Cville Dems

The Charlottesville Democratic Committee

2023 Virginia Film Festival Relevant Movies

Posted on

Screenshot from the 2023 Virginia Film Festival homepage announcing the program publication and showing a photo of Maria Chavalan Sut from the documentary “Sometime, Somewhere” (“Algún Día, En Algún Lugar") The 2023 Virginia Film Festival(next Wednesday 10/25 until Sunday 10/29) features more than 100 films at the Paramount Theater, the Violet Crown, UVA’s Culbreth Theater, and the CODE Building.

The films are organized into different series and themescentered on important issues ranging from Black excellence and indigenous cinema to the environment and critical conversations.

Here are a few of the films we’re excited about — the first one a documentary about Charlottesville people from a local director!

1. Sometime, Somewhere (Algún Día, En Algún Lugar)

Series and themes: Latinidades, Virginia filmmakers, critical conversations, nature & environment

Directed and produced by Charlottesville local Ricardo “Rick” Preve, this black and white film explores the unique journeys and shared struggles of Latino immigrants in Charlottesville. It explores some of the many factors behind immigration, from climate change and poverty to drug-related violence. Set against the backdrop of two historical traumas—9/11 and the Jan 6 Capitol assault—the film features firsthand accounts and stories of resilience. The viewing features a discussion with Preve. Showtime: Saturday, 10/28, 3:00 PM. Culbreth Theater. 97 minutes.

2. American Fiction

Series and themes: Black excellence, page to film, critical conversations, Gala screenings, LGBTQIA+

American Fiction tells the story of Thelonious “Monk” Ellison (Jeffrey Wright), a writer whose works get little attention until he writes a satirical memoir about Black representation in pop culture—”Black stuff,” as his book agent put it—that quickly becomes a smash hit. With a star-studded cast that includes Tracee Ellis Ross, Issa Rae, and Sterling K. Brown, the comedy drama that unfolds as Ellison endures the consequences of his fabricated persona earned American Fiction the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival. The viewing features a discussion with director, producer, and writer Cord Jefferson. Showtime: Thursday, 10/26, 8:00 PM. The Paramount Theater. 117 minutes.

3. All of Us Strangers

Series and themes: LGBTQIA+, from page to screen

An existential depression confines screenwriter Adam (Andrew Scott) to his London flat until he meets Harry (Paul Mescal), a neighbor. The romance that blossoms between them inspires Adam to write a screenplay about his parents, who died in a car accident 30 years ago. Upon returning to his childhood home for inspiration, he finds himself re-meeting his parents just as they were before they died—asking them the questions he’s held onto since he was 12 years old. This dream-like ghost tale, based loosely on Taichi Yamada’s novel Strangers, is directed by Andrew Haigh. Showtime: Thursday, 10/26, 8:00pm. Culbreth Theater. 105 minutes.

4. King Coal

Series and themes: Nature and Environment

King Coal comprises a collection of poetic vignettes that depict daily life in Appalachia, primarily exploring how coal became deeply intertwined with the region’s communities even after its economic dominance waned. A young girl learning the region’s history serves as a narrative pathway for this documentary, while poetic narration and archival footage provide historical context for the complex legacy of coal in the area. Showtime: Thursday, 10/ 26, 5:30pm. Violet Crown. 80 minutes.

Local Environmental Groups (New and Old!)

Posted on

nature photo of forest stretching out taken from a hillsideMany of us in Charlottesville cherish the rich natural landscape surrounding our city. But protecting that beauty—and ensuring that we live on a survivable planet—takes dedication from countless volunteers and organizations. If you’ve ever thought about getting involved but didn’t know where to start, check out some of these local and national groups.

New groups and initiatives that have recently come to our attention:

  • Resilient Together is a City, County, and UVA collaboration created to develop goals for Climate Adaptation and Resilience Plans that address the problems associated with our warming planet—like longer and hotter summers, more destructive storms, and invasive pests. Resilient Together just kicked off an 18-month initiative to draft plans that would be adopted by Charlottesville and Albemarle County. Click here to register if you’re interested in getting involved, or sign up for email updates here.
  • Citizens Climate Lobby (CCL) is an international organization that advocates for climate solutions and an empowered citizenry to ensure a livable world. Ellie Syverud, the leader of the local Charlottesville chapter, sends out a “Weekly 5 Minute Action” email that encourages people to contact their representatives in Congress regarding relevant climate legislation. Contact Ellie at charlottesvilleccl@gmail.com for more information.

And don’t forget about some of our longer-established favorites:

Work for Democratic Victories on November 7!

Posted on

Local Option #1: “Turn Out the Vote Thursdays” 

Poster using a wide variety of different letter and background colors used with the words "Turn out the Vote Thursdays phone bank grab a bite at a food truck write postcards to voters"For the past three years, we’ve had many many dedicated people joining in. In 2022, we had 100+ volunteers who attended at least once to eat, drink, chat, and pitch in together to help our Democratic candidates win; many attended almost every week!

There’ll be lots of different ways to help over the next few months; do what’s most comfortable for you! For example:

  • Writing postcards and making follow-up phone calls to newly-registered voters. That combination has been very successful, resulting in this group voting at a consistent 75-80% rate in 2021-2023.
  • Distributing “walk sheet” name and address lists of Dem-leaning people for our campaign canvassers to visit.
  • Sending some specific issue-message postcards (a new idea we’re considering).
  • Writing postcards and phoning people we’ve previously registered.
  • Writing postcards and phoning for campaigns near Charlottesville.

