23.11.2019

Film screening "What is democracy?" ("What is democracy?") by Oliver Ressler

Time: 5 pm 

Location: EMMA - Creative Centre Pforzheim, Emma-Jaeger-Straße 20, 75175 Pforzheim

"What is democracy?" ("What is democracy?") is not one question, but are actually two questions. On the one hand, there is the question of the dominant form of democracy, parliamentary representative democracy, which is critically discussed in the film. On the other hand, there is the question of what a more democratic system could look like and what organisational form it could take.

As part of the project, the question "What is democracy?" was put to numerous activists and political analysts in 15 cities around the world; in Amsterdam, Berkeley, Berlin, Bern, Budapest, Copenhagen, Moscow, New York, Rostock, San Francisco, Sydney, Taipei, Tel Aviv, Thessaloniki and Warsaw. The interviews have been recorded on video since January 2007. Although all interviewees were asked the same question, the result is a variety of different perspectives and views from people living in countries that are usually labelled as "democracies".

The film discusses the contested concept of "democracy", which is misused by those in power to maintain order, while at the same time "democracy" represents the ideal that hundreds of millions of people in the global South are desperately trying to achieve. Today, therefore, it seems almost impossible to be against "democracy", even though it is becoming increasingly empty. One possible strategy could therefore be to fill the term "democracy" with new meaning. In this sense, the installation presents a multi-layered discourse on democracy that expresses a broad spectrum of opinions that transcend the boundaries of nation states or continents.