UC Santa Cruz presents the seventh annual exhibition of thesis films from the Film and Digital Media Department’s masters program in Social Documentation on Wednesday, June 12, at the Del Mar Theater in downtown Santa Cruz.
Eight engaging documentary films will be presented—shot in locations ranging from Africa and India, to Cuba and the Pajaro Valley— beginning at 6 p.m.
Exploring hot–button issues captured across the nation and around the world, this year’s crop of films examines food justice, women's rights, immigration, the criminal justice system, and a bevy of other social and environmental issues.
The filmmakers and several of the main characters will be in attendance and available after the screenings for questions.
Two of the films take a critical look at the criminal justice system in the United States--Comrade Sunshine, spotlights a re-entry program for prisoners in Baltimore, while Ghosts Of March 21 focuses on the underlying contradictions behind a deadly shoot-out in Oakland.
Whose Serengeti? depicts the collision of the vastly different agendas driving development, conservation, and globalization at the site of a proposed highway through the Serengeti National Park.
Vida Diferida (Life, Deferred) tells the coming-of-age story of an undocumented teenager in New Mexico, and Guajiros follows two Haitian students as they explore Cuba’s world-renowned agricultural system.
Growing People portrays the lives of three sisters who reconnect to their heritage through their work on a farm in Hawaii, while Laal Pari: Not A Fairy Tale addresses women’s participation in politics at the grassroots level in rural India.
And Lonche trails two separate food trucks on their daily routines in the Pájaro Valley and Silicon Valley, each dealing with a completely different clientele.
Since its inception in 2005, UCSC’s Social Documentation Program has paired film students with faculty in a wide variety of departments, enabling deep research into film subjects and the roots of complex issues and cultures.
Students in the program have earned grants and awards, distribution of their films, and festival exposure.
For more information and descriptions of the films, go to the Soc Doc web site, email dforsber@ucsc.edu, or call Robert at (831) 459-3445.
