Dear Friends,
I hope that you are managing to stay healthy and balanced during the challenges of the COVID-19 outbreak. I feel very grateful for the tireless work of medical personnel and the sacrifices made by hourly workers to slow the spread of the disease. Since many of us are stuck at home, I wanted to share opportunities to stream some of the film projects I have been involved with in the past few years.
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In honor of the tenth anniversary of the BP oil spill, America ReFramed is offering a re-broadcast and free stream of My Louisiana Love starting March 24 at 8pm EST. The film traces Monique Verdin’s quest to find a place in her Native American community – the Houma Nation – as it reels from decades of environmental degradation. In overcoming the loss of her house, her father, and her partner, Monique must redefine the meaning of home.
I found it a transformative learning experience to co-produce and edit My Louisana Love with Sharon Linezo Hong and Monique Verdin. I hope the film's reprisal will further expose how policies shaped by the oil industry wreak havoc on the Delta ecosystem and the survival of the local indigenous cultures. In addition to the limited free stream, the film can be purchased for educational use through Berkeley Media or Vision Maker Media.
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The social justice distribution co-op New Day Films is offering free 14-day streams of many of our films through June 1 to help with online learning efforts. This is a good chance to see Circle Up if you haven't already. The film has screened in hundreds of schools, churches, prisons, courthouses, and even legislatures to help people experience what restorative justice looks like. At least one act of violence – possibly a homicide - has been prevented by the film and its eloquent participants. Read more in this story with Clarissa Turner.
We have removed passwords on my older films to enable free streaming through June 1: Once Removed, Monkey Dance and its follow-up Dance Family, and Indelible Lalita.
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You can also check out our most recent community video, Hidden Pain, which screened for over 40 legislative staffers at the U.S. House of Representatives on February 12 and for tens of thousands of dental professionals via social media. The piece calls for systemic change to address the impact of inadequate oral health care on tens of millions of Americans. Further screenings for policymakers, dentists, hygienists, dental and public health students, and community leaders are planned by the Jon C. Burr Foundation, which commissioned the video.
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I am excited to be co-creating a new documentary with Emma Meyers, a final-year neurology student at Harvard Medical School, which will explore the use of non-ordinary states of consciousness in healing across different cultures. The film will present a series of immersive treatment sessions for modalities such as meditation, hypnosis, psychedelics, holotropic breathwork, and drumming-induced trances.
In my role at Harvard University’s Film Study Center – including overseeing the Critical Media Practice secondary field for PhD students – we have transitioned to online learning for the remainder of the semester and eagerly await a return to normalcy on campus and in our lives.
Wishing all of you the best during these difficult times,
Julie
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