This is the second article in a series previewing the Social Justice Film Festival which runs Oct. 18-30 in Seattle. You can read the first article about the festival here.
Seattle. The Emerald City. It rains nine months a year here, according to Dennis Reed in "Sleepless in Seattle." Maybe it does, but the sogginess doesn't stop the city's devotion to culture and social justice advocacy. It's the perfect city for the Social Justice Film Festival.
Seattle's social justice roots are more than a century old. Historically, Seattle has been home to some of the country's most impassioned progressive voices, including Jay Fox, a labor activist, journalist and colleague of Emma Goldman; Terry Pettus, founder of the Seattle chapter of the American Newspaper Guild and leader of worker strikes during the early 1900s; and novelist Mary McCarthy, a supporter of the Vietcong and prominent critic of McCarthyism and communism.
Here are a few ways that Seattle exemplifies the spirit of committed activism and resistance, in the context of current policies:
• After Seattle residents voted "Yes" in June for a $15/hour minimum wage in the City of Sea-Tac, Seattle's City Council approved the phase-in of the nation's highest minimum wage – more than twice the current federal minimum wage. Advocacy group 15 for Seattleestimates that the wage jump, unprecedented in the modern era, will benefit at least 100,000 workers.
• In 2013, Seattle elected its first socialist City Council member in nearly a century. Kshama Sawant has made it her mission to “represent the disenfranchised and the excluded, the poor and the oppressed, by fighting for a $15-an-hour minimum wage, affordable housing, and taxing of the super-rich for a massive expansion of public transit and education.”
• Seattle, whose Mayor Ed Murray is openly gay and was one of the first politicians to push to legalize gay marriage, has hosted large-scale protests in defense of civil rights, workers rights, economic justice and climate change, from past to present. From the workers general strike of 1919 which brought hundreds of thousands to the streets, to the World Trade Organization protests in 1999 known as the "Battle in Seattle," the city continues to push a populist agenda with repercussions on the rest of the nation.
• The Occupy Wall Street movement became part of the blood of Seattleites. Seattle activists have hung signs above interstates that proclaim “Corporations are not People,” and postered letter boards with messages like “Everyone benefits when everyone benefits.”
• The city of Seattle is also home to more than 70 social justice organizations, ranging from women's rights to fair treatment of animals to environmental watch groups. National organizations based here include Books to Prisoners, which has provided reading material to prisoners for more than 40 years, and the People's Coalition for Justice, a grassroots anti-racism group with a focus on ensuring fair treatment and police accountability.
And as for film, Seattle has one of the richest traditions in the country:
• One of the earliest cities to embrace independent film, Seattle has developed one of the most fervent cinema fan bases in a city that presents some of the top film festivals in the world. Beginning in 1976, the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) has become the largest film festival in the U.S., drawing upwards of 160,000 attendees a year. SIFF has garnered a reputation for welcoming films that stretch their genres, embrace progressive and radical change, and celebrate activism and advocacy. Also internationally known is the National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY).
• Other prominent film events in Seattle include the Maelstrom International Fantastic Film Festival, the Seattle Asian American Film Festival, Seattle True Independent Film Festival (STIFF), Children's Film Festival, Transmedia: the Seattle Transgender Film Festival, Seattle Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Post Alley Film Festival (Women in Film), Local Sightings, Seattle Polish Film Festival, Children's Film Festival, Irish Reels, Seattle Jewish Film Festival, and the Langston Hughes African-American Film Festival,
This year, the Social Justice Film Festival exhibits top films on topics like prisoner justice, rape as a weapon of war, the Occupy movement, oppression of LGBTs, indigenous rights, police brutality, poverty and athletics, and disability rights. Films playing at the festival that center on Seattle and Washington state themes include:
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Return of the River, by John Gussman and Jessica Plumb, about a group of Washingtonians who successfully organized to bring a giant dam down and restore an ecosystem.
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Oil and Water, by Francine Strickwerda and Laurel Spellman Smith, which peers into the lives of two boys who come of age during one of the world's worst toxic disasters.
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One Generation's Time, by Shannon Gee, about two Filipino-American activists who were murdered for their involvement in Seattle labor reform and workers' rights.
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Honor Totem, by Ian Devier, which explores the life of master carver Native-American John T. Williams, who was killed by Seattle police in 2010.
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Unified Struggle, which explores the issue of deportation under the Obama administration, channeling the unheard voices of those who are cast out and deemed un-American because of U.S. policies.
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Four Seattle shorts showing at the festival include: We do the Work, Maikaru, Dose for Dominic, and LFOs and the Modern Day Debtor's Prison.
It's easy for people these days to become reluctant, or cynical, in their hope for social change. Many become fearful of defeat – fearful that their worlds are too broken to try and put wrong things right. The Social Justice Film Festival is an antidote to that fear and an affirmation of the brave, fierce filmmaker activists showing us how to mend a fractured world.
See the full film festival program here and buy tickets here.
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