gina's blog

It's May.  The beginning of May.  And so far, we have a few entries at Cinemocracy.  The latest entry by Nick Newell has sparked a lot of discussion and comments by viewers... and that's fantastic.  That's what this is all about really.  Creating a space for civic discourse... which is a heady way to say we want people to talk about the issues. If you're wondering if this little festival is getting any play, here's a little annecdote: in regard to Nick's video, we received a call from a political organization asking to clear the air on a few things by contacting the filmmaker.  We told them that they should post a comment.  That the best way to counter would be in the realm of public discourse.  I have no idea what, if any are the inaccuracies in Nick's video.  But what I do know is that his video has sparked conversation... and thank goodness!  I'm sure folks from the organization who called wouldn't be too happy that I'm blogging about this (hi, folks!), but I wanted you all to know that the folks who make the decisions are watching and listening.  And that is really important.  So submit your films now - and aside from great prizes, your voice is actually being heard by those in our democratic positions of power.  It's your chance to speak, so use this opportunity to be the voice that matters.

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Three of us from this little film festival had lunch with folks from Google today.  Aside from liking them because 1/10th of our discussion involved food, this was a smart bunch of folks with a great sense of humor.  Or at least I'm pretty sure they are humor-filled.  No one said anything about our new collateral, but I'm pretty sure they liked it:

Google Exec and a Camera: Just Another Google Executive with a Camera

New poster aside, I have decided to use the term Google in new ways.  Like today, I was feeling very "Google-y."  I asked people to think "Google-ish" thoughts.  And I'm pretty sure that I can say Cinemocracy has been "Googled." In that, I wasn't trying to find anything kind of way.  But what's even better is that Neil and I are pretty excited that Google has branded the Earth.  We know they run it and all, but on one of the gals' business cards, it really did say: Product Marketing: Earth.  Which is pretty sweet if you ask me.  I wonder where her internship was...

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I've been feeling a little lackluster in the blogging arena lately.  Perhaps it's because I've chosen to stay [relatively] neutral in terms of political posts or maybe because on some level, what's happening lately isn't sparking my interest in the slightest.  The economy and political scandals, housing crises and mudslinging are all issues that, while important, are overshadowing so many other things that are consistently on my mind.  And it always feels like there's nothing I can do about any of it. 

Okay.  Stick with me here for a moment, because things are going to get a bit heady.  I'm an admirer of Hannah Arendt: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannah_Arendt.  A brilliant woman with a lot to say, Arendt was a political theororist who explored (amongst many other things) the idea of creating something new, or in her words, action.  Simply stated (so simply, it doesn't really do this any justice) turning ideas into action is the highest level of human existence.  The movement from democracy as an idea to a functioning form of government constitutes action in Arendt's view (her book, "The Human Condition" details this theory... and does so magnificently).  It's a fancy thing to explore this theory in the arts, where ideas made visible is the basis for the entire endeavor; automatism, existentialism and Jackson Pollack might be a good example. 

But back to how all of this relates to my inability to blog. So agreeing strongly with Arendt on the idea of making ideas tangible, visible or concrete makes me a little sad whenever I read the paper or turn on the T.V. Because really, we can all be mouthpieces for any number of causes or ideas, but the action seems to be lacking all the time.  We can talk about strengthening our education system to provide equal opportunity for all of our children, but I'd like to see it put into action broadly (we're lucky here in Denver to have a school system that is ardently working to accomplish this - but I'm not sure that's the case elsewhere).  We can talk about running campaigns with no personal attacks, but it never ceases to devolve into just that (again, I'm feel privileged to be in Denver - our current Mayor John Hickenlooper when running for office the first time promised to run a campaign about the issues and not personal indictments on other candidates.  And he did.  And he won.  And he ran for a second term ostensibly unopposed.  So for anyone who thinks that mudslinging is the way to go, I disagree.  Our fantastic Mayor proves that to be true.).  So we've not gone so far to widely put any of our ideas into action.  And here's how this all relates to Cinemocracy: I would like to see if you or anyone you know is putting ideas into action.  Are you angry that many first graders can't read? Did you start an after school reading program in your area to try and fix the problem?  If you did, I want to see it.  I want to feel hopeful that others are out there turning ideas into action and making a better world out of it.  So make a film and post it here.  You'll have my attention.

