25 Oct The Art of Activism

above photo: The 25th Woodstock Film Festival’s Maverick Award winners. Photo by John Mazlish

When we* started 40+ years ago and made the now classic political documentary film When the Mountains Tremble, people didn’t understand the dual synergy of the art of activism. I was often asked and have spent my professional career answering, “Are you an artist or are you an activist?” I’d say, “I’m both.” Like a human rights lawyer who uses the law as a tool to ensure human rights, we use the power of cinema and the universality of storytelling in our practice as human rights defenders.

We know from the full houses we’ve been welcomed by on our national Abrazos Tour with BORDERLAND | The Line Within: there is an audience for art that is also activism. And that includes cinema.

Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! introduced us as the inaugural Art of Activism honorees at the Woodstock Film Festival this past weekend, touching on our body of work and speaking of this critical political moment in the U.S. saying:

“What makes this time bearable is that you have people like Pamela and Paco who are showing us what movements can do, what their possibilities are, and it takes sometimes a very long time. They’ve been here for a long time documenting the power of resistance, and that really is the hope of the future.”

And as Paco said in Woodstock:

“In the sixties when we were fighting the Vietnam War, Bob Dylan brought us music that rallied us. Was he an artist or an activist? When Picasso painted “Guernica” to denounce the fascists in Spain, was that art or activism? I never saw the separation. I feel like the work we do is essential, to really change the story. And right now we really need to change the story about immigration.”

Watch this highlight reel of our remarks at the ceremony.

Don’t miss your chance to see BORDERLAND | The Line Within

We are in the last two weeks of The Abrazos Tour- bringing BORDERLAND | The Line Within to communities around the U.S. If you are in Santa Fe, NM, please join us at any of the three daily screenings of BORDERLAND today through next Thursday, October 31st at the Center for Contemporary Arts. We will be participating in live Q&As following the screenings tonight, tomorrow, and Sunday at 6pm.

There are several other ways you can see the film:

• Host a screening: Fill out this form and we’ll be in touch to organize the details
• Rent the film: Anyone can now rent the film for $9.99 on Eventive
• Academic settings: license the film on New Day Films

Please share these links with your networks. Now, less than two weeks from the November 5th elections, we know from talking to so many of you around the country that catalyzing conversations about how immigrant leaders are organizing a powerful movement for rights in the shadow of the border industrial complex is of vital importance.

*When the Mountains Tremble was directed by Pamela Yates and Newton Thomas Sigel and produced and edited by Peter Kinoy.