Join us each month leading up to the 2016 election, from March through October, for free screenings and conversations about some of the most important topics of our time.
Responding to the tumultuous climate in contemporary American politics, the Cinema of Urgency series features films posing critical questions about today’s most pressing social, political, environmental, and economic issues. Each screening is followed by a discussion with filmmakers, local community leaders, and other guest speakers.
The Walker’s Cinema of Urgency series is programmed in partnership with Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, an annual event in Durham, North Carolina that is dedicated to the presentation of contemporary nonfiction cinema.
Thursday, June 23
Zero Days
Directed by Alex Gibney
Walker Cinema, 7 pm, Free
“[A] topical and thoroughly gripping documentary formulated with forceful urgency.” -Film Stage
Oscar-winning documentarian Alex Gibney delves into the hushed threat of cyberwarfare with his newest film. Zero Days is a fast-moving international thriller involving espionage, classified operations, and sneak attacks on foreign nuclear facilities. Based on documents and interviews with members of the intelligence community and military sources, the film reveals the power of the laptop as a modern-day weapon. Using a digitized human facsimile to present testimony too sensitive for sources to reveal, Gibney presents an extraordinary and unnerving analysis of an under-regulated and “classified” technology. 2016, DCP, 116 minutes.
A discussion with Chris Buse (Chief Information Security Officer for the State of Minnesota) and Euan Kerr (Minnesota Public Radio) follows the screening.
A coding workshop will take place in the Star Tribune Foundation Art Lab from 5:30-6:30 pm before the screening.
Thursday, July 21
KIKI
Directed by Sara Jordenö
Walker Cinema, 7 pm, Free
“It’s a kaleidoscopic and vivid rendering of a world that is larger than life, flamboyant but ultimately fragiles.” -The Guardian
Swedish-director Sara Jordenö’s collaboration with advocate and performer Twiggy Pucci Garcon is an exhilarating depiction of New York’s kiki ball scene. However, KIKI is also a tender examination of its subjects’ lives outside the ballroom and draws attention to the poverty, discrimination, and homelessness that disproportionately impact queer youth of color. 2016, DCP, 93 minutes.
Post-screening discussion with director Sara Jordenö and performer Gia Marie Love, moderated by Elliot H. Powell (Assistant Professor, American Studies University of Minnesota).
Thursday, August 18
Do Not Resist
Directed by Craig Atkinson
Walker Cinema, 7 pm, Free
“In an impactful way the director uses his amazing access to look at power and force from the inside.” -Filmmaker Magazine
Winner of Best Documentary Feature at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival, Do Not Resist examines the militarization of American police forces. Beginning with on-the-ground protests and policing in Ferguson, Missouri, in the wake of Michael Brown’s death, the film expands its focus to trace the federal post-9/11 policies that steer military artillery into small American towns. Intense and unsettling, the film exposes ways that public policy impacts police action. 2016, DCP, 73 minutes.
Post-screening discussion with director Craig Atkinson and Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison.
Screening Schedule
All films are free and screen in the Walker Cinema on the third Thursday of each month (except in June):
- June 23 – Zero Days
- July 21 – KIKI
- August 18 – Do Not Resist
- September 15 – TBD
- October 20 – TBD
Free tickets available at Hennepin Box Office one hour before screening.