What Does the World Think of America?
The Listening Project (USA: 2009, 93 mins.) Thursday March 25, 2010, 7:00pm
U.C. Theater
Directed by Dominic Howes & Joel Weber
The Listening Project is a captivating cinematic journey around the world in search of the meaning of America. The film follows four unique Americans through fourteen countries — from a Shanghai hip-hop club to a war-ravaged Kabul neighborhood to a village at the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro — in each place asking “what do you think of America?” In beautifully-photographed locales, we encounter fascinating and diverse characters who reveal not only the impact of the U.S. on their lives, but also their perspectives on crumbling empires, human fellowship, and what it means to be a citizen in a globalized world. In Khayelitsha South Africa, school teacher Carrie Lennox listens to passionate young people who quote Shakespeare to compare the US with the Roman empire. In wintry Samara Russia, Probation Officer Bob Roeglin talks to older Russians about the Cold War and how their views of the United States have changed over the years. In bustling Shanghai, poet and self-described ‘nerd’ Bao Phi hangs out with young Chinese hip-hoppers obsessed with American pop culture. And in a desolate neighborhood on the outskirts of Kabul, American human rights activist Han Shan speaks with an Afghan woman who lost most of her family to an errant US bombing raid. Through the urgent voices of a cast of compelling characters from many walks of life, the film raises important questions about what it means to be a citizen in a globalized world.
Discussions to Follow Each Screening. Please join
us.
Producer's Web Site: TheListeningProjectFilm.com
Web Design by Robbie Liben