On Wednesday, August 10, 2011, Venice Arts Gallery will host a free film premiere of filmmaker Matthew Millan‘s “We Win or We Die” starting at 7:30 pm.
Mr. Millan will give a talk about his travels through war-torn Libya, and the extraordinary events that he witnessed while there. He will first walk the audience through the emerging nation in the midst the war, and the devastation of the Libyan infrastructure before showing the premiere of “We Win or We Die,” a 30-minute Documentary on the first four days of the uprising. He will also show teasers to his upcoming feature length film, entitled “West of Tobruk,” due out in 2012.
In April and May of 2011, Millan traveled to eastern Libya to document the violent uprising that erupted in February of this year. And what he discovered was staggering. From the eastern city of Tobruk to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, he witnessed a nebula coalescing from the dust of war, to form a nation reborn. Amidst the brutality and devastation wrought under 42 years of Gaddafi’s rule, a civil society par excellence is emerging from the ashes. And for the first time in their lives, the eastern Libyans feel a strong sense of citizenship, finding themselves gravitating toward certain roles, roles they would never consider five months before. Medical students turned news anchors. Civil engineers turned newspaper editors. And taxi drivers turned soldiers. Neighborhoods have banded together to pick up the pieces of a shattered infrastructure. Children sweep the streets after the witching hour, alongside men who paint the roadside curbs. Looting is non-existent, and the crime rate has dropped by a factor of 20—all in the absence of strong government. Mr. Millan’s film screening and discussion will offer a window into the current state of Libya beyond what is being presented in the news media.
The Venice Arts Gallery is located at 1702 Lincoln Blvd. in Venice, CA; 310-392-0846. This program takes place in conjunction with the exhibition Shipping & Receiving: Photographs and Letters between Venice, CA and Dupree, SD
