A former supporter recently unfollowed Films For Action's Facebook page, which I admin, saying:
“All you do is complain about Democrats—and wonder why we lose. I can find better ways to keep track of interesting upcoming films.”
I want to respond to this publicly, because it’s worth clarifying what we’re about.
We critique Republicans just as often, if not more—just search our site, or ask any conservative that follows our page—but yes, we also critique corporate Democrats. And for good reason: they paved the way for Trump.
That doesn’t mean we paint all Democrats with the same brush.
We support people like Bernie Sanders, Zohran Mamdani, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib—leaders who actually fight for working people and challenge the power of corporate money.
We’re not political purists. We believe in building broad coalitions. But the reality is that the Democratic Party’s corporate wing routinely undermines grassroots movements and progressive candidates, helping the right consolidate power in the process.
To challenge the system, we believe a progressive takeover of the Democratic Party is necessary. The party still claims to hold progressive values, even as it remains largely captured by corporate interests. The Republican Party, meanwhile, is fully captured—and openly hostile to those values.
Both parties need a populist movement from below.
The problem is that while many Democratic voters see their party as the lesser evil and acknowledge its flaws, many Republicans still believe theirs is a force for good. They’ve been sold culture-war distractions and scapegoats that keep them fiercely loyal to the very institutions upholding the war machine and oligarchy.
Third parties in America face nearly impossible structural barriers, so for now, we see the most viable route to reform being inside the Democratic Party—while also building strong independent movements beyond it. That’s why we’re hard on corporate Democrats: they block the very progress that could defeat Trumpism and the root causes behind it.
Ideally, we’d see both parties renewed—progressives taking over the Democratic Party, and conservatives taking over the Republican Party. Both factions need to kick out the corporate grifters in their own ranks.
In that sense, we don't see the main battle between the so-called left and right. It's between the bottom and the top. Americans across the political spectrum need to unite in rejecting empire, neoliberalism and corporate rule, which has dominated both ruling parties for decades.
Finally, for those here mainly for the films: Facebook actively suppresses film links, so most of our posts lately have been articles.
We still share video links, but you're sadly not likely to see them.
Instead, I recommend going to our website directly. There, you’ll find thousands of documentaries, short films, and videos, with new films added every week (99% free)—covering a wide range of topics.
All that said, I'm always open to suggestions about what we post about and choose to focus on, so keep the feedback coming!
Cheers,
Tim Hjersted
Tim Hjersted is the director and co-founder of Films For Action, an online library dedicated to supporting the people and movements working to create a more free, regenerative, and democratic society. He lives in Lawrence, KS.