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Overseas Democrat May, 2006

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Film Events as Catalysts for Change

French lmmaker Jean Cocteau[1] onceremarked that lms are ountains othought. And theyre also windowsinto others viewpoints & worlds, not tomention mirrors o ourselves. Illumi-nating our understanding and expand-

ing our horizons, in a ormat well-suited or groups or individuals, howbetter to bring people together andenergize the sleeping activist withinthan through engaging and thought-provoking lms?

Since July 2004, in the wild run-upto the November elections, the west-ern (Kansai) chapter o DA Japan hasbeen holding monthly movie nights inOsaka to enable DA members and non-members alike to explore a variety orelevant, critical topics: rom the ate

o our civil liberties, the efects o glo-balization & out-o-control corpora-tions, and examples o Americas ailedleaders, to war in the Middle East, therise o undamentalism in American &other societies, and increasingly criti-cal energy & environmental issues. Ourokyo chapter also holds occasionallm events; Kyoto just started monthlymovie nights last March; and our Na-goya chapter in central Japan will soonbegin regular screenings.

Unless coupled with another event,admission or our movie nights is al-ways ree, though we do seek donations(rom U.S. citizens only, thanks to theMcCain-Feingold Act). Any money col-lected is critically important so we re-main relatively sel-sustaining. In Osakaand Kyoto, our events are at small Irishpubs that provide a congenial atmo-sphere and pretty good ood & drink, aproven combination or attracting ac-tivists and the merely inquisitive alike.

We announce our events in localEnglish-language media catering tothe expat community, as well as on theDAJ website[2]. We send e-mail an-nouncements to DAJ members and tointerested non-members. And I also

write a short article about each monthslm or DA Japans monthly WebNewsnewsletter[3]. o enable Japanese peo-ple to participate, bilingual versions olms are always preerred, but usuallyhard to nd or nonexistent. Its also im-

portant that we dont simply preach toourselves or show only lms dealingwith the U.S. As John Muir said, ugon anything at all and youll nd it con-nected to everything else in the uni-

verse. Movie nights are a great way tobridge these connections.

Because our screenings are held pub-licly, screening permissions are neces-sary or the lms we show; currentlywe have permission or almost 30 lms.We routinely contact lmmakers, dis-tributors and/or producers, oten suc-

cessully getting a blanket permissionor all our chapters. Te process is oteneasy but challenging, namely in nd-ing whos the right one to ask. Tank-ully, outright reusals and exorbitantscreening ees have been rare. Toughsomewhat time-consuming, gettingpermissions is something we all needand should doneed, to remain withinU.S. copyright law[4], and should, be-cause the eventual networking can helpspread awareness o DA to lmmakers

& distributors. Many o these are pro-gressive, creative olks good to have onour side, in spirit i not more. Screen-ings can also be held at membershomes or as private events, where, aslong as the number attending is reason-ably small, permissions arent necessary.

Many great lms are out there wait-ing to be screened, waiting to bewatched, along with a wealth o experi-ence to be tapped among DA membersand other Dems. One way to share ex-periences, ideas and ino with othersin DA about lms and screenings is to

join the IdeaExchange_Film[5] YahooGroups list, set up last year by CaroleBell in DAUK that specically ocuseson everything dealing with putting on

lm events. o help reinvigorate discus-sion & ideas, in the lists Files section,members can download a Quick Guideor Film Events that includes an ever-growing summary o recommendedlms, and lots o helpul links or nd-

ing, reviewing and understanding lms.For those who arent list members butwould still like a copy o the QuickGuide, e-mail me at kansai-movies@demsjapan.jp and Ill be happy to send

you one.American lmmaker Stanley Ku-

brick[6] once said that lms should belike music. And so they can be, as longas the music doesnt lull us to sleep. Telms we screen should be melodiouslyprobing and inquiring, a sometimesdiscordant but hopeully ever-engaging

chorus o new ideas and insights thatchallenge and inspire us. As the max-im accurately says, democracy is not aspectator sport. Encouraging people tobe ully engaged in society rather thanmerely entertained is our ultimate aim.As we all strive to make America andthe world more sane, sustainable andlivable, hosting lm events can be onesmall step toward these goals.

Is the popcorn ready?Ron Andrews

DA-Japan

Links

[1] Jean Cocteauhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Cocteau[2] DAJ websitehttp://www.demsjapan.jp/event/2006[3] WebNews newsletterhttp://dajwebnews.blogspot.com/2006/03/

cinema-notes-wal-mart-pro-and-con.html

[4] U.S. copyright lawhttp://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.

html

[5] IdeaExchange_Filmhttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/

IdeaExchange_Film/[6] Stanley Kubrick

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Kubrick

From knowledge and experience comes understanding. From understanding and concern emergespassion. And as passion deepens, activism oten naturally results. No one going through this processremains the same; growth is always continual.

For any organization or political group to survive over the long termremaining responsive and rele-vantrepeat customers are vital. Whether we sell products, services or ideology, getting people to want tocome back determines how deeply theyll participate as well as the long-term efectiveness o the group itsel.