Republished from The Alternative UK
We’re delighted to be able to distribute the free-to-view copy (embed above) of The People’s Spring, a 2018 documentary made by Ryslaine Boumahdi and her team of supporters. (This post is an update of an earlier post.)
Here’s the blurb from Ryslaine:
In the 20th century, public life revolved around government; in the 21st century, it will center on citizens.
— Matt Leighninger, The Next Form of democracy
“The People’s Spring” explores a world where Democracy is being transformed to be a better fit with our times. New ideas and new capabilities have collided with a public that has begun to reject traditional political representation of the people.
Argentina, Iceland, Spain, France, the USA… throughout the world we enter the heart of democratic innovation. Seeing the different solutions that are being experimented with, and listening to the young innovators who suddenly found themselves at the center of a major shift in politics. The documentary explores the many ways to improve our democracies, currently undermined by a disengaged public, lack of transparency, and new modes of discourse.
“The People’s Spring” provides an accessible, wide-ranging view of the different solutions that are emerging. The film investigates the concrete projects, new technologies, and people that are reshaping our democratic systems.
The protagonists: simple citizens, activists, elected officials, technologists, academics – all of whom are using the sparks of innovation to re-boot our concepts of the relationship between citizens and power.
“The People’s Spring” is above all a message of hope and action. It shows that many people out there agree that it is possible to do politics differently, and that we can build a system in which we want to live. We are more than just a ballot paper.
Speaking in the documentary:
Armel Le Coz, Designer & cofounder of the organization Démocratie Ouverte, France
Loïc Blondiaux, professor of political sciences, Sorbonne, France
Ada Colau, Barcelona’s Mayor, Spain
Águeda Bañón, head of the Communication Department at Barcelona’s City Council, Spain
Pablo Soto, councilor for Citizen Participation, Transparency and Open Government of the City of Madrid, Spain
Miguel Arana Catania, Director of the Madrid City council participation project, Spain
Arnau Monterde, Doctor in Information Society and Knowledge by the Open University of Catalunya, Spain
Pere Valles, CEO Scytl, Spain
Lawrence Lessig, activist, professor of law at Harvard, United States
Ásta Guðrún Helgadóttir, MP Piratar, Iceland
Birgitta Jónsdóttir, MP Piratar, Iceland
Katrín Oddsdóttir, Assembly member of the Constitutional Council, Iceland
Gunnar Grímsson, co-founder of Citizens Foundation, Iceland
Róbert Bjarnason, founder Citizens Foundation, Iceland
First Þórhildur Sunna Ævarsdóttir, Laywer in charge of the International Relationships at the Piratar Party, Iceland
Bergþór Heimir Þórðarsson, member of Piratar, Iceland
Kristín Elfa Guðnadóttir, member of Piratar, Iceland
Hrannar Jónsson, member of Piratar, Iceland
Santiago Siri, founder of Democraty Earth, Argentina
Ana Lis Rodríguez Nardelli, member of the Network Party, Argentina
Stephania Xydia, co-funder Place Identity, Greece.