Democracy in Action

While there are plenty of Democrats in Hollywood, there's nothing democratic about the film industry. The silver screen begins to look more like an iron curtain when one considers that most movie options are pre-ordained by a coterie of producers and executives.

So when a few local deciders from the Denver Office of Cultural Affairs were tasked with organizing a film festival during the Democratic National Convention this August, they chose to forgo the typical smoke-filled-room committee format of selection. Instead, they voted on Cinemocracy.

They started with a question: "How do you define democracy?" Citizens around the world will address the topic via short films posted to www.cinemocracy.org. The top ten videos' creators will be flown out to Denver to see their films screened at an official Denver 2008 Convention Host Committee event. The top film gets a spot at the Starz Film Festival in November and a possible screening at Sundance. The submission deadline is July 15.
March 1-Aug. 1, 2008