A Report from the Road - The Rainier Film Festival (Washington state)

So, how’s it going on the road? In a word, exhilarating. From the swarm of people who come up to me and tell me “Thanks for doing this documentary” to the long standing ovations at the end of the film and the invigorating 45-minute Q&A discussions that follow, traveling with UNCOUNTED has been an astonishing experience.

But what’s best about this particular journey are the people in rural Washington state. The librarian who bought four DVDs to show her students because she wants them to know about this particular threat to our democracy. The woman who told me that none of her friends or family understood her worries about the 2004 election but now she has just the tool she needs to help them understand. The Rainier Film Festival director, Win Whitaker, who told me that he selected UNCOUNTED without running it by the other judges because he thought it would be the most important film he had ever programmed. The HBO actor I exchanged business cards with who had just produced his first film and said the film inspired him to start doing serious documentaries. The film student who helped sell DVDs for me and who thought it was so cool how so many people watched the movie and still bought a copy (”That’s amazing - they just saw the film!”). Then there was the hotel manager where I stayed. She told me when I checked in that UNCOUNTED was the one movie she had to see because she knew the 2004 election had been stolen. After the screening she felt a tremendous sense of validation and was going to invite all those friends of hers who had all given her that “weird look” when she talked about the stolen election to a house party to watch the film. Then there was the festival volunteer who said, “I had no idea” and told me he had read everything he could find about Diebold since seeing the movie 3 days before.

And then there were the many people who complained to me that we needed to be on CNN, on HBO, in theaters, on CBS/NBC/ABC - with a general sense that we were somehow being closed out. Censored. And my perspective that we were having some limited success seemed to fall on deaf ears…

The hugs. The smiles. The encouraging words from the many people who watch the film and then learn that voting - an emotional issue for me - is being disrespected. And while it can be lonely out here trying to get the word out, the connections and the warmth I get from people simply move me in a way I cannot adequately express.

Most of all, it’s that overriding perspective from people that we are doing something important - that we are telling a story that needs to be told. It is this encouragement that keeps me going.

Although it was particularly special here in Rainier, this is largely what I experience every night I show the film - no matter whether it’s a sellout crowd of several hundred or a smaller group of 50. Person after person tells me, in their own way, how much they appreciate the message of UNCOUNTED. They told me that in Chicago, in Cincinnati, in Greensboro, in Denver, in Pittsburgh, in Philly. Everywhere.

UNCOUNTED is having an impact and empowering people to make a difference - just like Steve Heller, Bruce Funk, Athan Gibbs, and Clint Curtis did.

This is one helluva journey.

David

4 Responses to “A Report from the Road - The Rainier Film Festival (Washington state)”

1. Bernie Says:
   May 7th, 2008 at 4:59 am

   Glad you are enjoying Ecotopia — with the slowness of the TN legislature, Oregon and Washington look more attractive every day.

   Just sent your film to the Chair of the Sociology Dept. at Penn State (an old friend). I expect he will share it far and wide.

   Take care and travel safe. Just don’t hang around with any nuns — we know what notorious voter fraudsters they are. (Lordy, Scalia should have his hairy knuckles rapped by the ghosts of every nun who ever tried to teach him right from wrong.)

2. Mary Mancini Says:
   May 7th, 2008 at 9:16 am

   Thanks, Bernie! What can the powers that be in Indiana and on the Supreme Court say in defense of this? I sense a lot of shrugging shoulders this morning…”Oh well, I guess we’ll have to disenfranchise a few nuns to get to the real fraudsters.” The only problem with that is that the “real fraudsters” don’t exist!

3. Deborah Says:
   May 7th, 2008 at 2:30 pm

   David,

   All the voting activists in TN LOVE knowing you are wowing the crowds even in the progressive Pacific NW! Bravo to you. We know so well the power of your film and your passion for the issue. Thanks for being the messenger.

   Deborah

4. Katheryn Casey Says:
   November 12th, 2008 at 5:38 pm

   48ytibeuqbe69ghe

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