the rule of law was neglected, how the Constitution was trampled, how due process was overlooked and how the rights of immigrant workers were cast aside.

To see a 2-minute-trailer visit https://vimeo.com/22102237.

"With the new bi-partisan discussions on the issue of immigration reform in Washington the film is even more relevant than ever," said Mr. Argueta.

abUSed: The Postville Raid has received both critical acclaim and broad praise from communities across the country.  The film has been screened at over 200 venues, including colleges, law schools, immigration and workers' conferences, faith-based communities and at the OIM/CMS Conference on Irregular Migration for the UN Permanent Delegates in NYC. It has been an official entry in 16 international film festivals, receiving the Best Documentary Audience Award at CINEMASSÍ Film Festival in Finland (2012).

This is the letter Luis Argueta, director and exec producer of "abUSed: The Postville Raid," has sent to his supporters

Would you please take a minute to call IPTV at (515) 242-3100 or email programming@iptv.org about their decision to block the program in our state and preempt its national broadcast premiere?
Dear Iowan Amig@s,

At a time when I should be very happy, I am really upset.

I am writing to seek for your support in addressing what I consider a serious act of censorship on the part of Iowa Public Television (IPTV). On December 2, 2012, abUSed: The Postville Raid will finally get its national broadcast premiere as part of a new PBS series,America ReFramed but Iowa Public Television (IPTV) is censoring its presentation. While PBS stations nationwide, will show the film at least three times on that day, IPTV will only show it once, at 5 a.m, a time slot which ensures that very few of you will see it. However, as you can see from IPTV's schedule, they will air all the other documentaries in the series three times:

http://www.iptv.org/series.cfm/22761/america_reframed/ep:110

Because this feels like censorship to me, I contacted IPTV Program and Operations Manager, Rebecca Ketcherside, to inquire about this discrepancy. She told me that they had requested a preview copy from the series producers (WGBH in Boston) to "determine if the film had been fixed" because they had found abUSed: The Postville Raid "unbalanced" when I approached the station in 2010 and offered them the national broadcast premiere. She said that IPTV's annual fundraising campaign on Dec. 2 would cause America ReFramed showings of abUSed: The Postville Raid to be preempted for other programs.

America ReFramed is a series that "takes an unfiltered look at relevant domestic topics (healthcare, immigration, the workplace, and politics)" and "tells the many stories of a transforming American culture and its broad diversity" through "independent, personal and opinionated films," like abUSed: The Postville Raid. abUSed has been an official selection of 16 international film festivals and has received three awards, the most recent being "Best Documentary" at the Cinemaissí Film Festival in Finland.?? We are seeking equal treatment by IPTV: to air abUSed: The Postville Raid the same number of -and at comparable- times as the other films in the America ReFramed series and to give you the same opportunity as the rest of the country: to see a local story that has captured the national imagination. I welcome a healthy conversation on this important topic and encourage IPTV to include a panel discussion following my interview after the film is broadcast.

Let's send a clear message to to Iowa Public television that it is not okay to edit the programming of "America Reframed" to suit its own personal views.   If you are upset like I am, I urge you to contact IPTV and register your complaint. Here's how you can make your voice be heard:

Suggested letter:

I just learned that IPTV will only be showing abUSed: The Postville Raid as a part of America Reframed show once (at 5 am!), but you will be showing all of the other 26 films in the series three times. As a person who lives in Iowa and would like to see a film about Iowa, I am calling to register my complaint about this poor decision.  I urge you to reconsider and show abUSed: The Postville Raid two additional times that are comparable to the times you are showing the other films in the series. I see on your website that the other films are being shown at 7:00pm on Sunday evenings, which would be an ideal time for me to watch it with my family. I am very disappointed in this decision by IPTV and will be calling my friends and asking them to contact you as well. Fair is fair.

Amig@s, please forward this to anyone in Iowa that you think believes that this is wrong and a very bad precedent to set. Thank you for your friendship and continued support.

Luis Argueta