White River Indie Films impact at the junction of film + community
Press Contact: Samantha Davidson Green wrifboard@gmail.com t/c 310-866-0503
WRIF (White River Indie Films) will present special film series with live panels and community dialogue on RACE & US ELECTIONS September 8 – October 6, 2020
For immediate release:
September 1, 2020 He sustained a fractured skull and more than 45 arrests – several as a sitting US Congressman – fighting for access to the vote and equality. She defied the triple prejudices against women, African Americans, and Muslims to represent her district in the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2016, then in US Congress in 2018. Yet breakthroughs by John Lewis and Ilhan Omar have taken place against a backdrop of racially-motivated gerrymandering and voter suppression, structural forces depriving millions of Americans their vote and representation, threatening American democracy “at its most vulnerable point.”*
WRIF (White River Indie Films) presents Race & US Elections, four current documentary films and two live remote panels sharing stories of citizens fighting for fairness and inclusivity in American democracy.
Films stream September 8 – October 6 free to the public for home viewing with registration at wrif.org.
Free live-streamed panels Tuesdays Sept. 22 and Oct. 6 offer opportunities for audiences to interact with filmmakers; elected officials and candidates, activists, scholars and journalists moderated by Dartmouth College professors Matthew Delmont and Michael Herron about issues raised by the films and paths to action.
Changing the Faces of Democracy: Expanding Representation Available September 8-22 for free on-demand viewing, two films feature candidates whose victories expanded representation but whose journeys serve as stark reminders of the obstacles and perils for candidates of color, women, and religious minorities: JOHN LEWIS: GOOD TROUBLE (2020, director Dawn Porter), TIME FOR ILHAN (2018, director Norah Shapiro).
Panel #1: Tuesday, September 22 at 7:30pm, a live remote panel moderated by Dr. Matthew Delmont, Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Professor of History at Dartmouth College, will join Peter Welch, US Representative from Vermont; Kesha Ram, candidate for Vermont Senate; Kiah Morris, former VT Representative and Movement Politics Director for Rights and Democracy VT; and Quinton Law, Constituent Advocate for Senator Cory Booker and former Field Organizer for Booker for President.
Protecting the Vote: Race & Voter Suppression Available September 22 – October 6 for free on-demand viewing, films SLAY THE DRAGON (2019, directors Christopher Durrance and Barak Goodman) and CAPTURING THE FLAG (2018, director Anne de Mare) address legal strategies and political tactics that have effectively disenfranchised millions of voters since the 2010 Census and 2013 Supreme Court decision dealing a blow to the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
Panel #2: Tuesday, October 6 at 7:30pm, the second live remote panel moderated by Dr. Michael C. Herron, Professor of Government, will join CAPTURE THE FLAG filmmaking team Laverne Berry (producer, attorney, and featured subject) and Anne De Mare (director); David Daley, author of Ratf**ked: Why Your Vote Doesn’t Count and senior fellow at Fair Vote; Othniel Harris, Regional Voter Protection Director for the North Carolina Democratic Party; and Rebecca Green, Professor at William and Mary Law School and Co-founder Revive My Vote (VA) fighting to restore felon voting rights.
Sponsorship from the NH Charitable Foundation, the Leslie Center for the Humanities at Dartmouth, the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation, with media sponsorship from VPR and community partnerships with Rights & Democracy VT and Vermont International Film Festival.
Participation in all events is free. More information and registration at: wrif.org
WRIF (White River Indie Films) is a not-for-profit film arts organization based in White River Junction, Vermont. From its beginning in 2004, WRIF has focused on screening issue-oriented films and host discussions with partner community organizations with the goal to inspire change.
WRIF Board of Directors Liz Blum, Samantha Davidson Green (President), Johanna Evans (Vice President), Gerd Gemünden, Lamar Moss (Secretary & Treasurer), Marcos Stafne, Craig Sterritt, Signe Taylor Press Contact: Samantha Davidson Green wrifboard@gmail.com
United Church of Strafford, Vermont 
Pingback: Anti-racism Events in Strafford | United Church of Strafford, Vermont