Democracy Fellows Create Film Noir To Highlight Voter Participation

'On the Case for Democracy' highlighted by Ideastream Public Media

To encourage voter participation during the 2024 election season, the Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C®) Democracy Fellows went to film school, so to speak.

Cohorts have created legacy projects to encourage and educate their peers on voting through artwork and video skits. This year's project, a film noir detective series, debuted on Oct. 29 (National Vote Early Day) and was featured by Ideastream Public Media.

The Democracy Fellows are a nonpartisan cohort of Tri-C students, staff and faculty supported by the College's Office of Government Relations. This year, the cohort created and acted in On the Case for Democracy, a short film noir parody about the search for a missing vote. The film, which conveys how one vote can make a difference in an election, is available on Tri-C's YouTube channel.

The group decided on film noir as a medium to bring a lighter side to voter participation.

"I think fun is something that we so often miss from our activism, and it's something that really drives people away because voting seems intimidating and kind of depressing," said Sylvia Snow-Rackley, one of the Democracy Fellows.

Voter participation also matters to international students at Tri-C who are not eligible to vote, such as Oluwasegun Ogunlade, who is from Nigeria.

"Votes of every individual also impact me as an international student in terms of education, health care, everything," he said. "Even though I can't vote, I have to encourage my peers."

The film is part of The Voting Experience, a civic engagement program for students, by students. Now in its seventh year, The Voting Experience has been recognized nationally as a scalable model for other colleges and universities to adopt.

Read the story at ideastream.org.

November 04, 2024

MEDIA CONTACT: Anthony Moujaes, 216-987-3068 or anthony.moujaes@tri-c.edu