West Coast Premiere Celebration of Stepping into the Future: On the Occasion of the Publication of BAsics—A Celebration of Revolution and the Vision of a New World

December 21, 2013 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us

On Wednesday, December 11, Stepping into the Future: On the Occasion of the Publication of BAsics—A Celebration of Revolution and the Vision of a New World premiered at the Laemmle Theater in Santa Monica, California. The Laemmle is one of a chain of theaters in Southern California that show independent and art films.

About 80 people came to the premiere from across the city. It was a diverse and multinational crowd: some came from South Central, some who are familiar with the movement for revolution, and there were a number of people who heard about it on KPFK radio. KPFK was the media sponsor of the event, and in the days running up to it there were regular PSAs played on air. Also, Annie Day, the film's co-director, and two participants, singer Maggie Brown and Richard Brown, a former member of the Black Panther Party, were interviewed on The Michael Slate Show on KPFK a few days before.

The evening began with a trailer announcing the showing of a second section of the DVD BA Speaks: Revolution—Nothing Less! Bob Avakian Live on the campus of UCLA on January 9, 2014. Then Annie Day introduced the film.

A section of the audience was learning for the first time about the work of Bob Avakian and the movement for revolution he leads. For some, the fact that the documentary of this inspiring cultural event so boldly gives expression to the impact of BAsics, from the talks and writings of Bob Avakian and his overall leadership and body of work, was challenging, eye-opening, and a little unnerving. Others came out deeply impacted and inspired to learn more about Bob Avakian, get their hands on BAsics, and make plans to show the film to others. One supporter left discussing plans to show the film at his Unitarian Church.

All this was reflected in some of the questions posed during the Q&A with Annie Day and Amina (a young revolutionary who is in the film). A couple of people raised big disagreements with the need for revolution and communism, and had questions about the new synthesis of communism that BA has developed. A couple of others wanted to express their appreciation for the film, for BA's work, and for the hope and inspiration they feel is concentrated in this film.

After the Q&A, there was a small reception where people stayed talking for some time after. There was deep discussion about the importance of BAsics, the kind of cultural revolt that's needed in the world today, and debates about why this system can't be reformed and the need for revolutionary leadership. Some people got further organized to take up the BA Everywhere fundraising campaign to project BA throughout society.

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Interviews after the film:

A writer for a small city newspaper said:

I want to see the film again, because there's a lot to it; there's a lot going on. I liked the film, I liked the idea of keeping an open mind about other possibilities and considering ways to make the planet a better place, a more livable place. To ease suffering, if not eradicate it, is completely possible. These are very appealing ideas to me. And I'm very open-minded, very open to considering different ways of bringing about these changes. It made me want to know more, watching the film. To get a copy of the book BAsics, it made me want to get more involved. So if that was one of the purposes of the film, it definitely succeeded.

He said he enjoyed especially listening to the jazz musicians and the poetry. When asked what he thought about the title of the film, in particular the relationship between the book BAsics and the evening it inspired, he said:

Well, I think the ideas in the book itself can serve as a map toward a new future; toward a new way of living; toward a new view of how things could be.... And again, the whole thing made me want to hear more. Everything, I thought, was very compelling, very worthwhile, and piqued my curiosity. And again, it inspired me to want to find out more.

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One person who was seeing the film for the second time said:

It's refreshing to hear people talk about humanity, and the world, and not look at things just from this country, and that is wonderful.... This country is based on the exploitation of millions of people around the world. Even if you weren't a person that is defined as a communist in that film, they really got that. And that I think is really great, very uplifting; you can see that, you can hear it.

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A woman originally from Ireland said when she heard about the film on the radio, she said to herself: "Oh, revolution. I want to start one." Overall she liked the film but had criticism.

"But" she said, "I liked the spirit of it. And that's what carries things." She knew nothing about BA or his body of work and could be described as someone who "doesn't know what she thinks she 'knows' about the communist revolution," to quote from the recent title of the special issue of Revolution newspaper on the history and future of communist revolution.

She said communism "was a wonderful idea way, way back, but... it really doesn't work." She's convinced "it's gonna be a combination," and agreed with someone on CNN who said "there's good capitalism and bad capitalism. There's good socialism and bad socialism." She was encouraged to go to the Revolution Books table and get that special issue of Revolution: "You Don't Know What You Think You 'Know' About... The Communist Revolution and the REAL Path to Emancipation: Its History and Our Future."

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Three friends came together, two in their early 20s and the third, a little older, had urged them to come. One said, "We all have common interests in political movements, and things like that." Only the one who invited them knew of Bob Avakian before the premiere. He said he had heard the interview with BA done by Michael Slate on KPFK. He downloaded all five parts and listened to it a few times. "I thought it was great. I really like everything, everything he has to say."

The other two made the following comments about the film:

It's a good model for just displaying the power of the movement, and just to be able to bring different types of people together; showing that there's commonality in all different kinds of people; and it's nice to be able to see them all come together and not have stereotypes being put out; it's different, hopeful, I would say.

Revolution and poverty aren't something discussed a lot in the mainstream. You can't walk up to someone and have a conversation about that. And so this kind of lets you know that there are other people who are sharing the same thought, the same frame of mind. It's uplifting and informative at the same time.

It's comforting to know that you're not crazy, you're not alone in these thoughts... I think the night, the bringing together of all the different artists, from different backgrounds, it kinda showed that there's like a metaphor, that there's room for everybody on the stage. There's enough on the planet for everybody; we can all share, and get along and have a good time.

Later in the discussion, this same person was reflecting on the challenge of bringing this to people who are "still indoctrinated to believe the things that they learned in school." In talking about this, he said:

I thought the other thing, like when I bring up revolution, like they brought out in the documentary, "what difference does it make, it's never going to happen." And the prisoners brought up the example of the doctor [from BA's memoir, From Ike to Mao, and Beyond]; and it's such a simple analogy, but you never hear that; sit there and think about it. And that's something I could use now to help.

The older person familiar with BA added:

And at the same time it's a documentary that like someone would say, "Oh, I'm not communist, but I share a lot of the same visions as them." I think that should be a lot more common. Even if there are different parties, different beliefs, you should still have an openness, you should still feel for other people around the world, even if they come from different backgrounds, whatever, they're still human.

Asked if they were going to get BAsics, one said: I'm actually gonna get two; one for my friend.

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