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GW’s new film club is topical and timely

By Sarah

Many of you know that before my Groundwork days, I directed and produced a documentary called “Tracking Patagonia.” I’ve long envisioned a return to documentary projects during my spare time away from Groundwork.

Fun fact: I love coworking for the same reason I love documentary film— that it fosters connection among and between people.

We’ve tried in vain to get a monthly film event happening here in the physical space of Groundwork, but it never quite stuck. And yet, a recent confluence of events has culminated in the auspicious birth of Groundwork’s Tuesday Night Film Club:

  1. The appearance of Mocha James Herrup, PhD, filmmaker, film enthusiast, and member of the current EforAll summer cohort.
  2. A pandemic that forced everybody to stay home so much they got sick of Netflix.
  3. The long-overdue reemergence of a Civil Rights movement here in the USA, sparked by the awful death of George Floyd and now taking the nation (rightfully) by storm.

The film club format is pretty simple: we watch a film at home on our own. Then we gather over a Facebook livestream to discuss the film. The films selected for July are topical to current events and include:

  1. The Prison in Twelve Landscapes: A documentary that explores carceral power outside the penitentiary– a film about prison that never shows a prison. (You can watch the entire film on Vimeo. I highly recommend it.)
  2. See You Yesterday: A Spike Lee film about a child prodigy who goes back in time to save her brother who was killed by the police.
  3. Out in the Night: The true story of four young black women who become known as “The Gang of Killer Lesbians” after fighting back when threatened on the street.
Kicking off the film club with Mocha James Herrup, Cooper T Sealy, and filmmaker Brett Story.

We kicked it off this week with a robust discussion about the Prison in Twelve Landscapes, and the filmmaker herself Brett Story joined us! I was reminded of why I love independent film: most indy filmmakers are so passionate about their work that they will actually take time out of their week to talk to a small group of film nerds in New Bedford.

We are keeping the film club small and intimate– for Groundwork members and their friends– but if you’d love to be involved, send us an email and we will share the details.

Sarah
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