Photo of volunteers writing postcards at "Turn Out the Vote Thursdays” August 24, 2023If you’ve joined us before, please join us again. If you haven’t tried it yet, come on down and meet fellow Dems and enjoy yourself while working for a big win on November 7!

Questions? Please contact Mary Ann Harris: harrisma49@gmail.com

 

 

Local Option #2: Canvassing

We’re partnering with the Albemarle Dems to ensure we win all our local races; with several uncontested City races, it makes sense to shift some of our energy.

A woman standing in her front doorway is talking with another woman who has come by to canvass her neighborhood.

  • State Senate: Incumbent Senator Creigh Deeds is favored to win our crucial Senate District 11, but the district has some very conservative areas, and we can’t be complacent if we’re going to keep this seat. His opponent, Philip Hamilton, is quite a piece of work; among other claims to fame, he’s publicly misgendered his own 12-year-old, claiming that school teachers had poisoned his child’s mind into being non-binary. And he favors schools outing gay students to their parents (see below in “Preaching Beyond the Choir”). This is not someone we want representing us; please donate to or canvass for (or both) the Deeds campaign!
  • House of Delegates: Amy Laufer (our Albemarle County neighbor running in a competitive District #55 race, recently endorsed by Gabby Giffords’s Gun Safety PAC) and Katrina Callsen (running unopposed in our District #54).
  • Charlottesville City Council: Natalie Oschrin, Michael Payne, and Lloyd Snook (running unopposed).
  • Charlottesville School Board: Amanda Burns, Shymora Cooper, Chris Meyer, and Nicole Richardson (four candidates running unopposed for four open seats).
  • Albemarle County Board of Supervisors: Bea LaPisto-Kirtley, Ann Mallek, and Michael Pruitt.
  • Albemarle County School Board (ACSB): Rebecca Berlin, Judy Le, Ellen Moore Osborne, and Allison Spillman. A few notes about Allison’s race: she’s running against Meg Scalia Bryce, the daughter of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Scalia-Bryce is (a) very concerned that the ACSB has been treating LGBTQ kids with respect and support, and (b) is very offended by its anti-racist curriculum. Scalia-Bryce has been winning the fundraising race by a wide margin, and we can’t let extremists like her (e.g. a fan of the Moms for Liberty book banners) start taking over our local schools (per Forward Albemarle, all her kids attend private schools). Please help Allison’s campaign any way you can, especially via donations and canvassing help.

If you’d like to canvass locally (it takes about 3 hours):

1. On a weekday, please email karencombs6522@gmail.com.
2. On a weekend, use SignUp Genius to participate in one or more of these coordinated canvasses:

Spreadsheet screenshot showing dates + start times + cities + locations of Fall 2023 Democratic canvasses as of 9-23-2023 - Some rows are highlighted in yellow

Combs’ Office map  Mudhouse Crozet map yellow=Weekends of Action emphasis

Please tell your friends and social media connections how important it is to vote (and maybe even volunteer!); we need to hit high vote counts in our area to offset more conservative areas!

Option #3 Non-local: Help Key VA Races with Time and/or Cash

headshot of Delegate Schuyler VanValkenburg

Republicans control the House of Delegates and the Governor’s mansion, and Dems barely hold the Senate; if Republicans take the Senate, then Virginia will become Florida, which means forced childbirth laws, schools teaching whitewashed history, “don’t-say-gay” laws, and other measures to erase LGBTQ youth…we can’t let this happen!

Today we’re highlighting Schuyler VanValkenburg’s important race trying to flip SD16 (just an hour’s drive from us!) from red to blue, which would be a very big win. Schuyler is a high school Civics and Government teacher who’s been serving in the VA House for the past six years. He just held a great Charlottesville fundraiser with our own Senator Deeds, but his race is an expensive one and some added support from us could make the difference! Donate here.

 

 

Local Option #4: Help with Voter Registration

photo showing 2 Cville Dems women volunteering at our voter registration booth at Ix market on september 9, 2023Our wonderful voter registration team, led by Suzanne Michels, is very active in the lead-up to Election Day: registering new voters (including those who’ve recently moved to or within our area), helping voters figure out where they can vote, and helping folks who need to have their voting rights restored file the necessary paperwork. At last week’s Ix Saturday Market they got 14 new signups (and Ix Saturday markets are not impacted by the Ix financial challenges you may have heard about).

There are few things more satisfying than signing up a new voter! You can visit this online signup form to see what dates we need people. We’d love to have more folks pitch in, and if you’re even a little bit of an extrovert, you’ll enjoy it! Or email suzemichels@gmail.com if you might be interested.

PS— we recently updated these pages on our website:

• Voter Registration and Voting Information
• Precinct Maps
• Upcoming Local Elections

Senator Deeds & Dr. Webb Headline 5th District Committee’s 9/30 Extravaganza

Posted on

Formal invitation card with an American flag stars and stripes theme. Wording: "The Forward 5th Congressional District Democratic cordially invites you to the second annual 2023 Extravaganza Saturday, September 30, 2023, 5 PM to 10 PM University of Lynchburg, 1501 Lakeside Dr., Lynchburg, VA 24501 For more information please contact 5thcdchair.va dems@gmail.com or phone 434-253-0824" and shows that the committee paid for the ad.The 5th Congressional District Democratic Committee’s annual regional blowout party is Saturday, Sept. 30, from 5-10pm in Lynchburg, and we’re all invited! The Committee just announced a great speakers lineup: Senator Creigh Deeds and Dr. Cameron Webb. The ActBlue ticket link is https://secure.actblue.com/donate/2023-extravaganza . For more information please contact 5thcdchair.va dems@gmail.com or phone 434-253-0824.