GMHS Alums Found Inspiration for Filmmaking in Little City

Davis for the first and Jason Motlagh the latter, are all alums of the former George Mason High School — now Meridian.

After their showings in Austin, which Falls Church Vice Mayor Letty Hardi made the trip down to see, the makers of the two films talked with the News-Press

Siblings Rebecca (Class of ‘01) and Peter Davis (Class of ‘08) co-directed “Join or Die,” a documentary about why someone should join a club and how “the fate of America may depend on it.” The idea of the film came from Rebecca after having been a producer at NBC News and seeing various tragedies such as school shootings and teen suicides. Through Peter, she came to know about social scientist Robert Putnam, whose book “Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community” dives into the decline of social capital in the United States since 1950.

Peter Davis, a student in Putnam’s Community in America course while attending Harvard University, said he was able to connect what Putnam talked about in his book about social isolation and a “decline in community” with what Rebecca was seeing in her news stories. When Putnam was about to retire from Harvard in 2018, Rebecca and Peter said that was when they decided to direct a film about Putnam and his view on how clubs/associations/shared missions can save a democracy in crisis.

“It’s been five years since we started this journey,” Rebecca said. “We were really looking for a chance to zoom out and do something that got a little closer to what was the root cause of some national problems.”

As for how the Little City inspired them to direct and produce the film, Rebecca said her and Pete wouldn’t have been able to make the movie had they not grown up in Falls Church. They said they witnessed their mother and father both being civically involved in the community, the former being a recycling coordinator for their neighborhood and the latter being on an English as a Second Language (ESOL) committee for the local school system.

“It wasn’t a reach for us to understand what Bob was talking about why a strong civic life is good for the community,” Rebecca said. “It was a very civic time when we were growing up in Falls Church and I know Falls Church remains a very civic community today.”

The title “Join or Die” comes from the famous Benjamin Franklin political cartoon about the disunity in colonial America. Putnam’s words and work are discussed throughout the documentary, mainly on how joining a civic group is an important factor in a functioning nation, as well as how these groups affect people individually.

“We have these huge projects all across the country trying to get people to stop smoking for public health or try to solve air pollution for asthma,” Peter said, “but we don’t have a robust public health movement of saying ‘Our country has to start valuing social connection for individuals’ sake, not just for America.’”

As for how the co-directors

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Art and Frame Of Falls Church