AN AFRICAN ELECTION
"IF YOU ENTER THE POORER REGION YOU GO DOWN, NOBODY SAVE YOU.
IT'S TRUE."
"My brother Jarreth Merz, the direction of this film, asked me if I was interested of filming a documentary about a presidential election in Ghana in 2008. So an unforgettable journey started that had a deep impact in my life.
I co-directed and filmed part of it."
The 2008 presidential elections in Ghana, West Africa, serve as a backdrop for this feature documentary that looks behind-the-scenes at the complex, political machinery of a third world democracy struggling to legitimize itself to its first world contemporaries. At stake in this race are the fates of two political parties that will do almost anything to win.
Director Jarreth Merz follows the key players for almost three months to provide an unprecedented insider’s view of the political, economic and social forces at work in Ghana. He builds suspense by taking the viewer down the back roads of the nation to capture each unexpected twist and turn in a contest that is always exciting and never predictable.
Throughout the film, Merz depicts the pride and humanity of the larger-than-life politicians, party operatives and citizens who battle for the soul of their country.
"DO WE WANT
TO GO FORWARD
OR DO WE WANT
TO GO BACK?"
TRAILER
credits
director: Jarreth Merz
co-director: Kevin Merz
producer: Jarreth Merz & Tiziana Soudani
camera: Kevin Merz & Topher Osborn
composer: Patrick Kirst
editor: Samir Samperisi
sound editor: Ricardo Studer
"THIS IS STRUGGLE FOR POWER. AND PEOLPE DON'T SIMPLY LET POWER GO."
A POLITICAL SAFARI
Social Mobile Cinema Project
" Political Safari is a side project that was born out of the experience of African Election. For my brother and I, it was clear you cannot just go and take, you have also to give back. So the idea of building a mobile cinema came up to give the movie back to the people and enter in a discourse with them, trying to promote peaceful elections."
LINKS
A reportage about the project: https://www.rsi.ch/la1/programmi/cultura/cult-tv/tutti-i-servizi/Political-Safari-1764823.html
Official Website of An African Election and Political Safari: http://www.anafricanelection.com
TAKE ACTION
"MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,
WE WANT NO VIOLENCE.
WE WANT NO CHEATING.
WE DON'T WANT ANY BLOODSHED."
Imagine a movie theater on wheels that makes a journey through Africa to share a film and a vision of African democracy. An African Election, was filmed with this journey in mind–to support Africans who want to be part of creating their own future. In August 2012, we will launch A Political Safari- a mobile-cinema democracy and voter education outreach project in Africa. “Safari” in Swahili means journey, and we invite you and your community to join us on our journey to support our friends and neighbors in Africa.
We start our tour in Ghana, whose people are holding crucial elections this fall. We then travel to nine other African countries where we will join with local experts and international partners to develop workshops and voter resources that support and facilitate dialogue across ideological, socio-economic and ethnic boundaries- especially for youth, women, and those living in marginalized communities. There can be no progress without political stability, and this grassroots tour will support all African’s right to participate in their own political process.
We can’t do this alone! Here are some ways you can get involved and help us create a lasting impact.
We rely on donations to create lasting impact in Africa. Every dollar counts and will go towards reaching more communities and countries.
link: http://www.anafricanelection.com/index.html%3Fp=909.html