We're taking back 9/11 with a flashy, forceful feature that surveys safety in a time of orange alerts. Security began with an unforeseen death on the streets of Berkeley that provoked dismay in a band of student actors. Activated by this unexpected turn, the actors looked outward, improvising interlaced stories that examine vulnerability in dangerous times. From the fragility of emotional exposure to the very real threat to life and limb in Iraq, Security follows a path that is both personal and political. The unusual project is the product of Rob Nilsson's Direct Action Cinema, an unvarnished method of ensemble acting that coaxes the raw material of story directly from its active participants. In 2002, Nilsson was a resident artist at PFA (and Berkeley's Film and Art Practice Departments) with the expressed intention of making a movie. An unrepentant film renegade, he mustered seventeen students and immersed them in his risky but inspiriting improv process. Distilling twenty-five hours of bold footage, Security is the miraculous outcome of that challenging experiment.-Steve Seid