How can film help us confront — and connect with — our past?
In advance of her JFK Jr. Forum talk, Untying Knots sat down with Ava DuVernay, Academy Award nominee and Emmy award winner, to talk about her pioneering work as a filmmaker and cultural arts leader. Her films, including the latest Origin, 13th, and When They See Us, disrupt false narratives of American history and cultivate a detailed view of the individual people impacted by large oppressive and racist systems. In the episode we discuss her films as an ongoing conversation with the audience, the power of ARRAY (the non-profit narrative change collective she founded), and the inspiration she takes from the life and work of filmmaker Haile Gerima. Through DuVernay’s gorgeous filmmaking, viewers are confronted with our societal past as well as the fullness of humanity required for reckoning and repair.
Notes:
Untying Knots, co-hosted by Nikhil Raghuveera and Erica Licht, explores how people and organizations are untying knots of systemic oppression and working towards a more equitable future. Each episode features special guests and a focus on thematic areas across society.
This podcast is published by the Institutional Antiracism and Accountability Project in collaboration with the Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center.
Music:
Beauty Flow by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5025-beauty-flow
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
About the Institutional Antiracism and Accountability Project
The Institutional Antiracism and Accountability Project believes in working at the intersection of community, academia, and policy to address intellectual and practical questions as they relate to antiracism policy, practice, and institutional change. In order to create and sustain change, the goal of this project is to promote antiracism as a core value for organizations by critically evaluating structures and policies within institutions. The project aims to analytically examine the current field of antiracism with a lens on research and innovation, policy, dialogue, and community involvement.
Our vision is to be a leader in institutional antiracism research, policy, and advocacy, and propose structural change in institutions and media centered on antiracism work in the public, private, non-profit sectors and digital space. This work will focus on researching existing organizations that conduct antiracism training and development while analyzing their effectiveness and promoting best practices in the field. Additionally, we will study the implementation of antiracism work among institutions that self-identify as antiracist and promote accountability structures in order for them to achieve their goals.
About the Ash Center
The Ash Center is a research center and think tank at Harvard Kennedy School focused on democracy, government innovation, and Asia public policy. AshCast, the Center's podcast series, is a collection of conversations, including events and Q&As with experts, from around the Center on pressing issues, forward-looking solutions, and more.
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