Let Freedom Reel

How do you define democracy? How about with a film contest explicitly bound to the results of the popular vote? Cinemocracy Rocks! is a short-film festival for which more than 115 citizen reporters, activists and filmmakers submitted five-minute videos about democracy. The ten that garnered the most praise, interest and online votes will be screened tonight at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, following music and comedy.

The show, hosted by the Denver Office of Cultural Affairs and the Denver Film Society, is free — on a first-come, first-served basis. And, as with a lot of convention-week events, the details are still slightly up in the air. Alexis Gentry, a spokeswoman for the Film Society, says that’s because this event is going to be huge. Think Film on the Rocks on steroids, with a big-name headliner.

In the meantime, go to www.cinemocracy.org to view the film submissions — many of which were submitted by area students, such as the group of Boulder fifth-graders who produced, shot and edited their own mini-documentary. Other films use everything from an apathetic litany of channel-flipping adolescents to a playground scene of wild, shouting kids as a metaphor for democracy. Voting ended August 15th, but you’re still free to comment on the clips.
Mon., Aug. 25, 6 p.m., 2008