Looking for the Real Oppressors? Look Higher.
Freedom-themed short films with important messages…
Every time I go to FreedomFest—the yearly gathering of libertarians, anarchists, conservatives, and other lovers of liberty—I feel like a kid in a freedom-themed candy store. Do I watch the big speakers on the big stage? Cruise the exhibition hall? Go to the fascinating breakout sessions? Check in on the Anthem Film Festival? So many choices!
The film festival always commands at least some of my time. I usually avoid the long films (the opportunity cost is too high), but the shorts are often quite good—funny, incisive, touching, depressing, scary, and inspiring. Film is a powerful medium.
I believe it is time to add freedom-oriented short films as a semi-regular feature here. As I have said many times on #FreedomMusicFriday, movements need music. I really should amend that. Movements need art of all kinds. (Maybe freedom-oriented visual art should be next. Feel free to let me know if you know of good examples.)
There are so many good films out there that express, in various ways, the human desire and struggle for freedom. They deserve broad exposure, so that is what I am going to do.
April 12th’s entry for #FreedomMusicFriday was really, in fairness, a short film. Yes, it had music, and yes, it was about freedom, but it was visual in nature, and thus really belongs in a different category. (If you haven’t seen it yet, you really should; it was truly inspired, and inspiring.)
So that will have been the first. The film below, "Helio" by Teddy Cecil, will be the second.
I won’t do spoilers. Let’s just say it’s dystopian, depicts a struggle against oppression, and is an allegory for the sort of hierarchies that develop under totalitarianism.
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First time I ever heard of Freedom Fest. I can't make it this July, but it's now on my calendar. If you know of any on-going groups, please let me know. Thank you.
I am usually not a naysayer.. opting intead to be silent.. but not today lol. I am a bit jaded especially since I paid money to go to Vegas one year as well as in 21 in South Dakota. Ironically it was one of the final nudges for me to see how the system has turned everything into a recuperation scheme.. previously I thought something must be on the up and up. Right? Most of the headliners are "freedom loving" conservatives who speak in platitudes about liberty et cetera. While there were a few true believers there, it was mostly a carnival of distraction and recuperation that had the actual function of neutering liberty movements. It was aggravating watching libertarians and anarchists fawn over these people who think freedom is a mere tax cut or that the system can be fixed by putting more Republicans in office. There are some cool things but as you said, it is a candy store and candy is not known for its nutritional value.