Anna Moore/Collegian
Volume I books hosts movie nights, open mics, hoping to facilitate discussion.
For a small group of Hillsdale College students and local citizens, the term "free" took on multiple meanings last Wednesday when local used bookstore Volume One hosted a showing of Michael Moore's second documentary.
Volume One's owner, Richard Wunsch, organized the viewing inside the Annex, which is the former Mancino's restaurant building next to Volume One. Wunsch purchased the property over a year ago and has hosted events on a weekly basis.
Wunsch arranges activities through the Hillsdale Coalition for Peace and Justice, a group of politically active citizens ranging the political spectrum from libertarian to socialist. The coalition has taken part in the local Freedom Festival as well as scheduled discussions over the past three years. Showing Moore's The Big One marks a new form of action for the group.
"I'm happy for political dialogue," said Wunsch. "If I talk to someone, I can find the common ground.I don't like preaching to the choir and I manage to have civilized conversation."
Wunsch previously owned a bookstore in Ann Arbor, and the larger city offered many more artistic and political events. Wunsch hopes to attract college students as well as community members to the downtown Hillsdale entertainment district.
"My goal is towards Hillsdale, for everybody's sake, for the city and college; both need these events," said Wunsch.
Wunsch began the free film nights with a Michael Moore documentary because of the film's ability to provoke discussion.
"The Big One" was produced in 1997 and released between Moore's critically acclaimed documentaries, "Roger and Me" and "Bowling for Columbine." According to Wunsch, the brash film was not deemed marketable by movie distributors in its time and too aggressively attacked by both liberals and conservatives.
Despite the criticism, the film does boast support from major movie critics. From Siskel and Ebert's "two thumbs up" acceptance to "Newsweek's "wickedly funny" description, this film did not entirely miss modern America. The "Chicago Tribune" also claimed that "everyone in America should see 'The Big One.'"
"[The film] didn't have a big distributor because it was boring, not because it was controversial," said freshman Andrew Jorgenson. "But I'm glad I saw it."
Wunsch was pleased to see students in attendance for the film, and plans to hold more movie nights of varying focus. "Uncovered: The Truth About the Iraq War" was played Wednesday, September 8, and every third Wednesday of the month will tentatively be a "Right-Wing Wednesday," beginning September 15 with gun control as one topic.
"I'd also like to see some more stuff along the lines of entertainment, like films of the [1930's] and 40's.some which had political overtones," said Wunsch.
Most recently, Wunsch hosted an open mic night, with live music and an emphasis on slam poetry, which is the spoken word that uses acting and theatre skills with verse. Open mic nights will continue every Saturday from 8 to 11 p.m. Movie nights begin at 7:30 p.m. followed by discussion.
"Everybody is welcome, all ideas are acceptable, the only thing I demand is respect for other people," said Wunsch.