On behalf of Horse Opera Productions, I would like to wish you a very happy New Year. I would also like to thank you, for the support we have received from the Mariana Islands community is the very foundation of possibility for our documentary film, "The Insular Empire: America's Pacific Frontier."

Right now, we need your support more than ever. In fact, we need your financial help to get this important documentary finished fast - while fundamental issues facing your communities are being discussed in Washington.

As you know, the Mariana Islands have played a crucial role in American history over the past century. Your story also sheds important and controversial light on cherished American ideals of freedom and democracy. Most Americans, however, know nothing about you.

"The Insular Empire" will change this. It will provide policy makers with not only the historic context that has led to current U.S. policy, but also the reasons why the United States needs to change the way they treat their second-class citizens in the Marianas.

I have put together a Horse Opera Holiday Wish List, to give you a concrete sense of how your gift might be used. While individual items on this list may be beyond your capacity this year, any gift amount will help move us closer to our goals.

When "The Insular Empire" is broadcast on public television, and toured in both the mainland U.S. and the Pacific, the Chamorro and Carolinian communities of Guam and the Northern Marianas will for the first time be able to tell their powerful story from the margins of America, with voices of wisdom and dignity.

The film interweaves the historical story of colonization and survival in the Marianas with the contemporary issues your island communities are facing today. It will let the mainland know that American citizenship for the people of the Marianas is not complete citizenship. That citizenship on Guam can be revoked by an Act of Congress. That the CNMI lacks any representation in the U.S. Congress. And that the young of both insular areas are fighting for - but cannot vote for - the U.S. Commander-in-Chief.

Perhaps most importantly, this story will be told through Chamorro and Refalawasch voices. "The Insular Empire" follows four indigenous characters from Guam and the CNMI: Carlos Taitano and Hope Alvarez Cristobal on Guam, and Pete A. Tenorio and Lino Olopai in the CNMI. Their words and dreams will be accompanied by interviews with leading island community members, and narration written in collaboration with local poets. And the film's soundtrack will incorporate Chamorro and Carolinian music and chants, recorded on location.

Together, these elements will create a lasting document illustrating your complex history and uncertain future. In the process, the film will ask some difficult questions. Why are there still U.S. citizens without a national vote? What does it mean to be American? And what does it feel like to be American, when most Americans recognize your people as neither compatriots nor equals? The stories of the Mariana Islands are powerful, and speak directly to the American nation. It is time for these stories to be told.

Browse our Holiday Wish List, and give what you can. You can request that your donation be used for a specific Wish List item, or you can make a flexible donation - to be used where we feel your funds will be most effective in advancing the film towards completion. Either way, unless you choose to remain anonymous, your gift will be recognized in the credits of our film.

All donations made to "The Insular Empire" through our fiscal sponsor, the Bay Area Video Coalition, are fully tax-deductible.

And thank you again, on behalf of Horse Opera Productions, for your important and continuing support.