Our Projects
A Bridge to Life
About the film:
From celebrated director Chris Farina comes a documentary about the power of overcoming hardship, building community, and remaining resilient.
A Bridge to Life is a portrait of The Bridge Ministry, a Virginia organization transforming the lives of men facing life-threatening addiction. Through job training, psychological support, and spiritual mentoring, the men are given a second chance to reenter society as thriving family and community members.
At the heart of the film is the inspiring story of William Washington, Founder and Executive Director of The Bridge Ministry. After enduring severe childhood trauma and becoming a homeless teenager involved in drugs in Charlottesville, Mr. Washington was granted a life-changing opportunity by a compassionate judge, sparing him from a long-term prison sentence. Now, he is dedicated to helping others overcome the same challenges.
Through its love-first approach, The Bridge Ministry shows a successful alternative to incarceration in addressing our country’s addiction crisis.
Resources:
Educational Resource Guide
Community Engagement & Discussion Guide
Watch the trailer
Under the Wire
About the film:
Pronghorn are endemic to North America and make their home in the high plains and vast sagebrush sea of the American West, and like many ungulate species, their survival relies on the ability to roam freely. They need to be able to migrate across large tracts of ground to avoid bad weather and find food. The North Platte River Valley along the Colorado-Wyoming border is rich with wildlife diversity held mostly in private ownership. The rangelands in this area stewarded by ranchers make ideal habitat for pronghorn and other wildlife species. However, the miles of fences used to keep cattle in pastures are often barriers to the pronghorn and other wildlife’s movements.
This is a story about a community of people working together to improve ranch fence lines, so pronghorn and other wildlife can move freely. It celebrates the wildlife that call the North Platte River Valley home and the people who live and work on this land to protect these animals for generations to come.
Under the Wire is brought to you by Platte Basin Timelapse and award-winning filmmaker, Mariah Lundgren.
Resources:
Educational Resource Guide
Community Engagement & Discussion Guide
Watch the trailer
Voices of Reentry
About the film:
Each year, over 600,000 people return from jail or prison to our communities, where they face countless barriers to employment, housing, and reintegration. The film explores the challenges of reentry and the role communities can play in reducing these barriers. Viewers will hear from four storytellers–George, Shaquan, Sing and Armando–who share portions of their life stories, illuminating the common threads that run through the experiences of many of the over two million people incarcerated in the U.S.
Resources:
Community Engagement & Discussion Guide
Boston Globe article (February 9, 2023)
Voices of Reentry (official website)
Watch the trailer
To The Trees
About the film:
In the heart of Northern California’s enchanting redwood forests, a battle unfolds – not just against corporate greed but for the soul of nature itself. Yet, in the face of climate chaos, the redwoods remain crucial in providing a healthy, stable climate. They symbolize the immense connection between humanity and the natural world while simultaneously capturing more CO2 than any other species. They inspire a deep connection to nature and a call to defend the environment we love. Join us on a journey through the breathtaking ‘To The Trees,’ and be inspired to stand up for the beauty and balance of our planet.
Resources:
Classroom Engagement & Discussion Guide
Take Action for Community Use
To The Trees (official website)
Watch the trailer
Black Disfigurement and the American Hieroglyphics of Race
About the article:
Preface.“I have a duty. This project is both a ballad and an elegy: a ballad for those who continue to fight despite erasure and nonrecognition; an elegy for every slain “rabble rouser,” “outsider,” “radical,” “communist,” “uppity negro,” “black racist,” “criminal,” and “superpredator.” You too, reader, have a duty. You will see images of a young teenager, Emmett Louis Till, torn and disfigured, of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling with blood-soaked shirts, fighting erasure and losing. Please, do not avert your gaze.”
Rodney Spivey-Jones wrote this preface in 2016, just weeks before he submitted his senior project to the Division of Social Studies of Bard College. The senior project—a thesis based on independent research—is required of all Bard students earning their bachelor’s degrees. After submitting it, all students meet with a panel of professors to discuss and defend what they have written. That he did this while incarcerated is not unusual; the Bard Prison Initiative (BPI) ensures that students meet the same standards and earn the same degrees that they would outside of prison. However, his senior project panel was unusual in that it was filmed by director Lynn Novick and producer Sarah Botstein for their documentary College Behind Bars. As the filmmakers screened the film around the country, and then once it aired on PBS, he began receiving requests: people wanted to read his project. Many wrote letters and posted tweets asking for a copy of Messianic Black Bodies. His article, which was originally printed in the ALine Journal, offers a condensed version of what is featured in the documentary.
Resources:
Classroom and Community Discussion Guides
Untold Stories of Roanoke Valley Veterans
About the film:
This film serves to bring to light the voices and stories of six Roanoke Valley Veterans. Through their personal stories, the film explores the following six areas: entering the service, in the service, exiting and after the service, services offered and utilized in the Roanoke area, relationships between veterans and the local civilian population, and any final thoughts they may have desired to share. From stories ranging from what it was like to be a woman in the military to being a firefighter in Korea during the Vietnam War, this film captures and preserves for future generations not only their individual stories, but also what it is like to be a Roanoke Valley Veteran in general.
Resources:
Classroom and Community Guides
My Name Is Moe
About the film:
Longing for acceptance, socially awkward high schooler Moe has little connection with his peers. Every day, for hours at a time, he finds himself staring in the mirror internalizing the labels others put on him. As his self-judgment intensifies and his depression worsens, his friend invites him to a party. Terrified of being singled out, Moe must decide: Will he go to the party and face his fears?
My Name Is Moe is a fictional short film which subtly explores complex issues around mental health, eating disorders, social anxiety, verbal harassment and family dynamics.
Resources:
Discussion and Engagement Guide
Hard Road of Hope
About the film:
Once the home to the rise and reign of King Coal, West Virginia is now in the crosshairs of a transition of power: from coal to gas. In the midst of this ecologically violent shift, communities are being ripped apart physically, economically and emotionally. Hard Road of Hope examines the tumultuous past of the third poorest state in the nation, and amplifies the voices of West Virginians who are struggling to survive while fighting to protect their home. Filmmaker Eleanor Goldfield interviews many Appalachian-area activists including Paul Corbit Brown (President and Chair, Keepers of the Mountain), Chad Cordell (Coordinator, Kanawha Forest Coalition), and Jen Deerinwater (Executive Director, Crushing Colonialism). These activists are working to preserve the environment they love, and the resources their community needs to survive: clean water, air, and the plants and animals they farm and consume.
Resources:
Classroom Resources
Hard Road of Hope (official website)
Watch the Trailer
