Beginning Friday, October 25, The Art Theater Co-op will present its third annual Dangerous Docs event. This festival always brings together a mix of intellectually sharp and creatively adventurous films, and this year’s lineup appears to be no different from the high quality features of years past.
Austin McCann, the head honcho and all-around megamind of The Art says, in his synopsis of the festival, “The Dangerous Docs series shines a spotlight on contemporary nonfiction cinema, with an eye towards films that are challenging, entertaining, well-made, and unique.” He goes on to say that The Art will partner with various organizations throughout the C-U community to conduct panels “which will establish connections between the on-screen material and work being done in our community.”
From the synopses of this year’s films and the arresting trailers that accompany them, it must be said that there is much to be absorbed—to be learned, to be experienced, to be shared—in this year’s selections.
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Friday, October 25 – FIRE IN THE BLOOD
Panel: Champaign County Health Care Consumers Executive Director Claudia Lennhoff & CCHCC staff.
Synopsis: Presented by Champaign County Health Care Consumers, this is an intricate tale of “medicine, monopoly and malice.” FIRE IN THE BLOOD tells the story of how Western pharmaceutical companies and governments have blocked access to low-cost AIDS drugs for the countries of the global south in the years after 1996—causing ten million or more unnecessary deaths—and the improbable group of people who decided to fight back.
Saturday, October 26 – INEQUALITY FOR ALL
Panel: Patricia Simpson, Central IL Jobs with Justice, UIUC Labor Studies Program; Aaron Ammons, SEIU; economist Michael Brun, ISU/Illinois Wesleyan University; facilitated by Danielle Chynoweth, UC Independent Media Center.
Synopsis: INEQUALITY FOR ALL examines the crisis of widening income inequality in the US through the eyes and the influential work of Robert Reich. Winner of the Documentary Special Jury Prize at Sundance, where that jury said, “With clarity, humor and heart, this timely film reveals the underpinnings of an urgent threat to American democracy.” At the heart of the film is a simple proposition: what is a good society, and what role does the widening income gap play in the deterioration of our nation’s economic health? We are endeavoring for INEQUALITY FOR ALL to be a paradigm-shifting, eye-opening experience for the American public. We want to accurately show through a non-partisan perspective why extreme income inequality is such an important topic for our citizens today and for the future of America.
Sunday, October 27 – AFTER TILLER
Panel: Lena Hann, Clinical Instructor, Department of Kinesiology and Community Health; Heather Ault, MFA Artist and “4000 Years of Choice” founder; Carol Ammons, state representative candidate; Diana Onken, NARAL Pro-Choice America.
Synopsis: In 2009, Dr. George Tiller of Wichita, Kansas—one of the only doctors in the US who performed third-trimester abortions—was gunned down in his church. He was the eighth abortion clinic worker to be assassinated since the Supreme Court passed the Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion, in 1973.There are now only four doctors in the country—all former colleagues of Dr. Tiller—who openly provide late abortions, a procedure considered highly controversial even among those who consider themselves pro-choice. AFTER TILLER weaves together revealing interviews with the doctors with intimate scenes from their private lives and inside their clinics, where they counsel and care for their vulnerable patients. The personal and moral struggles of several of these women are revealed, forcing us to step into the shoes of both patient and practitioner as they confront the full complexity of each decision.
Monday, October 28 – FREE THE MIND
Panel: John Jones, Mindfulness Program/Education Justice Project; Thubten Choying, nun in Nyingma lineage; Christopher Menard, clinical psychologist, UI; Lisa Haake, yoga teacher & therapist, Tadasana yoga.
Synopsis: In 1992, Professor Richard Davidson, one of the world’s leading neuroscientists, met the Dalai Lama, who encouraged him to apply the same rigorous methods he used to study depression and anxiety to the study of compassion and kindness, those qualities cultivated by Tibetan meditation practice. The results of Davidson’s studies at the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, are portrayed in FREE THE MIND as they are applied to treating PTSD in returning Iraqi vets and children with ADHD.
Tuesday, October 29 – CALL ME KUCHU
Panel: TJ Tallie, Graduate Fellow (History), UIUC; Onni Gust, queer/anti-racist activist; and others.
Synopsis: In Uganda, a new bill threatens to make homosexuality punishable by death. David Kato—Uganda’s first openly gay man—and his fellow activists work against the clock to defeat the legislation while combating vicious persecution in their daily lives. But no one, not even the filmmakers, is prepared for the brutal murder that shakes the movement to its core and sends shock waves around the world.
Wednesday, October 30 – THE FRUIT HUNTERS
Panel: Dustin Kelly, Founder of Autumn Berry Inspired; JP Goguen, Co-Founder of CU Fruit Map ; Wes Jarrell & Leslie Cooperband, Owners of Prairie Fruits Farm.
Synopsis: Presented by Common Ground Food Co-operative, THE FRUIT HUNTERS travels across culture, history, and geography to show how intertwined we are with the fruits we eat. Our guides are devoted fruit fanatics. Movie star Bill Pullman’s obsession leads him on a crusade to create a community orchard in the Hollywood Hills. Adventurers Noris Ledesma and Richard Campbell scour the jungle for rare mangos, hoping to intervene before the plants are steamrolled by industrialization. Pioneering scientist Juan Aguilar races to breed bananas resistant to a deadly fungus that threatens the worldwide crop. And fruit detectives including Isabella Dalla Ragione investigate Renaissance-era paintings for clues, hoping to rediscover lost fruits.
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Each night’s featured documentary will begin at 7 p.m., and each will be followed by the aforementioned panels.
Please do visit The Art’s website for any additional information you might need to be a part of this annual—and very worthwhile—event. It is all too rare that communities have the opportunity to view such important films and have such important, impactful discussions. Fortunately for this community, however, it is not so very rare at The Art Theater Co-op.
Additional reporting by Jessica Knoles.