Independent documentary film shorts from Midwest filmmakers

Guaranteed in Gary follows a guaranteed income experiment in Gary, Indiana, where residents receive a gift of $500 per month for a year. The G.I.V.E. program is designed to reduce household stress and create the mental space to imagine new pathways to life goals. The experiment confirms that poverty isn’t a lack of character; it’s a lack of cash. One recipient, Augustine, is inspired to return to school at age 67 in this short documentary funded by Firelight/PBS’s Homegrown initiative.Premiering at the 2023 Cleveland International Film Festival.

Guaranteed in Gary

The Black Mr. Rodgers is a documentary film that follows the work of Joseph Williams, who is the Founder and Executive Director of a Chicago based organization called Mr Dad's Father's Club. Joseph's organization aims to keep fathers active in their children's lives by going into the classrooms and having fathers from the community read to the kids. Often seen reading books to the children in a red cardigan, he was given the nickname "The Black Mr. Rodgers". This film documents Joseph's journey to enrich his community while also highlighting his rough upbringing, and current struggle to keep his program alive.

The Black Mr. Rodgers

This film documents Joseph's journey to enrich his community while also highlighting his rough upbringing, and current struggle to keep his program alive.

Jeffrey "Hot Sauce" Maxwell works for God. For the last twenty odd years Jeff has dedicated his life to those at the bottom of the proverbial totem pole. Traveling in and out of the city’s most dangerous neighborhoods, the Chicago Englewood native is on a mission. One he believes will be his last. The Stones That the Builders Rejected follows Jeff’s journey to transform Chicago’s failing Black communities. Pacing himself as if he’s on borrowed time, the fast-talking charismatic founder of the Chicago Peace Initiative oozes authenticity. This works well with his intended audience: Chicago’s violent drill music generation.

The Stones That The Builders Rejected

Within the confines of a Predominantly White Institution, many of the issues affecting underrepresented populations on campus are not acknowledged unless they are brought into the light by a major news outlet, protest, or tragedy. In the hopes of progressing with the student body, many universities in the late 1960s opted for Black cultural centers to help alleviate and address the stressors faced by those students and enacted change on campus to accommodate all students' needs better. At Ball State, this became the Multicultural Center. Once created, the platform would allow underrepresented student populations the funding and support to vocalize their needs and enact a cultural shift of positive progress in an academic setting.

The Only Alternative: Exploring the Black Experience at Ball State

Black alumni from 5 different high schools (Star Spencer, Douglass, John Marshall, Millwood, Northeast) enter the world of rowing for the first time as they compete in the inaugural “River Bowl Classic" at Riversport OKC.

Water Is A Different Ball Game

IT'S A MIDWEST THING: DOCUMENTARIES

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