Mercury Media Acquires Tea Party Film ‘(Astro) Turf Wars’

London based film distributor MercuryMedia International announces the acquisition of ‘(Astro) Turf Wars’.

The 90 minute documentary feature from Larrikin Films, traces the rise of the Tea Party movement – the ‘citizens’ protest movement that has dominated headlines and are tipped to have a major impact on November’s US mid-term elections. Australian director Taki Oldham goes undercover to investigate the legitimacy of this so-called grassroots movement and discovers that it is corporate investment, and not only mere ideology, that are driving these groups.

The film sets out to expose the deceptive practice of ‘Astroturfing’ - the creation of fake grassroots groups, designed to put corporate messages in the mouths of seemingly independent citizens. Oldham discovers that the Tea Party movement was established and has been guided with the help of money from billionaires and big business, in particular the secretive oil barons Charles and David Koch.

With the US Mid-term elections just around the corner, (Astro) Turf Wars casts a dark shadow over the legitimacy of the movement and reveals how citizen democracy has been captured by powerful corporate interests.

The film is currently making waves in the media and was the subject of a recent George Monbiot article in The Guardian (‘The Tea Party Movement: Deluded and Inspired by Billionaires’), in which Monbiot claimed that the movement was “one of the biggest exercises in false consciousness the world has seen – and the biggest Astroturf operation in history.” The piece written on 26th October became the most read article on the Guardian website and was shared by over 3000 users on Facebook.

The film has also received mainstream media coverage on MSNBC, Australian ABC radio, and in publications such as The Wall Street Journal and The Huffington Post. The official website can be viewed at astroturfwars.org

Filmmaker Taki Oldman commented: “I’m very excited to be partnering with Mercury Media on this project. I knew I needed a group with the courage to tackle the shady activities the powerful interests exposed in this film and Mercury was the perfect fit”.

Mercury CEO Tim Sparke commented: “Taki’s Oldham’s film demonstrates the importance of independent film in exposing, uncovering and debunking what many believe is the Orwellian society that the U S is morphing into. Mercury is proud to be giving broadcasters the opportunity to acquire this important film”.