Terrorizing Dissent documentary on RNC protest online
You can now watch the entire “election cut” of the activist-created documentary, Terrorizing Dissent, here.
Imagine the impact someone like Micheal Moore could have if he released on of his docudramas in a similar manner. At the film’s website film’s website you can watch it, download it, burn it to a CD or post it somewhere else.
UPDATE: Ask the InterWeb and receive! Micheal Moore’s latest documentary, Slacker Uprising is online and for free (though with a thousand and one movie industry caveats). And as a US citizen living abroad, I don’t get to see Mike’s movie. See here. So I guess I should vote for McCain?
Save the footage from St. Paul somewhere. It documents something important in American History.
This is an early cut of a film about the violent repression of civil disobedience that took place during the Republican National Convention in St. Paul Minnesota in 2008, possibly the freakiest election year of them all with the coming out party of Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin as the GOP’s new führer of choice in these dwindling days of U.S. democracy. The footage here captures a 24-minute glimpse of the most likely eventual future of the country in coming years — perhaps put off by a four-year stay in the White House by Sen. Obama, perhaps not. And maybe putting it off isn’t doing anybody much good anyway.
I don’t expect to find much worth repeating in the morning London Metro, the newspaper of choice for morning commuters to use as a device for ignoring one another. Outside of the employment status of Russel Brand or Lily Allen aping for the paparazi there’s not much there )And no, if you’re outside the UK, these names won’t mean much anything to you). Likely neither will John Pilger, though it should. He’s another documentary filmmaker worth seeing. The British are obsessed with the U.S. election. Likely more than Americans, if you look at U.S. voter turnout stats. Still I was surprised to see in the pages of the Metro my overall sentiment of the U.S. election, said once again more eloquently than I could muster:
“Obama and McCain agree on most things; both are men of the system. We can be naive and believe Obama will bring the positive ‘changes’ he talks vaguely about, or we can understand the reality: that he will manage an ideological system in which 42 cents in every tax dollar goes directly and indirectly on war. My view is he’s a sort of American [Tony] Blair. … McCain is a crude fake. He’s a fake war hero – he bombed a peasant country, was rescued by his enemy and collaborated with them – and a fake ‘maverick’. And Sarah Palin is an American caricature: extreme and proud of her ignorance.” — John Pilger
So if this is an important message, how far is it going to get?
Pilger is another documentary filmmaker who could take a couple of pointers from the anarchist guerilla film crowd. Great films, largely unseen by the majority who could actaully benefit from them.
Not that a lot of people are going to see Terrorizing Dissent, either. Fewer still than those who see Pilger’s flicks. Both suffer from contrary problems. Pilger’s film rights are controlled by the likes of ITV, so rapid, vast uncontrolled distribution isn’t a likely scenario. Next to the “buy” link you’re not going to see a “download” let alone a “watch online” or a “share” link. Terrorizing Dissent does better than a lot of other like films in this regard.
Meanwhile, the collective’s film suffers the usual issues, though this one less so than others. The Terrorizing Dissent folks get some things right along the distribution route. They could go further by taking advantage of Youtube and numerous other video sharing platforms out there instead of relying on others to download (4 gigs!!! of video) and do it themselves. Increasing distribution relies on the barriers to doing so being lowered as much as possible. The barriers are low here, but could be lowered still.
Let’s not meander too long on production value. It matters more than some of your arthouse docu fans want to admit to. Pilger has the production cash to lavish on his films to some degree. Not the Michael Moore level, but some. The filmmakers in St. Paul have, lets face it, none. Still, through the use of some fairly widely available editing tools they’ve edited together something that surpasses a number of your other activist-style films. Also, they wisely sped up production to tie it into the election year. What it could use, though, is a little more tightening. The historical footage is a nice touch. An ending, even in this rough cut, is needed.
Shortening it would increase online viewing, as well as coming up with lower-bandwidth versions. On their website there is a call for screenings, but it’s not the sole way to absorb this footage. Too many independent filmmakers with progressive voices are looking for screenings when they should be looking to get their films on more screens. Most of us have some time to watch something that’s in front of us. Far fewer have the time to find intimate little screenings with Q & As with the filmmaker following. And for some of us, that option just makes us itch.
We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof, and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear – one, of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of un-reason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men; Not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate, and to defend causes that were – for the moment – unpopular.
