Kasper Verkaik: Dear Oprah

After focusing his lens on the American media’s coverage of the Iraq war, Dutch documentarian Kasper Verkaik has diaried a six month journey around the U.S., talking to individuals who don’t exercise their right to vote as well as young voters and new citizens who will cast ballots for the first time this year. The Dear Oprah journey takes the form of video entries addressed to Ms. Winfrey, exploring why approximately one third of the US population doesn’t vote and what would happen if they did. The result is an enjoyable series of snapshots of interviews in a South Carolina barbershop, Dallas Cowboys stadium, and of course, Nevada It’s a perfect topic for the distribution platform Submarine Channel’s episodic Minimovies format, which include eight or so short film clips that tell a narrative. Verkaik has certainly picked a rich one.