kick out the jams
international Premiere
Image • Tony Hardmon
Detropia
American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs
2012 • 1hr 55mins • USA 9pm • Thursday 6 March • Mercury Cinema
A film by Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady This once-grand Motor City is now almost a ghost town. The schools are being closed down, the work has moved off-shore, the residents are being asked to leave, and the empty houses are being demolished. But some have stuck it out, refusing to give up, and insisting on upsizing their city, once again. This film introduces you to several of these fighters - a young blogger, a union representative, inspired artists and a gang of illegal scrappers. They share their own interpretation of Detroit’s problems - and Detroit’s opportunities.
2013 • 1hr 47mins • USA 7pm • Friday 7 March • mercury Cinema
Against all the odds, it is these people who are ever hopeful for their city - for a new identity. They are the instigators of change. As onlookers around the world remark, ‘that could never happen to us’ this film provides an answer to the underlying question, ‘are we resilient enough to reinvent ourselves if it did?’ “The most moving documentary I have seen in years.” The New York Times “It’s elegiac, beautiful and quietly devastating.” New York Magazine
A film by Grace Lee Over the course of her life, Grace Lee Boggs has spent a lot of time thinking. And she plans to do a lot more. She would advise us all to do likewise. It’s powerful stuff. Aside from thinking, Grace has dedicated more than seventy years to the African American movement and is a staunch activist for labour and civil rights in Detroit. This enthralling and brilliant 97 year-old, has lived in the Motor City for over 50 years. And the city’s plight has propelled Grace into fifth-gear.
Through her ideas, writings and belief in the power of conversation, Grace is leading local minds to think imaginatively and critically - to find a different way forward, to make an actual change. Grace is the quintessential revolutionary. She believes transformation begins with oneself – and it’s this transformation that has the capacity to transform the world. American Revolutionary provides us all with a moment for self-evaluation. Are we all actually living life? Are we making a difference? Are we taking a stand? And if you answered, ‘no’, then Grace will inspire you – to think, act, and be the revolution.
Burn
Grown in Detroit
2012 • 1hr 31Mins • USA 9pm • Saturday 8 March • Mercury Cinema
2009 • 1hr 5mins • The Netherlands • © 2008 filmmij 6pm • Sunday 9 March • Mercury Cinema
A film by Tom Putnam & Brenna Sanchez Vanishing industry and racial tension has seen almost half of Detroit’s population make an exodus over the past 50 years. Left standing are some 80,000 deserted structures and a harrowing framework of declining city services. This film follows the footsteps of Engine Company 50 of the Detroit Fire Department, one of the busiest firehouses in America, and the newly appointed ‘out of town’ Detroit Fire Department Commissioner.
Burn is a portrait of the hardworking men and women who are faced with crippling equipment shortages, the politics of the City Council and the DFD – and are struggling to hang on. The film is a study of leadership, a story of spirit and belief in a city worth saving. It is a story of change and adaptation. Burn is an intricate film with an energetic, visual style. It is a passionate homage to a group of inspiring and altruistic individuals – the firefighters.
All films are classified R18+ unless otherwise specified
A film by Mascha & Manfred Poppenk Emerging from a by gone auto industry and decaying urban environment, this hometown of mass production is turning green - one crop at a time. Self-ingenuity and education are rewarding a new generation of Detroit residents with a livelihood to support themselves and their families. Vacant lots are being reclaimed as urban farms. The almost extinct bee population is flourishing. The city is
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kick out the jams
‘greening’ itself from within, creating opportunity and hope. This is the story of a city rising from its demise. Of community gardening evolving like never before. How the dawn of the urban farmer is fixing those broken windows and putting life back into those abandoned buildings. Set inside the Catherine Ferguson Academy for Young Women, Grown in Detroit is poetic and inspirational - and it might just leave you wondering if we too need to take over the city.