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Considering Democracy Makes Arizona Premiere in Best of Fest
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The Sedona International Film Festival is proud to present the Arizona premiere of the award-winning documentary feature ¡°Considering Democracy: 8 Things to Ask Your Representative¡± as part of its ¡°Best of Fest¡± film series. There will be two screenings of the film at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. on August 5 at Harkins Sedona Six Theatres. The film¡¯s director, Keya Lea Horiuchi, will be in Sedona to host the movie and present a Q&A discussion following the screenings. ¡°This is a call to get involved. At this critical time in U.S. history, just before an important Presidential and Congressional election in November, 2008, this movie can be a stimulus to dialogue,¡± said Jane Ginn, member of the festival¡¯s film selection committee. While the U.S. is the most flaunted democracy in the world, how do we compare with, and what does the rest of the world think of U.S. foreign and domestic policy? Americans are continually told through their media that freedom and democracy are being given to people abroad, but is it true? This documentary takes a look. Ever since Alexis DeTocqueville traveled across the U.S. in the early 1800s to chronicle democracy in America our great experiment in governance has been a source of wonder and envy among citizens of other nations. The pragmatism, optimism and hope that is so much a part of our national character was forged through the assimilation of multiple cultures and nurtured through our westward expansion. DeTocqueville caught the crest of that wave of expansion and through, his book Democracy in America, stimulated decades of intellectual discourse on the meaning of democracy to nations around the world. Keya Lea Horiuchi, in a more modern rendition of this experiment, turns the perspective on its head. In her 2008 film Considering Democracy: 8 Things to Ask Your Representative, she reverses the perspective. To accomplish this she traveled the world for 5 months video-documenting a sampling of man- or woman-on-the-street impressions of America; thereby looking in from the outside. In the course of making this film she traveled to Australia, Bangladesh, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Indonesia, India, Japan, Nepal and Thailand. What is so stimulating about her treatment of the material is her grouping of these impressions into thematic elements. Through her line of questioning she covers such disparate topics as healthcare, foreign policy, foreign aid, media, campaign finance, lobbying and legislation, and working hours for labor. The material is edited into crisp and sometimes disarming arrays of widely disparate views. Importantly, she points out some of the current trends in a manner that helps the viewer reflect on these patterns, and their own role or place within that framework. She then uses these themes and the compiled data to formulate questions viewers can pose to their own U.S. Congressional representatives. By doing this she artfully moves the subject matter from a strictly entertainment or educational arena into a framework for dialogue and action. The web of topics that she covers provides ample interest to citizens of many different persuasions for getting involved and making their voice heard and their vote count. Horiuchi will be in Sedona to conduct a Q&A discussion following both screenings. Once a schoolteacher previously working on the Navajo Indian Reservation in New Mexico and Montrose, Colorado, Horiuchi got caught up in documentary films. Her first film, ¡°Red Tibet, Free Tibet,¡± went on to critical and audience acclaim in film festivals all across the U.S. and Canada. She is having the same good fortune with ¡°Considering Democracy¡± which is on a multi-city tour leading up to the November elections. The title sponsor for the event is Sedona.biz, owned by Carl Jackson. The lodging host is Los Abrigados Resort & Spa. The series is also made possible by a grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts and National Endowment for the Arts and the City of Sedona. The film will be shown at Harkins Sedona Six Theatres on Tuesday, August 5 at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets are $10, or $8 for Film Sedona members, and will be available starting at 3 p.m. in the Harkins lobby. Cash or checks only. Seats are limited. Film Sedona members can purchase tickets in advance at the Sedona International Film Festival office, 1785 W. Hwy. 89A, Suite 2B, or by calling 928-282-1177. For more information, visit: www.SedonaFilmFestival.com. |
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Where: Harkins Sedona Six Theatres, Sedona Phone: 928-282-1177 Contact: www.SedonaFilmFestival.com Don't keep it to yourself. Tell everyone you know! Subscribe now! Get Sedona news and events delivered right to your email. (Your privacy is protected. No spam ever, and you can unsubscribe at any time.) |
