Dialogic Cinephilia - February 25, 2020

That's starting to be history now.
Right now we're in a whirlpool of paradigms
Beatitudes and messes. With uprisings
come upwellings of old-fashioned ideas re-shined and green-stamped
ideas brewed for ages before popping out and hailed in headlines
Where did this come from?
And others swirl down into the depths
Forgotten stories of our foremothers
who thrust us up as collective memory dragged them down.
But we were not seeking recognition, we sought only change
And still we seek, forever galvanized
Bringing ourselves to the tables, turning power plays into
compromises reaching our hands out to the bottom where we've been instead of
clawing our way to the top, building change, casting seeds, setting
small fires wherever we can make it, let them spread instead of
waiting for one giant fix to make or break it.
Sustaining the things that make life worth living instead of
worth money, living in ways that
make sense instead of -- that other stuff.
--Kara Hoving, "Amrita: Immortal" qtd as an epigraph in Jeff Biggers. Resistance: Reclaiming an American Tradition. Counterpoint, 2018.

Bruenig, Matt. "Free Public Childcare and Pre-K Is Popular and Affordable." Jacobin (February 24, 2020)

Fitzpatrick, Megan C., et al. "Improving the Prognosis of Healthcare in America." The Lancet (February 15, 2020) ["Although health care expenditure per capita is higher in the USA than in any other country, more than 37 million Americans do not have health insurance, and 41 million more have inadequate access to care. Efforts are ongoing to repeal the Affordable Care Act which would exacerbate health-care inequities. By contrast, a universal system, such as that proposed in the Medicare for All Act, has the potential to transform the availability and efficiency of American health-care services. Taking into account both the costs of coverage expansion and the savings that would be achieved through the Medicare for All Act, we calculate that a single-payer, universal health-care system is likely to lead to a 13% savings in national health-care expenditure, equivalent to more than US$450 billion annually (based on the value of the US$ in 2017). The entire system could be funded with less financial outlay than is incurred by employers and households paying for health-care premiums combined with existing government allocations. This shift to single-payer health care would provide the greatest relief to lower-income households. Furthermore, we estimate that ensuring health-care access for all Americans would save more than 68 000 lives and 1·73 million life-years every year compared with the status quo."]

Galvani, Alison. "Yale Study Says Medicare for All Would Save U.S. $450 Billion, Prevent Nearly 70,000 Deaths a Year." Democracy Now (February 19, 2020) ["In a new study, Yale scholars have found that Medicare for All will save Americans more than $450 billion and prevent 68,000 deaths every year. The study in The Lancet — one of the oldest and most prestigious peer-reviewed medical journals — found that Medicare for All, supported by Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, will save money and is more cost-effective than “Medicare for All Who Want It, “a model supported by Pete Buttigieg. Sanders referenced the study at a campaign rally in Carson City, Nevada. For more, we go to New Haven, Connecticut, where we’re joined by Alison Galvani, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Modeling and Analysis at Yale’s School of Public Health. She is the lead author of the new Lancet study, “Improving the prognosis of health care in the USA.”"]

Gangs of New York (USA/Italy: Martin Scorsese, 2002) Dialogic Cinephilia (Ongoing Archive)

Kessler, Martin, Lady P. and Kristen Sales. "Monty Python and the Holy Grail: An Unexpected Inquisition." Flixwise Favorites #30 (March 21, 2017)

Krugman, Paul and Richard D. Wolff. "Sanders & Socialism: Debate Between Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman & Socialist Economist Richard Wolff." Democracy Now (February 24, 2020) ["As Bernie Sanders’s runaway win in Nevada cements his position as the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, the Democratic Party establishment and much of the mainstream media are openly expressing concern about a self-described democratic socialist leading the presidential ticket. His opponents have also attacked his ambitious agenda. Last week during the primary debate in Las Vegas, Bernie Sanders addressed misconceptions about socialism. Invoking the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Sanders decried what he called “socialism for the very rich, rugged individualism for the poor.” For more, we host a debate on Bernie Sanders and democratic socialism, featuring two well-known economists. Paul Krugman is a New York Times op-ed columnist and author of many books, including his latest, “Arguing with Zombies: Economics, Politics, and the Fight for a Better Future.” One of his recent columns is headlined “Bernie Sanders Isn’t a Socialist.” Richard Wolff is professor emeritus of economics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and visiting professor at The New School. He is the founder of Democracy at Work and hosts the weekly national television and radio program “Economic Update.” He’s the author of several books, including “Understanding Socialism.”"]

Plummer, Sarah. "New River Gorge trail named Best National Park Hike in USA Today's contest." The Register-Herald (April 1, 2015)

Will Potter: Journalist/Civil Liberties Dialogic Cinephilia (Ongoing Archive)


COMMUNION by Anna Zamecka (trailer) from OtterFilms on Vimeo.


Zamecka, Anna. "Communion." Film School Radio (January 4, 2019) ["Anna Zamecka’s intimate documentary Communion drops us into a truncated family living amid domestic instability and teenaged volatility, a sister and brother play out their lives on camera. At fourteen, Ola is already functioning as the woman of the house, cooking and cleaning for her lethargic father and helping her energetic autistic brother, Nikodem, prepare for his first Holy Communion. Throughout, she longs for her mother, Magda, whose absence is never explained, yet always deeply felt. As the date of Communion nears, it becomes an opportunity for the family to meet up and Ola is entirely responsible for planning the perfect family celebration. Communion is a portrait of young womanhood and crash course in growing up that teaches us that no failure is final, and that change is possible and needed, especially when love is in question. Anna Zamecka is a Polish film director, screenwriter and producer. She has studied cultural anthropology, journalism and photography in Warsaw and Copenhagen. Her 2016 debut feature film, Communion” received over 40 awards, including the European Film Award for Best European Documentary 2017 and the Critic’s Week Award at Locarno IFF, amongst others. Anna Zamecka joins us for a conversation about gaining the confidence of a struggling family and young woman trying to navigate a family life that threatens to overwhelm her."]