A documentary essay film (55 minutes). Written and directed by Mady Schutzman (CalArts). Dear Comrade documents the story of Llano del Rio (1914-18), the most important non-religious communitarian experiment in western American history. Llano is offered as a site to explore the struggles, courage, frustrations, fantasies, and Sisyphean efforts of innumerable idealists who have assumed comparable struggles in spite of tremendous odds. The story is told through archival footage, surreal re-enactments, interviews with ex-colonists, local residents and historians, and the meanderings of a silent nomad through the ruins of the Llano colony in the Mojave Desert. Through the intersection of stories, a seemingly traditional documentary morphs into a montage of parallel universes, political commentary, clownery, and a palpable desire – failings and disappointments notwithstanding – to give idealism and cooperation another try.

Admission is free. Parking available in the 5-story West Hollywood Park/Library Parking Garage. For more information please visit http://aestheticsandpolitics.calarts.edu/lecture-series/whap  TTY for the deaf and hard of hearing at (323) 848-6496.