  |
 |
|
Festival Films A-Z
State Legislature
Idaho Films, Inc.
One Richdale Avenue, Unit 4
Cambridge, MA 02140
USA
Tel.: +1 61 75 76 36 03
John Davey
Frederick Wiseman
Zipporah Films, Inc.
Karen Konice
One Richdale Avenue,
Unit 4
Cambridge, MA 02140
USA
Tel.: +1 61 75 76 36 03
Fax: +1 61 78 64 80 06
E-Mail: info@zipporah.com
Internet: www.zipporah.com
Freunde der Deutschen Kinemathek e.V.
Karl Winter
Potsdamer Straße 2
10785 Berlin
Tel.: +49-30-26 95 51 50
Fax: +49-30-26 95 51 11
E-Mail: verleih@fdk-berlin.de
Synopsis
Idaho is in the Northwest of the USA. In each of the 35 electoral districts of the Rocky Mountain state, two representatives and one senator are elected. For a legislative period of two years, all matters of lawmaking and budgeting rest in the hands of these officials. In short, they decide on the fate of Idaho. Frederick Wiseman observed them in committee meetings, in hearings, in informal conversations in the hallways, and in meetings with voters and lobbyists of every kind.
Is it possible to film the idea of democracy? Emerging from Wiseman's method of observation and montage - without interviews and commentary - is the arduous interpersonal process of democratic decision-making itself. Quite incidentally he shows a distillation of white, Christian America, which for many has lost its attractiveness as a healing exporter of values. Even so, American society can no more be reduced to catchwords than the term 'rogue nation' would accurately describe a large part of the Islamic world. Wiseman's observational gesture shows that it is worth taking a closer look in order to understand complex contexts and to allow for contradictions.
"In my documentary films, I try to use film technology to observe and think about the diversity and complexity of life in the United States and, by implication, elsewhere. A legislature is the most important representative institution in a democratic society. The acts or omissions of a legislature affect all aspects of our lives and establish the rules, values and norms for key institutions such as the police, schools, armed forces, health care, the legal system, and other major institutions. (...) This film will show the day-to-day aspects of the legislative process, the goal of which is the creation of the laws that govern the civic life depicted in my other films. Unlike a textbook description in a political science course of how a bill becomes law, a film about a legislature can convey in a unique way the actuality of the legislative process: that is, how decisions are made and power is exercised in a democratic society and the constraints and limitations on the application of that power." Frederick Wiseman
Biography
Titicut Follies (1967), Primate (1974), Seraphita's Diary (1982), Central Park (1989), La Comédie-Française ou l'amour joué (1996), Public Housing (1997), La dernière lettre (2002), The Garden (2004), State Legislature (2007)
Filmography
Titicut Follies (1967), Primate (1974), Seraphita's Diary (1982), Central Park (1989), La Comédie-Française ou l'amour joué (1996), Public Housing (1997), La dernière lettre (2002), The Garden (2004), State Legislature (2007)
Dates
| 15 | 03.10.2007 | 10:30 | Filmhaus |