BEYOND KING OF THE MOUNTAIN

Screening August 5th, 6:30pm Introduce democracy and you will solve a nation’s problems, right? If only it were that simple. “By the people for the people” sounds attractive in theory, but its current application is increasingly perplexing analysts, politicians and ordinary citizens all over the world. Democracy as we see it today emerged under a particular set of circumstances at the onset of the industrial revolution in the West. The changes that have happened to our world since have placed new and unexpected challenges on many democracies, both young and old.

But is this really the end of the road? Award-winning filmmakers Leyla and Ryan Haidarian make a case for an evolution in the democratic notion. Beyond King of the Mountain unpacks some of the current challenges many democratic systems are facing and specifically proposes that their future may lie in a win/win, non-adversarial paradigm. The film questions the fact that we have come to view democracy exclusively as a contest and suggests that “by the people for the people” can be realized in other, more inclusive ways…