Ohio Northern University’s Center for Democratic Governance and Rule of Law will present a screening of “Blueberry Soup” and hold a panel discussion on the documentary with filmmaker Ellen Jarrett in the Dicke Forum at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 7. The event is free and open to the public.
“Blueberry Soup” chronicles the three-year aftermath of the Icelandic financial collapse, which resulted in the extraordinary re-writing of the nation’s constitution. After extreme frustration and a sense of powerlessness, Iceland elected a committee of 25 non-politicians to rewrite its constitution to ensure that such a disaster would never happen again.
Jarrett documented the unprecedented use of social media and personal communication in Iceland’s constitutional drafting process. The screening is part of a yearlong, nationwide screening and discussion series based around the themes of community participation found in the people’s movement in Iceland, which lead to the rewriting of the nation’s constitution.
Following the movie, there will be a question-and-answer session with a panel comprised of Jarrett, Bruce Frohnen, ONU professor of law, and Rob Waters, ONU assistant professor of history. The discussion will include the value of social media and person-to-person communication within participatory government.
This is the second of a series of programs this fall presented by ONU’s Center for Democratic Governance and Rule of Law highlighting successes and challenges to strengthening democracy and the rule of law around the world. The ONU College of Law, host to the Center, has a partnership with the University of Iceland in Reykjavik dating back over 50 years, that has brought more 20 percent of the lawyers in Iceland to ONU and Ada.