What am I doing to turn ideas into action, you ask?  Okay.  I'll tell you.  I've been at my job about a year.  When I decided to apply for a job in a government arts agency, it took awhile for me to reconcile my beliefs in Arendtian action with not knowing if I could actually make any of the changes I believe in.  And I came to this conclusion: I think that arts and culture shouldn't be the provenance of the elite and wealthy.  But rather, the arts should be available to anyone who wants to engage in dialogue about contemporary issues (or even enjoy a symphony concert in a park).  Because nothing sparks conversation more than art and culture. So in my position, I get to provide free, cultural opportunities for anyone interested in taking me up on it.  In effect, I get to make this arts thing more accessible and pedestrian  And all that means is that I get to make good on the idea that anyone can become involved with the arts.

Alright... enough proselytizing about Hannah Arendt and such intellectual things.  Right now, I'm really interested in what's for lunch.  Rick, I'm hoping for Indian food.

And hey, Cinemocracy is now on YouTube!  Find us at: www.youtube.com/cinemocracydotorg.

And finally, a little hello to Eileen at the Denver Film Society!  She's the one reading this blog and I thank her for it.  Shameless plug: the Denver Film Society is supported by memberships, and Eileen is the queen bee of that program.  Information on joining this great organization is available at www.denverfilm.org/join.G 

You may have noticed (or not, if it's your first time to the site) that it looks a bit different. Well thank goodness, because that change means the contest in on! We're ready to take films, you can vote at any time, and we're excited to see what you submit. A lot will be happening in the next few weeks... we'll be down at SXSW, so come say "hi" if you're going to be there too. We've got cool things to hand out (did someone say buttons?) and lots to talk about. I even dare someone to make a film about us... thought that's a bit self-aggrandizing, isn't it?

So go check out the site and start voting. Something else to check out? Our friend Rick Griffith's delicious line of writing tools: Matterial - For designers and other thinking persons. I just got my hands on the [Stuff]TODO (not the real name, but for this site... it works) notecards:

Matter: This is Matter.

And they work. I've been meaning to blog for a few weeks, but it slipped on my To Do list... until I got these notecards. And now, here I am. Check out all their cool products at http://morematter.com/matterial/.

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On February 26th, we did what you might call a test run of our Cinemocracy process.  We gave a short presentation to many folks in Denver who are a part of the planning process for the Democratic National Convention.  After showing three short films, our audience determined by text message vote that DNC2, or the video about homelessness, is the winner!

We're happy to note that our democratic system works.  We (and by we I mean our fantastic web developer Brian Hiatt at Civic Pixel - www.civicpixel.com) have devised a system for this site that truly embodies a democratic process.  If you're uploading your films early (oh... like now) and are wondering how people will find you in May, know that the films on this site are shown entirely randomly.  In some sort of internet algorithm that I don't understand, your films will all have an equal shot at landing on the homepage AT ANY TIME.  Further, and probably my favorite little tool, is the random selection button.  Click that once and you'll be taken to a film you didn't even know was here.  So have fun creating, watching and voting.  See ya soon.

Thanks for checking out our site and new initiative, Cinemocracy. I hope this site serves as a really great example of democracy as we define it: many voices, one vote. I also hope that your brains are swelling with ideas about how to present what democracy is (or equally important, what democracy isn't) through film. I'm really excited that what started as a heady idea has turned into something concrete. It seemed like a monumental task to find a way to give voice to all of us who won't be on the floor of the Democratic National Convention. But I think we'll be doing that here. And then we will show it to those who will be on that floor in August. Many thanks go out to Mayor John Hickenlooper and the director and staff at the Denver Office of Cultural affairs who back the idea that hearing a multitude of voices on prescient issues is truly an important thing. Check out www.denvergov.org/doca for information on other great cultural initiatives undertaken by the City of Denver.

Okay. I used to work at a contemporary art institution called the Laboratory of Art + Ideas at Belmar (www.belmarlab.org), where our director always said that by not taking ourselves too seriously, we left a lot of room to take what we did at the museum very seriously. And it's true. So I hope this blog will be fun, informative and that I don't take myself too seriously – I'm going to leave the seriousness up to you as you submit films. So email me at gina@cinemocracy.org if you have something interesting, funny or tragically hip to share… or really anything in between.

And in the interest of sharing – check out a film co-produced by a friend: Wesley Willis's Joyrides (www.wesleywillissjoyrides.com). It's playing at Slamdance this year (which I hope to check out while I'm in Utah) but maybe you can get your little hands on a copy. Rock on.