Web Explores the Potentials and Perils of a More Connected World

Web

Is there anything in our lives more transformative, liberating, or frustrating than the Internet? You can use it to order a pair of shoes, plan a vacation, check a baseball score, or bicker with your relatives about Obamacare.

Michael Kleiman's 2013 documentary Web takes a bird's eye view of the challenges we face in an increasingly connected and digitized world. To access the impact of the Internet, he turns to a variety of experts, including Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wells, Meetup CEO Scott Heiferman, Foursquare's Dennis Crowley, and public policy expert Anne-Marie Slaughter.

The documentary also sets off for Peru, where people in small towns, like Antuyo and Palestina, are introduced to the Internet for the first time. Many of the computers are provided by an organization called One Laptop Per Child, which brings digital access to children in many of the poorest parts of the world. Is web access a human right? And if so, what impact does this right have on an individual's cultural identity?

When Web screens at the Erie Art Museum on July 29, filmmaker Michael Kleiman will be on hand (via Skype) to address some of these questions with us. – Dan Schank

Film at 7 p.m., Q & A with filmmaker Michael Kleiman to follow // Erie Art Museum, 20 E. Fifth St. // erieartmuseum.org/events/film.html