The Original Thinkers festival in Telluride turns seven this year and founder and ringleader David Holbrooke is thinking, for the first time, small.
With a fiery presidential election looming, wars raging, the planet warming and a steady bombardment of existential crises, Holbrooke has tailored this year’s collection of films, speakers and gatherings around community.
“How can we engage in a way that makes us feel better about our civic health and the towns and cities we live in? How can we make our local lives better?” says the filmmaker whose thoughtful Original Thinkers blends pieces of a film festival with TED Talks, performances and parties. “That’s our goal this year, thinking about how we can create events and gatherings to bring people together to do the work we have mostly left to our governments.”
Since 2018, the Original Thinkers Festival has aimed big, with poignant films and presentations curated to inspire attendees into tackling society’s most daunting challenges. Suicide, abortion, war, homelessness, revolution, joy, healing and resiliency have been themes permeating presentations by artists, politicians, rabbis, nuns, poets, authors, filmmakers, activists, musicians and dancers. The idea is to send attendees home buoyed by not just awareness of the world’s tribulations, but strength and hope.
“We’ve always wanted this to be a deeper, special experience.This year, everyone is freaking out and obsessing about the election,” Holbrooke said. “We can sit and complain or we can find things to do about our frustrations. How can we find our voice and harness that instead of being pissed off? How can we as citizens lean in more, not by simply going out and voting or putting a bumper sticker on our car or a sign in our yard? Let’s explore the real opportunities to find our voice and build a better place starting right here in our towns.”
The Oct. 3-6 Original Thinkers lineup this year includes six documentaries:
- “Counted Out” weaves stories of people using numbers to change their lives as part of a larger narrative crafted by director Vicki Abeles that shows why math literacy is critical for handling crises like inequality, political unrest, pandemics and climate change.
- “To Be Destroyed” follows novelist Dave Eggers as he visits with students and teachers in a South Dakota school district where his book “The Circle” has been banned.
- “Stories & Pictures By” details the work of classic children’s book authors and newer arrivals in the genre who are experimenting with new ways to share stories with children.
- “The Cranes Call” follows a team of war crimes investigators documenting crimes by the Russian military in Ukraine.
- “An Extraordinary Place” showcases the DJs and hosts at the University of Southern Maine’s WMPG community radio station, which will resonate in Telluride, home to the legendary KOTO radio station.
- “Join Or Die” follows Harvard University professor and author Robert Putnam, whose 2000 book “Bowling Alone” created the notion of social capital and revealed the healthiest communities as those with robust social networks, as he inspires communities to foster groups and clubs as a way to protect democracy.
The list of speakers and panelists includes filmmakers, artists, musicians, Ridgway-based author Peter Hessler, Iran-born singer and podcast host King Raam and Denver raconteur Evan Weissman.
Weismann is the driving force behind Warm Cookies of the Revolution, a Denver group that has gathered more than 1 million people since 2021 for unique get togethers involving things like lowrider cars, circus performers, comedians, food battles and Mexican wrestling matches. Weismann calls his group “the world’s first civic health club,” with a goal of rebuilding fragmented communities. In Telluride, he’s going to host a picnic at the Lone Tree Cemetery.
“What can we learn from the people who came before us?” Holbrooke asks. “Maybe the lives of the people who are buried there can help us build the future we actually want.”
Click over to OriginalThinkers.com for details and passes.