The Vision Behind Films for Thinkers in Downtown Phoenix

02 Feb The Vision Behind Films for Thinkers in Downtown Phoenix

This is a post from Steve Weiss, head organizer of the No Festival Required Independent Film Festival and the upcoming FILMS FOR THINKERS series. This series will be screened in Downtown Phoenix and we are proud to be a sponsor of this great event, helping to encourage community building and thoughtful discussions in our core. If you’d like to be entered to win 2 tickets to the first screening of “Electric Signs” on Wednesday, February 4th, send us a photo capturing an electric sign in your neighborhood that exemplifies light and movement in the city.

When I first began No Festival Required, it was to do several things for the Valley. Bring unseen films, screen them in a way that complements the film and pays the filmmakers, and find works that aren’t easily forgettable.

There is a ton of “polemic” preachy films designed to tell you how to think, but I don’t like to show them. Instead, I prefer a strong documentary that starts with a simple premise and elaborates on that premise with arguments and solutions.

The FILMS FOR THINKERS series was selected to examine in unique ways issues that folks in the Valley have already actively engaged, but with a different slant.

Commercial versus public space is an issue that exists with CityScape and will be even more prominent when the ASU Law School completes construction. This specific issue comes in to play with the first film, “Electric Signs”(Wednesday, Feb 4).

“Hunger For Sale”(Sunday, March 1), the second in the series, will confront how we think of providing sustenance to the hungry, and the corporate and non-profit agencies whose existence depends on providing food without teaching self-subsistence.

Architects and urban planners who think about the great cities need to also look at a city born from chaos, as acclaimed architect Rem Koolhaas does in the film, “Lagos: Koolhaas”(Wednesday, April 15).

Finally, “Fold, Crumple, Crush: The Art of El Anatsui”(Sunday, May 31) is a wonderful examination of an artist who has rejected traditional art mediums, and uses throw-away culture materials to construct elaborate creations as a means of expression and economy.

Each film has a take-away that won’t be simplistic, but it will be stimulating.