DAUK Film Night: Capturing the Flag – An Unexpected Story About American Democracy

The UK Premiere of Capturing the Flag: An Unexpected Story About American Democracy

Join us to view and discuss this fly-on-the wall documentary, which follows three friends as they travel from New York to North Carolina to help voters in November 2016. This was to be the first presidential election since the Supreme Court dismantled the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which had required certain states to submit changes to voting laws to the Department of Justice for approval. Now, those protections are gone. In addition, the Republican takeover of the state’s General Assembly in 2010 led to extreme partisan gerrymandering, designed to concentrate and dilute the African American vote. And in 2012, the new Republican governor in ushered in strict voter ID laws that, in the words of another court, targeted African Americans with ‘almost surgical precision.’

From being a leading state in expanding voting rights for a decade before the 2010 shift in power, North Carolina has, by 2016, become a poster child for voter suppression.

The volunteers come prepared for the intense ground game of local politics. They carefully study North Carolina election law. They arrive before dawn when the polls open, ready to help voters who are grappling with new laws, changes in district boundaries, voter purges and conflicting information. And they find that it is no easy task.

We all know the outcome—the state that voted for Barack Obama in 2008 went for Donald Trump in 2016. Capturing the Flag offers deeply personal, sometimes surprising perspectives on the 2016 election and its aftermath. We follow the volunteers through the harrowing returns and their journey home. They search for new alliances and pathways to battle voter suppression and find inspiration in the growing movement of nonpartisan, pro-democracy organizations.

The after-screening discussion will feature a panel of DAUK members who are engaged in promoting and expanding voting rights. They will update us on what Democrats and others have been doing to combat voter suppression and highlight the achievements that helped hundreds of Democrats win across the country in the 2018 midterms, and will help us win again in 2020.

This Film Night is a collaboration of the DAUK Film, Voter Registration, Policy Network and Resolutions (Voting Rights and Democracy group) Committees and the Black Caucus.

Date: Friday June 14, 2019
Venue: Wolfson Theatre, New Academic Building, London School of Economics, Lincoln Inn’s Fields WC2A 3LJ How to find the LSE: https://www.lse.ac.uk/lse-information/travelling-to-lse
How to find the New Academic Building: Map of LSE campus: (Building NAB) https://www.lse.ac.uk/lse-information/campus-map
Time: 7:00 – 9:30 pm
Schedule:
6:30 pm: Doors open for check-in
7:00 pm: Welcome and introduction.
7:05 – 8:20 p.m.: Screening of Capturing the Flag
8:25 – 9:30 p.m.: Panel Discussion and Q and A with DAUK leaders
9:30: Doors Close

For more information about the film and the issues it addresses, go to www.daukpan.org.uk/FilmCapturingtheFlag.

About the speaker panel:
Laura Mosedale, moderator, is the Co-Chair for Voter Registration at DAUK. A native New Yorker and former board member of the League of Women Voters in Greenwich, CT, she has been living in London since 1998 and a member of DAUK for almost that long. If you’d like to help with voter registration and other get out the vote initiatives among US citizens in the UK in 2020, please talk to her, or email votefromabroaduk@gmail.com

Maya Buchanan is a lead on the DA Global Voter Protection team, Chair of DAUK PNR Voting Rights and Democracy group and an Executive Committee member for both DAUK and the Oxford chapter. Originally from San Francisco, Maya grew up in the Bay Area and Northern New Mexico. She has lived in the UK for over 25 years and is married with a young family. Maya has built her career in design and project management and works for a political think-tank. For more info on the PNR Voting Rights and Democracy group email: policynetwork@democratsabroad.org.uk and include 'Voting Rights' in the subject.

Siera Burtrum, originally from District 9 in North Carolina, is the Secretary of Democrats Abroad UK and EMEA Chair of the global Progressive Caucus. She is a film producer and partner at Voodoo Productions, her latest release is a documentary exposé on the pickup artist industry, featuring Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-CA 14).

Julie Shields is an attorney who has been protecting the vote since Gore v. Bush. She has worked across Virginia inside at the polls as a poll watcher, outside at the polls, and fielded calls at hotlines and the boiler room on election day. She is working with DAUK on Voters Protection issues and is also a member of the Film Committee.

Do book early as this is certain to be a very popular event!

Please note: Unless sold out, tickets will be available on the door.

Special notices:

In compliance with US campaign and party funding laws, we can only accept payments from US citizens and green card holders. Non-US citizens are very welcome to attend, but only as guests of US citizens who must book and pay for—as a gift—their guests' admission. By booking and paying for tickets for this event, you are confirming that you are a US citizen or green card holder. You must tick a box affirming this before completing your purchase.

If you are unable for any reason to book online using this website, please email us with your request. Advance bookings will only be taken until 5 p.m. on the day of the screening.

This event is CLOSED to the press.