On the Brink: The Battle for Democracy - Insights from Filmmaker Zidaan Kapoor

On October 29, 2024, the USC Center on Public Diplomacy and the Pacific Council on International Policy hosted a special screening of On The Brink: The Battle for Democracy, a powerful 21-minute documentary by 17-year-old filmmaker Zidaan Kapoor. The event included an exclusive Q&A session with Kapoor, moderated by Duncan Wood, where they explored the global challenges facing democracy today and the inspiration behind the film’s creation.

About Zidaan Kapoor

Zidaan Kapoor is an activist and documentary filmmaker from Redwood City, California. His most recent film, On The Brink, is about the dangers of authoritarianism and the need for a global shift towards democracy. His films have earned international awards and have been screened at festivals across the country. Zidaan is also the founder and director of the BraveMaker Student Film Festival and a fellow at the World Liberty Congress. His work has been featured in the New York Times and he was recently named a "20 Under 20 Young Innovator Changing the World" by Diversity in Action Magazine.

About Duncan Wood

Duncan Wood, PhD, is the President and CEO of the Pacific Council on International Policy and has worked in international relations and policy for over 35 years. He is an internationally renowned specialist in the geopolitics of energy, supply chain policy, critical minerals, Mexican politics, and US-Mexican ties. He has frequently given testimony to the U.S. Congress, is a widely quoted media source, and has published extensively on a wide range of global issues.  He is the author or editor of 12 books and over 30 chapters and articles.

Born in Kent, England, he studied politics at Leicester University before pursuing graduate studies in political science at McMaster University and Queens University, both in Ontario, Canada. In 1996, he received his PhD and moved to Mexico City to work at the Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico, where he became a professor of and Director of the program in International Relations. After 17 years in Mexico, working on international banking supervision, energy policy, and North American integration, he became the Director of the Mexico Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C. In 2021, Dr Wood was promoted to Vice President for Strategy and New Initiatives at the Wilson Center and worked alongside the Board of Trustees to design a new strategic plan for the center.

Over the past decade, he has served as co-chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Transparency and Anti-Corruption and has worked closely with the WEF on energy policy.  He is a board member of Transparency International, Signos Vitales (a Mexican public policy research organization), and Foreign Affairs Latinoamerica and is an editorial advisor to El Universal newspaper. He has been a Fulbright Fellow and a Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS); an editorial advisor to Reforma newspaper; Technical Secretary of the Red Mexicana de Energia; a consultant with McLarty Associates, the Economist Intelligence Unit, Horizon and Eurasia Group; and owner of a speakeasy in Mexico City.