On July 31st B Media teamed up with Canadian video journalist Jesse Freeston and the Portland Central America Solidarity Committee to present an evening of Latin American related short films. The event took place at the Community Supported Everything Guildhall on 16th and Alberta and brought out 30-40 social justice film fans for a night of cinematic enlightenment.
The screening acted as the premiere of B Media’s latest short film, Aqui Estamos y No Nos Vamos, a film produced in conjunction with the Rural Organizing Project documenting the March 5th-9th March for One Oregon immigrant rights bus tour through Eastern Oregon and Idaho, which aimed at mobilizing Latino populations in rural areas to stand up and pressure their representatives for reforms that will improve the lives of migrant populations, specifically the restoration of drivers licenses for undocumented workers. The film acts as both a retrospective of the tour and as a primer for some of the struggles Latino/a immigrants face when they decide to leave their home countries and try to make a living in the US.
Jesse Freeston presented his new film “Revolutionary Medicine: A Story of the First Garifuna Hospital”. The film tells the story of a project to build a free and holistic health care system on Honduras’ Caribbean coast. The hospital itself–the first to be established in Garifuna communities since the Garifuna arrived in Honduras 215 years ago–stands as an alternative to the increasingly privatized national health system. Built, administered, and defended by the communities it serves, the project both represents and deepens the Garifuna focus on solidarity and self-determination.
Community social justice film screenings are always a great opportunity to bring our communities together for the purposes of entertainment, education and discussion, all necessary components of building long lasting movements for revolutionary change. We hope to host at least a couple more community film screenings before summer ends.
Poster for Jesse Freeston, PCASC, B Media event