Thug Life Army

Hip-Hop video impresario Gerald "Gee-Bee" Barclay begun distribution of his very important and personal film ‘Liberia: The Love of Liberty’ this week.

As a kid growing up in Liberia, West Africa, Gerald "Gee-Bee" Barclay was fascinated with television images. At the age of twelve, his family moved from Africa to America settling in Staten Island, NY. He attended the City University of New York, majoring in television/film production. His first job in film was as a production assistant on the feature King of New York followed by work on Spike Lee's Jungle Fever. After graduating (in just two years) he went to work, joining then Black Filmmakers Foundation. He later formed his own production company, Gee-Bee Productions.

With the guidance of Academy Award and Emmy nominated director Tony Lover along with fellow Staten Islander/Wu-Tang Clan Founder, Gee-Bee produced and directed dozens of videos including hip-hop group member and rap artist Wu-Tang's M-E-T-H-O-D Man, as well as Mystery of Chess Boxing and ILL and All Skratch, Where's My Homies. He joined hip-hop entrepreneur and rap artist Master P's No Limit Films and directed memorable clips for artists such as rap  and hip- hop artists Snoop Dogg,Silkk The Shocker, Mystikal, Cappadonna, Bounty Killa, The Cocoa Brovaz, and Nona Hendrix.

Gee-Bee later expanded his directing skills to feature film projects forming alliances with Hush Hush Studios, a West African based company to produce his first feature film Bloody Streetz (an urban rendition of Shakespeare's Macbeth). Bloody Streetz became a winner at the 2002 Pan African Film Festival and was released by Artisan Entertainment in January 2003.

He followed his film debut with The Love of Liberty which tells his personal story of how his family was forced to flee their homeland of Liberia(the African Nation founded by freed American Slaves)after a coup in 1980 which led to a devastating 15-year civil war. After 24 years of being away from his homeland he's lost all desire to ever return to the now war ravaged nation. He is offered an assignment to produce a documentary on the influence of Hip Hop on African culture. While in Ghana, he visits the Liberian refugee camp to find a relative. During that search, he begins to listen to the stories of survival from the refugees. One of the stories brings him face to face with a notorious killer, now born-again preacher, General Butt Naked. This encounter makes a dramatic impact on Gerald's life and he then embarks on a 4-year journey of documenting the devastating effects of the war that eventually leads him back to war torn Liberia, reuniting him with the past he tried so hard to forget.

Since its release, The Love of Liberty http://theloveofliberty.com/movie_trailer.php  has been featured by a number of Film Festivals including Pan African, Urban World and Woodstock. The American Black Film Festival nominated it for Best Film/Best Documentary in 2005.

With successful screenings and acclaim from the film world, "Liberty" is being distributed independently by the filmmaker and is now available on DVD. The release date of November 8, 2005 coincided with the historic democratic elections held in Liberia.

For Filmmaker appearances, screenings, DVD Sales and other inquiries contact Jesa Promotions at 704-362-3266. Online purchases can be made at www.nextainment.com .