About
Arresting Power: Resisting Police Violence in Portland, OR
$21,565
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Arresting Power has been in production for over two years, born out of frustration from witnessing decades of police misconduct, demands for change, and hollow responses from the city government. As media artists and community activists, we have spent time in meetings, on the front lines of protests and behind cameras and microphones collecting stories of local police issues for the past 15 years. Arresting Power is the culmination of that work.
We see Arresting Power as a living document. It is a film that will be used as a tool for teaching and organizing. Our goal for this project is to shed light on the the struggle for police accountability in Portland and to inspire dialog that will affect real change in the city.
WHAT WE HOPE TO DO NOW:
This project is already 95%
complete. We have spent over two years conducting research, collecting
interviews, shooting supplementary footage, and editing the final film.
We will finish post production in early November. Our next step is to pass it along for professional
color correction and sound mixing.
We were recently given access to Oregon Historical Society’s film
archive, where we collected archival newsreel of local
meetings, marches and documentation of community resistance from
the 1960s, 70s and 80s. The rate to use this footage is $6 per second. This campaign will enable us to access this incredible resource.
Finally, the film will premiere at the Northwest Film Center in Portland, Oregon in January 2015. We will then distribute the film and screen it at national and international festivals, universities, libraries, activist spaces and other community centers. This requires funds for DVD duplication, outreach, shipping and travel fees.
We need your help to cover the last remaining costs of creating this important document. As we have seen in the last few years, the problem of police violence is only getting worse in this country. The safety of people on the margins of society- poor people, people of color, the unhoused, people with mental health issues, queer and other non-gender conforming individuals- is something for which we all must take responsibility.
This film has been our way of standing up against a force that seems overwhelming at times, in order to invigorate hope, inspire dialog and demand change.
Arresting Power- Resisting Police Violence in Portland, Oregon provides a historical and political analysis of the role of the police in contemporary society and the history of policing in the United States. It provides a context for the systemic racism in Portland, with its history of exclusion laws, racial profiling, red-lining and currently active gentrification practices.
It also provides a historical outline of resistance movements that have been active throughout the past 50 years, from the Portland Black Berets and Black Panther Party to police observation organizations like Portland Copwatch and Portland Community Liberation Front.
Most importantly, the film explores alternatives to the current system of policing and considers strategies for keeping communities safe from harm without the threat of constant surveillance and ubiquitous violence.
Arresting Power consists of three subject areas: Memorial Stories, Community Stories and Resistance Stories.
Memorial Stories feature interviews with the families of people who were killed by Portland police. These stories serve as memorials to dignify these individuals who were most likely stripped of their dignity by the mainstream media.
Community Stories are a collection of interviews with people who have survived intimidation, racial profiling and brutality at the hands of the Portland police.
Resistance Stories offer a historical overview of organizing efforts in Portland which have been effective at building community support and creating change within city government and the police bureau. Resistance Stories introduce viewers to community leaders and organizations including Walidah Imarisha, author of The Oregon Black History Timeline, JoAnn Hardesty and Rev. Dr. LeRoy Haynes of the Albina Ministerial Alliance Coalition for Justice & Police Reform, Dan Handelman from Portland Copwatch, and Kent Ford, founder of the Portland Chapter of the Black Panther Party.
We appreciate you taking the time to learn about this project and hope that you will consider helping us make it a reality.
Thank you!
Risks and challenges
This is a very low risk project at this stage. We are 95% finished with the documentary, and will have the project edited before we are finished with this campaign. We are only lacking the funds to pay for the acquisition of archival footage, professional post-production and DVD duplication fees.
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Funding period
- (38 days)