FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Film Director Tells of Warm Reception in Middle East 

April 23, 2004

Washington, D.C. – Award-winning international communications consultant and filmmaker Calvin Crane was heard on the nationally syndicated The Jim Bohannon Show last night about his recent experiences in the Middle East. Crane focused on the new film series being developed by his wife and Senior Producer Christel Crane tentatively entitled “People & Culture of the Gulf” on the Arabian Gulf States.

Crane’s film crew shot for nearly two months recently in the Kingdom of Bahrain. “It was amazing how warmly we were received,” says Crane, “everyone from the people in the villages up to the Crown Prince himself could not have been nicer to us.”

The producers were moved to launch the project after research revealed that little was known by the average person about the Arabian Gulf States, countries that continue to play a pivotal role in current events. The material generally available to educators is out of date and not targeted to student needs according to a recent article by Harvard’s Center for Middle East Studies. Over 50 million new voters will graduate from U.S. high schools over the next decade. Joining her partner by phone in the broadcast, Senior Producer Christel Crane said, “our future citizens must develop some empathy and understanding of other cultures in order to help make rational decisions about the West’s role in the world.”

According to Calvin Crane, “An unfortunate effect of the terrorist attacks and all the media coverage is that Americans have tended to become more suspicious about anyone from the Middle East. In the entire region and in particular the Gulf States of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and UAE this could not be a more false impression. These countries are safe and welcoming places for Americans to visit and develop the many business relationships possible. We plan to help millions of young Americans know this region better. We cannot sit by and let a few bad people destroy the prospects for peace and prosperity for all.”

The Cranes have been frequent guests on The Jim Bohannon show in past years to discuss “The Long Way Home Project”, their series on the Vietnam War that won the Gold Special Jury Award for Documentary Television Series at the Houston International Film Festival.

Bohannon’s Westwood One radio show can be heard live from ten till midnight ET weeknights at over three hundred stations across the country. Up to the minute information on the first film in the series “People & Culture of Bahrain” is at www.learnbahrain.com.

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