Dr. Roslyn Fuller
On her quest to transform democracy, Canadian author Roslyn Fuller runs for election. She wants to open up the political process by unleashing the power of ‘digital democracy’; having her constituents decide how she votes in the Dáil. How will the realities of money and the media affect her chances as the votes are counted?
Roslyn Fuller was awarded a PhD in International Law from Trinity College Dublin. Her thesis formed the basis of her book “Beasts and Gods: How Democracy Changed its Meaning and Lost its Purpose”. Her book dissects the shortcomings of elections across 20 Western democracies and puts forward bold proposals for a ‘digital democracy’ where the people deliberate on big decisions. This new 14-minute documentary Fuller Democracy follows her most recent election campaign. She ran as an Independent for Dublin Fingal in the 2016 general election, seeking to highlight her digital democracy platform and implement it if elected.
Filmmaker Jonathan Victory followed her election campaign to see how her message of revitalising democracy was received on the doors and in the polls. “Roslyn Fuller makes for a compelling subject,” says Victory. “Her flare for critical thinking never devolves into lazy cynicism. She remains upbeat, affable and pragmatic, even when the odds are against her. There are election candidates who have allowed documentary crews to follow them before, but few have ever been as candid or insightful as Roslyn Fuller.”
Victory acted as his own crew, filming, editing and even recording music for this film. Victory says, “If an opportunity arises for an important story to follow then go for it. The advantage of documentary filmmaking is that one could capture plenty of footage with one consumer camera.” Victory has released the film online for free following its festival run which included a Distinction Award at Canada Shorts.
Victory intends to develop a feature-length documentary based on Fuller’s book. Fuller herself is pressing ahead with a project called ‘The People’s Programme’; an experiment in digital democracy that will invite the public to deliberate on policy issues. More information on that project is available here: http://fullerdemocracy.com/
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Fuller Democracy screened at the following 2016 film festivals:
Canada Shorts Canadian & International Short Film Festival
Dun Laoghaire Underground Cinema Film Festival
Dublin International Short Film and Music Festival
