This collection of 7 documentary shorts highlights the efforts and accomplishments of Southerners who are coming together and rolling up their sleeves to challenge, combat, and reform systems which no longer serve them. In Alabama, a mechanic with a PhD from Berkeley takes a stand against capitalism in his own garage; in Texas, the Briggle family must contend with a far right government to defend their child’s right to gender affirming healthcare; and in our very own Orange County, NC, social workers, police officers, community leaders, and individuals living without shelter use their voices to illuminate the growing crisis of affordable housing. We hope you leave this block enlightened and inspired by the work your neighbors are already doing in city halls, community centers, and backyards all around you.
A Q&A with filmmakers will follow the films. This event is now sold out, but tickets for our other events are available here.
This film block is sponsored by the Inter-Faith Council for Social Service.
Boundless (5:32)
Jennifer Carreon, a Chicana from the Texas border, is working to reshape the Texas criminal legal system. She is a bridge between system-impacted communities of color and legislators.
The Mutual Aid Garage (13:45)
A portrait of Zac Hyden, a car mechanic with a PhD from Berkeley, who opens a mutual aid car repair shop in Prattville, AL to counterbalance the systemic failures of Alabama's car culture.
Boca Chica (13:52)
Access to beaches is a public right in Texas. But for an untamed stretch of beach called Boca Chica, that right is curtailed when SpaceX takes flight. Boca Chica uncovers this fight for free access for its longtime visitors.
Benthic Salvage Triptych (2:58)
Created with material salvaged from streams feeding into the Mississippi River, this film shows how humans impact fresh water. Debris and trash appear in unique ways over three different video channels.
Love to the Max (13:01)
Max Briggle is a 14-year-old transgender boy in Texas. He and his family are fighting to stay together and live authentically in a hostile political climate.
Welcome Home? (17:01)
This documentary shows the crisis of affordable housing in Orange County, N.C., through social workers, community leaders and police officers, as well as those who have been and are currently living without shelter.
Cashing Out (39:28)
At the height of the AIDS crisis, many gay men—unable to work and with few months to live—sold their life insurance policies to investors for quick cash. CASHING OUT charts the rise and fall of the billion-dollar industry that grew out of their desperation, and spotlights one of its earliest investors: the filmmaker's father. A gay man, director Matt Nadel reckons with the "AIDS death profiteering" that is his inheritance, connecting with survivors who help him understand why this industry came to be.