About Does My Vote Count?
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Our film, follows voters, candidates hoping to make a difference, and activists while they fight for disabled, veteran, immigrant and Native American voter rights. The film also tackles the deep-seated issue of the Black disenfranchised voter. We often see these stories of communities separated: there is the Black story, the Indigenous story, the disabled story, and the immigrant story. In the 2020 election, something extraordinary happened. With their combined voices and tireless hard work, these communities flipped an election and four senate seats. This film documents the highs and lows of these important groups as they passionately fight to have every vote count in an uncharted time and historic election. For these communities, the fight is not just about one election; it’s about staying the course and showing generations to come that change is possible.
Does My Vote Count? weaves together multiple stories surrounding voting with iPhone footage we gathered over the course of five months from over eight different states. For example, we follow Dr. Brenda Williams deep into the heart of South Carolina as she works tirelessly to ensure Black disenfranchised community members exercise their right to vote. As viewers see the difficulties of being poor, disabled, Black and previously incarcerated, they will learn just how difficult it can be to make your vote count.
We chose to film using a small crew and mobile equipment (iPhone 11 Pro) in order to access settings where we wouldn’t have been allowed with a bigger camera rig. In the film, viewers will see a mixture of interviews that follow those going to the polls to vote and those campaigning and canvassing. The film also contains footage of events such as Trump rallies and Washington D.C. under lockdown during the inauguration. By combining historical, archival and news footage with our on the ground cinema verite and interview footage, we hope to build an exciting and cohesive viewing experience.
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Filming
Making change one vote at a time
Our intention was to tell the story of voting across America in a historic election. Our audience is young and old from both political spectrums and people who want to be part of the change in making democracy truly for one and all.
We hope that the final product will be a call to action for people around the country. We intend for it to inspire people to get and stay involved, and make sure their vote has power in the upcoming 2022 midterm elections and beyond. However, we also want to make a film that stands the test of time. We believe in telling the stories of everyday people trying to make a change within their community. These are timeless stories of hope and perseverance that will remain relevant long after the next waves of elections. More specifically, we are weaving together multiple stories of different states, ethnicities, age groups and varieties of political candidates, so that many people can relate to this film and see their voice and their vote has power.
