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Date: Thursday, November 3, 2016
Time: 6:30PM
Location: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Director: Craig Atkinson
Film Details: 73 min, 2016, USA, color, DCP
Film Website | Facebook Event | Tickets
Post-screening panel discussion with Director Craig Atkinson, Rahsaan Hall, the Director of the Racial Justice Program for the ACLU of Massachusetts, William “Smitty” Smith, the Founding Executive Director of the National Center for Race Amity and Segun Idowu Co-Founder of the Boston Police Camera Action Team. Discussion moderated by Lisa Simmons, Director of the Roxbury International Film Festival and President and Founder of the Color of Film Collaborative.
Presented in partnership with the Roxbury International Film Festival.
Winner of Best Documentary Feature at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival
Synopsis:
Starting on the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, as the community grapples with the death of Michael Brown, DO NOT RESIST– the directorial debut of DETROPIA cinematographer Craig Atkinson – offers a stunning look at the current state of policing in America and a glimpse into the future. The Tribeca Film Festival winner for Best Documentary puts viewers in the center of the action – from a ride-along with a South Carolina SWAT team and inside a police training seminar that teaches the importance of “righteous violence” to the floor of a congressional hearing on the proliferation of military equipment in small-town police departments – before exploring where technology could lead the field next.
See the Trailer:
“DO NOT RESIST begs the question—who is it we “protect and serve”? – Human Rights Watch Film Festival
“An eye-opening experience.” – The New Yorker
“Atkinson observes with a passionate eye.” “A brutal statement.” -Indiewire
Director Statement:
In April 2013, I watched the police response in the days following the Boston Marathon bombing in awe. I had never associated the vehicles, weapons and tactics used by officers after the attack with domestic police work. I grew up with the War on Drugs era of policing: My father was an officer for 29 years in a city bordering Detroit and became a member of SWAT when his city formed a team in 1989. What I wasn’t familiar with, since my father’s retirement from the force in 2002, was the effect the War on Terror had on police work. Making this film was an attempt to understand what had changed. Read more…
About the Filmmaker:
CRAIG ATKINSON (DIRECTOR/CINEMATOGRAPHER/EDITOR):
A multifaceted documentary filmmaker, Craig Atkinson is a notable producer, editor and cinematographer. Most recently, Craig was an additional cinematographer on the documentary Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You. Craig also produced and was the co-cinematographer on the feature-length documentary Detropia, a lyrical exploration of the city of Detroit trying to reinvent itself in a post-manufacturing United States. The film premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and won the Editing Award for U.S. Documentary. Detropia went on to win 10 additional awards worldwide and was short-listed for an Academy Award. While in Detroit, Craig was also a cinematographer on The Education of Muhammed Hussein, a 40-minute short documentary exploring the Muslim population in the Detroit area. The film, made for HBO, was short-listed for an Academy Award in 2012. Earlier in his career, Craig was Enat Sidi’s (The Wolfpack, Jesus Camp) assistant editor during 12th and Delaware, an HBO film that takes a compelling look at the ongoing abortion debate in America. The film was an official selection at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. Craig holds an MA in Visual Media Arts from Emerson College.
About the Discussion Panelists:
SEGUN IDOWU (Shuh-gun E-duh-woo) is a native of the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston. He is a 2012 Phi Beta Kappa and Cum Laude graduate of Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts in History. Following graduation, Segun moved back to Boston to serve as intern-turned-legislative-
WILLIAM H. “Smitty” SMITH, Ed. D. is the founding executive director of the National Center for Race Amity based at Wheelock College in Boston, Ma. Smith’s college career began in helping integrate Division I football in the old Confederate South at Wake Forest College. He was profiled in the Sports Illustrated cover story (November 7, 2005) as one of the pioneers who changed the face of college football
Recipient of the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame Award for The Invisible Soldiers: Unheard Voices which aired nationally on PBS and the National Education Association Award for Outstanding Program for Television for the nationally syndicated program The Teller and The Tale Halloween Special, Smith has produced numerous programs for television broadcast and training purposes. In 2000 Dr. Smith led the successful initiative culminating in the Joint Resolution of The Congress of The United States establishing the National Day of Honor for African American and Other Minority World War II Veterans.
Through Smith’s leadership the National Center for Race Amity hosts the annual National Center for Race Amity Conference (http://raceamity.org/) and organized the legislative initiative that culminated December 29, 2015 in Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signing into law Massachusetts Race Amity Day. The bill “Authorizes Race Amity Day To Be Celebrated Annually The Second Sunday in June ” and directs the sitting Governor to issue an annual proclamation to the 351 cities and towns in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In June 2016 the US Senate passed a Resolution designating June 13, 2016 as National Race Amity Day. The request for the Resolution made by Smith to Senators Edward Markey (D) of Massachusetts and Thad Cochran (R ) of Mississippi, who were the co-sponsors of the Resolution.
Under Smith’s leadership the National Center for Race Amity has developed an innovative game, Breaking It Down Towards E Pluribus Unum. The game engages racial dialogues in a non-toxic manner. The game was created to allow lay people to participate in racial dialogues without the oversight of “facilitators”. In October of 2015 Smith was invited by the New York financial services firm Madison and Wall to serve as its chief diversity consultant.
RAHSAAN HALL is the newly appointed Director of the Racial Justice Program for the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts. In this role Rahsaan will help develop an integrated advocacy approach to address racial justice issues. Through legislative advocacy, litigation and community engagement, the program will work on issues that deeply impact communities of color and historically disenfranchised communities.
Prior to joining the ACLU of Massachusetts Rahsaan was the Deputy Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice where his work included policy and legislative advocacy, community outreach, and maintaining a litigation caseload of voting rights, police misconduct and public accommodations cases. Rahsaan headed up the Voting Rights Project that included the coordination of the statewide Election Protection initiatives, voting rights litigation and his prior involvement in community coalitions on redistricting after the last decennial census.
He also served as an Assistant District Attorney for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. A significant portion of his work in the DA’s Office included his time in the Safe Neighborhood Initiative and Senior Trial Units where he prosecuted drug, gang and homicide cases.
In addition to leading the ACLU of Massachusetts’ Racial Justice Program, Hall is a member of Boston Mayor Marty Walsh’s Diversity Task Force. He also serves on the Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation’s board of directors, the Hyams Foundation’s board of trustees, and co-chairs the Boston Bar Association’s Civil Rights and Civil Liberties section. He is also a member of the Massachusetts IOLTA Committee.
Rahsaan is admitted to practice in Massachusetts and the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. He is a graduate of The Ohio State University (B.A.), Northeastern University School of Law (J.D.) and Andover Newton Theological School (M.Div.). He is an ordained reverend in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
The DocYard is an award-winning film and discussion series at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, and which also sponsors special screenings and co-presentations throughout the year. Each screening is a new experience as we connect audiences directly with filmmakers exploring the documentary form through insightful post-screening discussions.
