Director Laura Nix’s enlightening and alarming documentary film DEMOCRACY 
UNDER SIEGE is punctuated by the 
sharp and witty political commentary of Pulitzer-prize winning editorial cartoonist Ann Telnaes, from the Washington Post, from her bird’s eye view in the cat seat of the United States capital, Washington D.C.. In this hard-hitting film top political analysts lay bare the complex history and challenges of the world’s most influential political system. Oscar-nominated Director Laura Nix trains her insightful lens on one of American democracy’s most 
extreme and vital moments in its nearly 250 years of existence. The film connects present-day crises with their roots in American history via commentary with A-list political observers who explore executive overreach, a crisis in judicial ethics, and a media environment saturated with 
disinformation, as the country grapples with fundamental challenges that transcend individual presidencies. With innovative dark humor, the film examines how the promise of American multiracial democracy faces a renewed backlash, culminating in fears of an actual 
authoritarian takeover. Can the nation preserve its democratic ideals amidst severe polarization and a political party which has embraced extremism? Oscar nominated Producer / Director Laura Nix (The Light in Her Eyes, The Yes Men are Revolting) joins us to talk about her how intelligent and thorough DEMOCRACY UNDER SIEGE plays to anyone with even a passing understand of civics, as well as how incredibly important it is for all Americans to understand and strengthen the civil and voting rights many of us have taken for granted for far too long.
For more go to: drawforchangetheseries.com/democracy-under-siege
Or go to: autlookfilms.com/democracy-under-siege
About the subject – Ann Telnaes creates editorial cartoons in various mediums — animation, visual essays, live sketches and traditional print. She won the Pulitzer Prize in 2001 for her print cartoons and the National Cartoonists Society’s Reuben for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year for 2016. She was awarded the international EWK Award, named after the legendary Swedish cartoonist Ewert Karlsson, in 2021. Telnaes was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for her illustrated reporting and cartooning in 2022 and awarded the Herblock Prize for editorial cartooning in 2023. After working for The Washington Post for over sixteen years, Telnaes resigned after a cartoon she submitted was rejected because it criticized billionaire tech and media executives, including Jeff Bezos, for trying to curry favor with President Trump. Telnaes’ print work was shown in a solo exhibition at the Great Hall in the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress in 2004. Her first book, Humor’s Edge, was published by Pomegranate Press and the Library of Congress in 2004. A collection of Vice President Cheney cartoons, Dick, was self-published by Telnaes and Sara Thaves in 2006. Her most recent book, Trump’s ABC, was published by Fantagraphics in 2018. Telnaes’ work has also been exhibited in Paris, Jerusalem, and Lisbon. Telnaes attended California Institute of the Arts and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, specializing in character animation. Before beginning her career as an editorial cartoonist, Telnaes worked for several years as a designer for Walt Disney Imagineering. She has also animated and designed for various studios in Los Angeles, New York, London, and Taiwan. Other awards include: The National Cartoonists Society Reuben division award for Editorial Cartoons (2016), The National Press Foundation’s Berryman Award (2006) – The Maggie Award, Planned Parenthood (2002) – 15th Annual International Dutch Cartoon Festival (2007) – The National Headliner Award (1997) – The Population Institute XVII Global Media Awards (1996) – Sixth Annual Environmental Media Awards (1996)
About the filmmaker – Laura Nix is a director, writer and producer working in non-fiction and fiction. Her short film, WALK RUN CHA-CHA, was nominated for a 2020 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject after its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival and winning Best Short at Viet Film Fest. The New York Times series, FROM HERE TO HOME, in which the film appears, was also nominated for a 2020 News and Documentary Emmy in the category of Outstanding New Approaches: Arts, Lifestyle and Culture. The film is currently streaming on New York Times Op-Docs. Her feature documentary INVENTING TOMORROW, about teenagers from around the globe tackling environmental issues through science, premiered in the US Competition at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, followed by screenings at numerous film festivals worldwide and earning multiple awards including a 2019 Peabody Award and the Grand Jury Prize at Seattle International Film Festival. In 2018 she was also named a Chicken & Egg Breakthrough Filmmaker, a prestigious award given annually to five experienced women filmmakers based in the United States who have each been acknowledged for their extraordinary careers in the industry. Awarded the 2017 Sundance Institute/Discovery Impact Fellowship, Nix also directed THE YES MEN ARE REVOLTING, a comedy about activism and climate change that premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2014 and the Berlinale 2015 and has gone on to play in over 85 film festivals internationally. It was theatrically released in North America by the Orchard, and appeared theatrically and on television internationally. Previously she directed the documentary THE LIGHT IN HER EYES, about a Syrian Qur’an school for women, which premiered at IDFA in 2011, was broadcast on the PBS series POV as well as internationally on Al-Jazeera Middle East and others, and toured the world with Sundance’s Film Forward. Nix was also a writer on the Emmy nominated documentary CALIFORNIA STATE OF MIND: THE LEGACY OF PAT BROWN. Nix wrote and directed the comedic narrative feature THE POLITICS OF FUR, which played in over 70 film festivals internationally and won numerous awards, including the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature at Outfest Los Angeles 2002 and Best Feature at Boston Underground 2003. She has directed music videos for several artists including Sweaters, Rajae el Mouhandiz, and the classical Vienna-based ensemble Vivante. In 2001, Nix co-founded the production company Automat Pictures, where she produced and/or directed over 100 presentations, including the feature documentary WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT: THE STORY OF HEDWIG, which played in over a dozen film festivals in the U.S. and worldwide. Previously she was a member of Oscar-winning filmmakers Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman’s production company Telling Pictures, where she was Associate Producer on THE CELLULOID CLOSET. Nix’s nonfiction television work has appeared on HBO, PBS, Arte, ZDF, CBC, NHK, Canal +, IFC, New York Times Op-Docs, Planet Green, and the History Channel. She was a MacDowell Colony Fellow in 2006 and a Film Independent and IFP fellow in 2011. She has served as an adviser to the Hot Docs Blue Ice Fund and East Africa’s Docubox, is currently a film expert for the U.S. State Department’s American Film Showcase, and is a member of the documentary branch of the Academy for Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, where she serves on the Executive Committee of the Documentary Branch. Nix is the owner of Felt Films, a production company based in Los Angeles that produces non-fiction and fiction content, and she is repped for commercials and branded content by Majority Film in Los Angeles.For more go to: feltfilms.com
SOCIAL MEDIA
facebook.com/clindoeilfilms
facebook.com/laura.nix.16
facebook.com/walkrunchacha
instagram.com/walkrunchacha
instagram.com/nixlaura
instagram.com/anntelnaes
instagram.com/elieactual
instagram.com/heathercoxrichardson
instagram.com/profmmurray
instagram.com/raskinforcongress
instagram.com/lauragabbertfilms
instagram.com/mattwuerker
Download MP3 Podcast | Open Player in New Window