Lecture with Judith Ehrlick, dir of The Most Dangerous Man In America

It is always rewarding to listen to directors and producers talk about their projects. Putting a face to the persons responsible for creating films that transport me to different places changes the whole experience. Moreover, since I have never being even remotely involved in the making of a film, such process seems extremely difficult, long, and almost impossible. Thus, it is great to listen and learn from those that are part of the crowed that proves that after all it is not impossible at all to make films.

I am very disappointed that I did not include The Most Dangerous Man in America among the films I selected to see during the festival. I would have liked it a lot if we were required to go see this movie instead of Red Hill or The Killer Inside Me because I felt I could have gotten and understood much more from the lecture if I had seen it. However, I am lucky that it is an American movie which I will probably be able to find on the Internet later on.

I thought it is great that a film can be able to change people’s actions, perceptions, and attitudes toward their realities and lives, and the special strength that documentaries have to do so. They are real life examples, icons, and models that people can truly look up to. As Ehrlick said, “if Daniel Ellsberg did it and made it through, you and others can do it too.”

Ehrlick’s theory and approach to non-violence action was very interesting and inspiring. There was something she said that stuck with me after the lecture: “being a pacifist is not being passive.” This was especially meaningful because I come from Venezuela, a country that for the last ten years has being undergoing different kinds of self-destructive events that seem not to have an end.