Silence of the Director

Brandeis University won't let director Jonathan Demme film former president Jimmy Carter's speech at the school on Tuesday night.

The Academy-Award-winning Demme is working on a documentary about Carter. Given the raging debate surrounding Carter's book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, and the events leading up to his speech, the event certainly should be part of any documentary about Carter.

Alan Dershowitz, who was going to debate Carter in the initial invite from Brandeis, is still going to be in the audience and plans to grill Carter. Carter's presentation and the ensuing conversation could be one that shapes perspectives and policies in the Middle East.

Brandeis claims there wasn't enough room for Demme. That doesn't sit right. Documentary filmmaking can involve one camera and a sound person, tops. With the innovations in digital filmmaking, Demme could have stayed in the peanut gallery with a camera. In fact, he probably still can, and here's hoping that he'll do everything possible to make it into that speech with a video camera.

According to the Globe, an agent who represents Demme spoke with Brandeis and said, "I was told that they were concerned that Brandeis might not come out in a favorable light."

Actually, denying Demme the right to tape the speech makes the university come out in a bad light. No matter which side you fall on regarding Carter's book, Demme and anyone else has a right to tape it. And, if you want to see the whole presentation, Brandeis will show the presentation on its website. Maybe Demme can at least get some grainy online footage.

Image of Silence of the Lambs poster from Rotten Tomatoes.