Description:

A cell phone camera captures the death of Eric Garner. White men toting assault rifles film confrontations with police officers over their right to openly carry firearms. A video of a cop lip-synching to Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” goes viral. This wide-ranging conversation looks at the role and use of social media in creating a national conversation about race, law, and the limits of police power. How does civil resistance operate in the Internet era? And how do citizen videos expand our definition of the moving image? Special attention will be paid to performances of resistance (such as “I Am Trayvon” and “Hands Up”), responses to the highly predicable and anticipated arrival of racial violence. Will Schmenner, Block Cinema Interim Curator, in conversation with Harvey Young, Northwestern University Associate Professor of Theatre.