Directors: Roderick Red Few in number and with limited resources, lawyers representing African Americans in Mississippi lost more than they won during the early years of the Civil Rights Movement. However, with the country's conscience pricked by violent images, hundreds of lawyers became inspired to work in the state and transformed its legal infrastructure.
Directors: Sydnie Heslop Troubled Waters is an experimental short that examines the relationship between the black community and water, how it has both been weaponized against us, and employed by us, to empower and resist oppression.
Directors: Jeremy Workman, Robert Lyons Over 50 years ago, New York State assemblyman George Michaels cast a single vote that changed the course of American history but destroyed his political career in the process. For the first time, Deciding Vote shares the story of how Michaels defied his conservative constituents by casting the critical tie-breaking vote on a bill which legalized abortion in the state of New York, laying the groundwork for Roe v Wade. The film is a moving tribute to a now-forgotten act of political courage.
Directors: Marquise Mays The Black String Triage Ensemble, an all-African American string orchestra in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, performs on the scene in the immediate aftermath of incidents of gun violence, altering the notion of “first responders.” In a city with such a troubled relationship with violence, can this ensemble transform the traumatized public space into a place of recovery, healing and hope?
Director & Producer: Anurima Bhargava Producers: Alisa Payne, Geeta Gandbhir, Sam Pollard Teaching America is a short documentary exploring the battle around the teaching of African-American history and studies from inside the classroom, focusing on the transformative journeys of the Arkansas teachers, students and families who are part of the very first, inaugural classes of students taking Advanced Placement African-American Studies nationwide.
Director & Producer: Kristal Sotomayor An immigrant mother emerges as a community leader during the historic campaign to end the sharing of the Philadelphia police database with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Expanding Sanctuary tells a rarely told story about a Latinx immigrant community’s successful journey to change legislation and protect families.
Director & Producer: Morgan Mathews Producers: Rashad Mubarak, Aïdah Rasheed, Love Souley, Tristan Daley, Carter M. Stewart As the year concludes for Mohammed Schools of Atlanta, Principal Khalil reflects on the 90 year legacy of his great-grandmother building the first Muslim private school system in the country.
Born with a disability, a young music enthusiast is lured into a life of crime and spends a decade in jail after hanging with the wrong people. He discovers his purpose in jail: to help at-risk youth and prevent them from making the same mistakes he did.
Through the intimate lens of eight Black & Brown Trans, gender-diverse people, and masculine-presenting women, the social concept of gender is challenged.
