The film "What is Democracy?" by filmmaker and author Astra Taylor is a deep dive into the ideas of democracy from the ancient Greeks to a diverse cast of celebrated theorists Angela Davis, Cornel West, Rev. William Barber, trauma surgeons, activists, factory workers, asylum seekers, and former prime ministers—this urgent film connects the past and the present, the emotional and the intellectual, the personal and the political, in order to provoke and inspire. 

The most explicit talk of voting comes from Reverend William Barber, of the Poor People's Campaign,  at a protest. The film contains a workers’ cooperative run by immigrants in North Carolina and a health clinic run by unemployed people in Greece, showing that, as Silvia Federici says, democracy starts in the bedroom. What it doesn’t suggest, however, is that democracy is something you obtain by invading other countries in order to redistribute their natural resources to U.S. corporations, as many powerful people might like us to believe. How might democracy expand?

Coming at a moment of profound political and social crisis, just 5 days before the  presidential election, What Is Democracy? is a film for this time.

To join in this experience, follow this two-step process:

First watch film remotely (for free) from 10/20 through 10/28 (only)

Link: https://vimeo.com/467415130  Password: Forbes10-21-28

Join film discussion at 6 pm Wed. 101/28

Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85660299188?pwd=SlVYd3QrWDVJd3BMRjEyZTIweUZXZz09

Filmmaker Astra Taylor will join us for the discussion along with Will Meyer, Taylor's film assistant, and co-editor of the Northampton muckraking publication,The Shoestring.

Trailer: https://zeitgeistfilms.com/film/whatisdemocracy#modal-trailer

This film is still showing in commercial theaters so it is a treat for us to see it for free.

In 2020, the popular Resistance Film Series was called the Frances Crowe Film Series, a living continuation of Crowe's work with the series she started 15 years ago -- because of her enduring belief in the power of documentary film to make social change, carrying forward her work into the future. (Crowe died last year at the age of 100.)