Ironweed Films deserves some mention on this site for sure.
As the NY Times explains it, Ironweed is “a monthly progressive film festival on DVD.” Each month they send you a limited release DVD with progressive and insightful films, from 8 min. shorts to full-length documentaries. Your $15/mo. subscription helps important films get the exposure they deserve, and it’s a nice little bonus that your progressive media library grows at the same time. [Take a look at some of Ironweed's past releases.]
If you’re wondering about the name Ironweed, I made a weird face at first too. The package the movie came in had this quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson printed on it that cleared up the slight confusion:
“What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.”
This month the feature was voting and the democratic process. The main film was Street Fight, an Oscar-nominated documentary chronicling the 2002 mayoral race in Newark, New Jersey. My mention of Street Fight is brief for now because I haven’t watched this one yet.
The next part of this month’s feature was the one I subscribed for and just finished viewing, No Umbrella: “An official selection of the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. An unblinking look at 2004 Election Day failures in one of Ohio’s poorest neighborhoods, No Umbrella chronicles the chaos of inner-city polling places. The film follows an octogenarian councilwoman named Fannie Lewis as she takes on equipment breakdowns, an unresponsive bureaucracy, and an increasingly agitated electorate.”
This alone was worth the subscription. I didn’t know who Fannie Lewis was an hour ago but now I love her. This woman just would not stop until her precinct was taken care of. She canceled a greeting with Jesse Jackson to stay on the phone relentlessly hounding the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections for more voting machines and workers. How easy it is to forget the events of November 2004, this was a stark reminder.
Ironweed also made sure I didn’t forget the 2000 election either, stuck in with my DVD there was a little plastic bag of “Official Florida Chads from the 2000 Presidential Election” It’s pretty weird to stare at the little pieces of yellow paper and wonder where else this country could be right now.
Another feature of this film club is the Community, with your membership you can create a personal profile and discuss the films on the website. Though I haven’t yet explored the Community section, I definitely like the idea and am curious to see how active the section is.
If I’ve piqued your interest, check out www.ironweedfilms.com/freetrial to try a month for free. And please let me know what you think about it, I haven’t done much searching for reviews just yet, but I’ll be heading over to Technorati right after I post this.
0 Comments on “Ironweed Films”
Post a Comment: