The Defense of Democracy Film Festival is returning this June in celebration of Pride month. Hosts volunteer to choose one of our film finalists and host a showing in their community.

Step 1: Register here (registration is $25 and includes a Host Welcome Kit)
Step 2: Find a venue (suggestions: a school, a library, a religious institution, your home or you can even host a remote viewing!)
Step 3: Choose your movie from our seven finalists: see below!
Step 4: Invite friends and family
Step 5: Show your film

What DofD Provides for Hosts:

Publicity & Promotion
A customizable flyer template (digital)
Pre-written press release language for local outreach
Access to film stills and graphics for social media
Registration Tools
Central RSVP system via Eventive
Text-based ticketing: Attendees can text “FILM” to 845-208-9846
to receive access info
Resources
Film background links
Festival program booklet (digital)
Optional Support : if available, a member of the Festival Committee can help moderate a post-screening Q&A

FINALISTS:

BANNED TOGETHER

Three brave teens and their adult allies fight to restore 97 banned books in their school district. The film exposes the national forces behind modern censorship and follows a grassroots journey into full-blown activism.

Runtime: 1hr 30m

Backpack Full of Cash

Narrated by Matt Damon, "BACKPACK FULL OF CASH" is a documentary exposing the privatization of public schools and its impact on vulnerable children. It reveals how corporate-driven education reform is jeopardizing underfunded public education.
Runtime: 1h 36m

CLOSURE

Massive budget cuts, mergers, and political attacks are closing Wisconsin’s two-year community colleges. Closure explores the impact of these closures and whether they can be stopped.

Runtime: Feature Length

Locker Room Talk

Following a high school football team over a season, this film challenges toxic masculinity through storytelling, revealing vulnerability, growth, and a redefinition of manhood.

Runtime: 41m

Save Blasco!

A community unites to save their beloved public library from being taken over by Gannon University. A stirring story of civic resistance and local organizing.

Runtime: 1hr

Scars of a Putsch

A personal and political investigation into the legacy of Turkey’s 1980 military coup through the scars borne by a revolutionary — the filmmaker’s husband.

Runtime: 1h 40m

FF Host Registration

By Defense of Democracy, Inc.

FF Host Registration