I ELECT: Power Every Four Years
The doors are closed. There are no more screenings of this film.
Synopsis: In the grip of the 2020 pandemic, just days before the presidential election, a woman in Miami recalls her shock four years ago on election night 2016, through a series of flashbacks with renewed feelings of dread about this time around. The recollection of that blistering night as she watched those fateful election results sparks a painful memory that shatters her nerves — as we witness her working her way through to her own revelation of personal power.
The film is inspired by the brave Parkland students who stood up to the tragic mass shooting at their high school, and the courage of their activism. This is a film about the power of voting, anti-racism, and the urgent call to fight voter suppression.
This was originally a theatrical monologue intended for the stage that has been adapted to film. Carey Brianna Hart delivers an electrifying performance that reminds us how important it is for writers, performers, and all artists to fearlessly continue to speak truth to power. After the avalanche of worsening events during the four years following the 2016 election, this work took on a broader meaning as a call-to-action and became the film “I ELECT: Power Every Four Years.”
Bella’s emotions ring true to lead her to decisive action. Alone now, out of work and losing hope because of the pandemic’s chokehold on America, Bella struggles to breathe through a vortex of painful memories in front of the camera she has positioned in front of herself at home. As a way to snap herself out of this downward spiral, she records her message on a video to her fellow voters. Ultimately, Bella gives testimony to power. The power of voting.
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Director's Bio
The award-winning Director Ricky J. Martinez has been invited to direct for the Kennedy Center’s American College Theater Festival’s the MFA Playwrights’ Workshop; Stanford University ’s National Center for New Plays; James Madison University and the Forbes Center; the Words A-fire festival in New Mexico; and other organizations across the country. His collaborations with playwrights on more than fifty world premiere plays have led to Pulitzer Prize finalists/wins and ATCA’s Steinberg finalists/wins. Awards include the 2016 Margo Jones Award, and the 2016 Remy Pioneer Award. He served as the Artistic Director for Miami’s New Theatre. Nationally, he served on the Executive Committee for the National New Play Network; the Advisory Board of the Latino Theatre Commons; as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts; the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation; the National Fund for New Musicals; and San Antonio’s Luminaria Festival.