A documentary covering Iceland’s innovative crowdsourcing constitution screens at the Athena Cinema.
“Blueberry Soup,” while considered a comfort food in Iceland, the documentary will show its audience much more of Iceland and the country’s true passion for democracy.
As the first film in the Political Science Film Series sponsored by the Political Science department at OU , Blueberry Soup will be showing at the Athena Cinema, 20 S. Court St., followed up with a Q & A with the director of the film, Eileen Jarrett.
The screening is also being sponsored by the Center for Law, Justice & Culture/Making and Breaking the Law theme, Division of Film and the Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program.
The film focuses on the 2008 financial crisis in Iceland and how the people of Iceland created an innovative solution at governmental reform — to revise the country’s constitution by “crowdsourcing” it.
“Iceland is an innovator in a variety of different ways,” said Susan Burgess, professor of political science. “They decided instead to look at the people and let the people decide what the country’s basic values were about.”
The global financial meltdown left the three major banks in Iceland crippled, and the people demanded a say, creating a “Occupy Iceland” movement to oust the government and create a new one in a way that hadn’t been tried before.
Using social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, the government took suggestions and posts on aspects of the new constitution to be implemented, and then voted on each aspect.
In a sense, Iceland was creating a new, mass form of democracy.
“(Social Media) can really transform democracy, to make people more participatory and to connect up people really globally in a virtually instantaneous way,” Burgess said. “It gives people a new way to think about what the possibilities of democracy are.”
And on Monday night, people can have a chance to see the true identity and path that Iceland might take into the future.
“If you think about it in the long view, it’s hard to know what’s going to happen next (in Iceland),” she said.
The event begins at 7 p.m. on Monday. Admission is free for the screening including complimentary popcorn and soda for moviegoers at the event.
@saxjuggler
