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MEDIA: Quite the Biggest Look at Democracy

Linus Atarah

HELSINKI, Oct 16 2007 (IPS) - It is dubbed the "the world&#39s largest ever factual multi-media event" by its producers, and it will be watched by a potential of 300 million viewers around the world.

To be transmitted on television, radio and online in more than 200 countries from October, &#39Why Democracy?&#39 is a set of ten one-hour documentary films focused on contemporary democracy around the world. The project includes 20 short films on the same theme.

More than 40 broadcasters have participated in producing the series including those in China, India, Japan, Liberia, the U.S., Bolivia, Denmark, Afghanistan, Egypt, Pakistan and Russia, the producers say.

Iikka Vehkalahti, producer at the Finnish broadcasting company YLE, and executive producer of the series, said the purpose is to spark debate and online discussion.

The idea came, Vehkalahti says, after Steps for the Future made a series of films on HIV/AIDS in southern Africa that were broadcast around the world in 2002-2003. Steps for the Future, producer of the series, is a network of independent film makers and distributors with offices in India, South Africa and Europe.

The group next decided to explore democracy "to understand why some people are dying to create democracy, others fight wars in the name of democracy, and others are so bored with democracy they don&#39t even bother to vote," Vehkalahti told IPS.

The series covers wide-ranging subjects from U.S. torture methods to election of a class monitor in a Chinese primary school to the Danish cartoons scandal. The idea is to look not only at the western concept of democracy but to understand different aspects of it, said Vehkalahti. "So the idea was to research how democracy really functions in different societies," he said.

"What I learnt is that the idea of democracy isn&#39t just about voting. It is also about equality, tolerance, freedom of speech and universal values, and it doesn&#39t necessarily function in all societies the way the western world thinks."

For instance the film about Bolivia titled &#39Looking for the Revolution&#39 explores the question whether people have had their dreams realised since Evo Morales, the first president of native Indian origin came to power two years ago, Vehkalahti said. "It examines how the people have had hopes and dreams for social change."

The film shows that despite the revolutionary election speeches that accompanied the landslide victory, the old system is pretty much alive inside the new one. The more Morales does to create employment, the more the landowners conspire against him and paralyse Bolivia&#39s economy. As a result, no jobs are created, and pressure on the poor increases.

The film &#39Please Vote For Me&#39 looks at pupils of a grade 3 class at a school in Wuhan city in central China, who have for the first time an opportunity to elect a class monitor, thus far appointed by the teacher. Eight-year olds compete for the prestigious position, with active encouragement from parents. The idea is an experiment how democracy might be received if it came to China.

Another of the documentaries, &#39Taxi to the Dark Side&#39, takes an in-depth look at the case of an Afghan taxi driver called Dilawar who was killed after being arrested by U.S. forces in Afghanistan. His death came within a week of the death of another detainee at Bagram base in Afghanistan.

The documentary, by award-winning producer Alex Gibney, carefully develops the last weeks of Dilawar&#39s life and shows how decisions taken at the pinnacle of power in the Bush Administration led to Dilawar&#39s brutal death.

But some questions are common through the films. They include interviews with people in different countries on ten question related to democracy, such as whether terrorism can destroy democracy, is God democratic, and are women more democratic than men.

Beyond the documentaries, producers from each participating country will create their own Internet platforms for online discussion, Vehkalahti said. But in an undemocratic fallout, the online debate is certain to bypass millions in Africa, Latin America and Asia who are not literate or do not have access to the Internet.

In Britain, BBC 2, BBC 4, and BBC Radio are broadcasting the series throughout October. YLE began broadcasting the series last week and will continue through the month.

In the United States agreement has been reached with some independent broadcasters such as PBS and Independent Lens. In India it is being broadcast by NDTV, and in Brazil by the Futura channel. Not every channel will broadcast all episodes, though.

Funding for the documentaries has come from a variety of sources such as the independent Finnish Foundation for Media, the Danish Government, and the Danish Film Institute.