Wisconsin-focused doc ‘Citizen Koch’ to screen in Madison, Milwaukee

Madison and Milwaukee will screen Citizen Koch, which tells the story of the changing American political landscape from the perspective of three Wisconsin state employees — all lifelong Republicans — who found their party taking direct aim at them with Scott Walker’s campaign against collective bargaining and unions.

The documentary premieres in June after debuting at Sundance. The film will open in Madison and Milwaukee on June 13. It also will screen in other select cities, including New York, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Seattle, Washington, D.C., Columbus, Ohio, and Hartford, Connecticut.

Academy Award-nominated directors Carl Deal and Tia Lessin, who co-produced Fahrenheit 9/11 and Bowling for Columbine, made the film about the rise of the tea party, the impact of Citizens United, the influence of right-wing billionaires such as the Koch brothers and Scott Walker’s war on workers.

The filmmakers completed production with crowdfunding after PBS canceled its support for the project, apparently out of concern for losing donor support from David Koch.

For more, go to citizenkoch.com.

In other news 

• Transition Milwaukee hosts the fifth annual Power Down Week, a series of events designed to build community and encourage energy conservation. Organizers are building support and preparing now for the week, which is July 6–13. For more, go to www.powerdownweek.com.

• The Human Rights Campaign is urging a boycott of American hotels owned by the Sultan of Brunei after Brunei advanced a series of changes to its penal code that would allow for the stoning of LGBT people. The sultan issued the law despite his notoriously lavish and depraved lifestyle, which includes scores of harems of young girls and many homes, one of which has 1,800 rooms. The tiny Southeast Asian nation began phasing in a version of sharia law in early May, prompting HRC to call for a boycott of The Beverly Hills Hotel and the Hotel Bel Air, which are part of the Sultan’s Dorchester collection. For more, go to www.hrc.org.

• The Gay & Lesbian Institute is accepting applications for a candidate and campaign training session in Portland, Oregon, June 19–22. The weekend-long program will bring prospective candidates, staffers and community organizers together for workshops taught by consultants and campaign veterans. For more, go to www.victoryfund.org.

— L.N.