Starts: Friday, Aug. 11 2:30 PM (Eastern)
Ends: Friday, Aug. 11 3:45 PM (Eastern)
Film showcases present several films in one session by showing 10-15 minutes of each, then inviting a presenter from each film to participate in a moderated discussion.
Democracy Through the Looking Glass
What starts out as a fun story about a citizen who embeds himself with the media covering the 2016 presidential campaigns, turns into an eye-opening journey; where shiny objects hypnotizes, truthiness empowers and paranoia runs rampant. Ultimately, Democracy Through the Looking Glass examines the junction between media, politics and technology in the Post-Truth Era.
Stranded by the State
Illinois has not passed a real budget in over a year, the first state to do so since the Great Depression. The ongoing fight over the budget between Governor Bruce Rauner and the Illinois General Assembly has been covered widely, but what do the effects of this lingering crisis look like in people’s day-to-day lives? This new video series—a collaboration between In These Times and Kartemquin Films—follows the families, workers and students living through the de facto budget cuts, showing the ways it deteriorates the fabric of Illinois communities.
Each episode focuses on a different aspect of the crisis—from higher education to social services to housing—as well as who is benefiting from the crisis and what kinds of solutions could ultimately solve it. The series incorporates data connecting the situation in Illinois to long-term trends of austerity affecting the country at large, and how it ultimately costs taxpayers more in the long run.
Charlie vs. Goliath
Former Catholic priest Charlie Hardy is 75 years old and has no money or political experience. But none of that dissuades this 21st-century Don Quixote from running for the US Senate in his home state of Wyoming. Charlie’s courage to take a principled stand against money in politics attracts a ragtag group of young volunteers and together they jump aboard a 1970 Crown school bus, campaigning across the Wild West state in a bid to shake up this country’s political establishment. From now until November 2018, the Charlie vs Goliath team is organizing hundreds of screenings in communities around the country. Like Charlie’s impassioned run for office, our screening campaign aims to inspire citizens across the country to make a difference by getting involved in transforming our political system from the ground up.