The Red Band Project

The three films playing the in the DEADLINE films series starting tomorrow at R&D.

With the success of their science fiction film series Discontinuities in late August, Interisland Terminal and The Offsetter close out R&D (for real this time?) with one final event—and lucky for us it’s another film series! DEADLINE: A Journalism Film Series will focus on news, reporting, the changing landscape of media in Hawaii, and much more. The film series will include three films shown over the course of three nights, include essays from local journalists, and panel discussions following each film.

DEADLINE: A Journalism Film Series

Good Night, and Good Luck (2005) – Wed January 8, 7pm

Broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow looks to bring down Senator Joseph McCarthy. Directed by George Clooney the film stars David Strathairn as Edward R. Murrow with supporting roles from Patricia Clarkson, Robert Downey Jr., Ray Wise, Frank Langella, and Jeff Daniels (pre-Newsroom).

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A Fragile Trust: Plagiarism, Power, and Jayson Blair at the New York Times (2013)
Thu January 9, 7pm

A documentary on Jayson Blair, the most infamous serial plagiarist of our time. He created a massive scandal that rocked the New York Times and the entire world of journalism a number of his stories that included plagiarized or fabricated information.

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All the President’s Men (1976) – Fri January 10, 7pm

The classic journalism story of reporters Woodward (Robert Redford) and Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) who uncover the details of the Watergate scandal that led to President Nixon’s resignation.

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When I asked event organizers James Cave and Benjamin Trevino about how the focus on journalism for the film series came about, here’s what they had to say:

Having worked as arts and culture editor at the Honolulu Weekly, I noticed that there was a lack of critical dialogue in terms of local art reviews. And for a long time I’ve wanted host a panel discussion with local artists, art writers, and newspaper and magazine editors to find out why this is the case here. I spent a lot of time at R/D and eventually ended up working at the coffee shop there, and when Ben’s sci-fi fest came up, and was successful, we realized we could do the same approach—films, essays, panel discussions—and apply it to journalism. But we would have to take the idea of the art criticism panel (because that was too niche) and expand it to include the state of all local news media as it is today.

Last year, with the demise of the Honolulu Weekly and launch of Huffington Post Hawaii (old media dying and new media expanding), we figured we could screen some films and invite local media professionals to write their concerns and come talk about the changes happening in the way people deliver and consume news both locally and nationally.

-James Cave, The Offsetter

On coming up with the issues & themes for the film series at a gathering at R&D last month:

We got together to watch Page1: Inside the New York Times, a really expansive documentary about all kinds of contemporary news issues (unfortunately not a part of the film series) and there were a number of great themes: the business of journalism and whose interests should support news reporting, the interplay between professional and citizen journalists, the value of transparency but also the costs it imposes on news organizations. All of those ideas flourished into wonderful essays that are being released as a part of the series.

-Benjamin Trevino, Interisland Terminal

On what they hope people take away from the film series:

[The film series] is open to everybody, not just media people, because we want to provide a discussion platform for journalists, editors, publishers, and readers to come and try and figure out what we all want out of a local news industry and where we might try to go in the years ahead.

-James Cave, The Offsetter

Journalism is essential to citizenship. News / Social media are our eyes and ears on the things that are important to us. I hope that people walk away from the DEADLINE screenings and discussions with their own ideas on how to improve news reporting to work for them. I hope people walk away skeptical of everything they read, but not cynical about journalism. And I hope they feel empowered to demand more from our local media, who I truly believe are seeking an invested audience as much as we readers are seeking quality investigation.

-Benjamin Trevino, Interisland Terminal

Tickets for any of the films in the series are on sale at Eventbrite for $8 (+processing fee). However, you can purchase a discounted All Access Press Pass for $15 (+processing fee) which allows you to see all the films AND gets you the printed essay collection from the series.

If you’re any type of a cinephile or news junkie, you’ll definitely want to check out DEADLINE and experience some great films and good discussion with like minded people.