Library holds film series on democracy, national elections

When Kate Cruikshank, Lilly Library's political papers specialist, first saw Matt Kohn's documentary, "Call It Democracy," she was captivated and wanted to share it. \nShe is now facilitating a four-part film series titled "How Democratic are Elections in the U.S.?," featuring documentary-style films intended to educate IU students about the upcoming November elections, as well as inform students of election policies and American government in general. \n"I'm hoping that (these films) will make people really think about elections," Cruikshank said.Cruikshank said she wants students to be aware they can make an impact and make sure local elections are fair.\nThe series, which is sponsored by IU Libraries with support from the department of political science and the Leadership, Ethics, and Social Action program, kicked off last week with a showing of Kohn's documentary. \nThe film was inspired by the 2000 presidential election, when the Florida Supreme Court made a decision that eventually led to the election of George W. Bush as the 43rd president.\n"I didn't understand what the Supreme Court decision really meant," Kohn said in a telephone interview. "I asked myself the question, 'Can the Supreme Court make this decision?'"\nKohn, who followed the 2000 election very closely, made the film because he wanted to see how much the American people understood the situation, the decision and the overall outcome of the election. \nSo far, attendance at the Wednesday night showings is well below desirable. Only a couple students attended the past two film showings.\nCruikshank said the department of political science and School of Public and Environmental Affairs have helped with advertising the series, "but there are so few places to post fliers and so many other (fliers) to compete with," Cruikshank said. \nCruikshank said she has already posted several fliers around campus and said she hopes students will notice them and attend.\n"I really want to reach the students. You're in charge of the future," she said. \nCruikshank said she is hopeful that more students will attend the remaining three films in the series. Last week, Cruikshank showed "Nomination, Election, and Succession of the President", a film produced by Columbia University. \nAiying Wang, resident scholar in the Department of Communication and Culture, attended the film because she said the subject pertained to her American culture class, and she is interested in the upcoming election.\n"We are talking about the U.S. Constitution (in my class)," Wang said. "I want to know exactly the procedure. I want to know how democratic the election is in the United States."\nThe final two films in the series are about campaign spending and giving bipartisan perspectives on campaign spending and fundraising laws. The films, "Campaign Spending" and "The Best Campaign Money Can Buy," will be shown Wednesday and Oct. 18, respectively.\n"There are a lot of pieces to this election puzzle, and there are so many things we can change (about elections in the United States)," Cruikshank said. "I hope this series makes students realize that they can be the ones that make those changes"