Cinema Orange presented by Newport Beach Film Festival and Orange County Museum of Art

ALICE STREET

Expired February 22, 2021 7:45 AM
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Two Oakland artists, Pancho Peskador, a Chilean studio painter, and Desi Mundo, a Chicago-born aerosol artist, form an unlikely partnership to tackle their most ambitious project to date, a four-story mural in the heart of downtown Oakland. Their site is situated at a unique intersection where Chinese and Afro-Diasporic communities face the imminent threat of displacement and gentrification. Prior to painting, the mural faces numerous obstacles:complex negotiations with profit-minded property owners, satisfying a community of diverse residents, and resolving the artists’ own aesthetic conflicts.


As the mural takes shape on the wall, Oakland’s unique cultural legacies come to life through historical flashbacks. Past exclusionary policies replay themselves in the present as gentrification threatens to uproot long-term residents. The mural is fraught with its own challenges. A disgruntled neighborhood resident launches a vendetta against the artists, unleashing a blizzard of letters to city officials and newspapers. Simultaneously, the property owner of the mural site schemes to demolish it and construct the city’s largest luxury condo.Nonetheless, Desi and Pancho conclude the mural with great fanfare and a vibrant celebration.


Three months later, news comes that another forthcoming condominium development will obscure the mural, which has become a source of neighborhood pride. Despite last-ditch opposition to the condominium, it receives city approval, effectively dooming the mural.Meanwhile, the city unveils its urban planning process for the downtown district. Ultimately displaced, the mural becomes a spark for the community to rally to protect cultural arts, and coalescing the community resistance to gentrification.

  • Year
    2020
  • Runtime
    67 minutes
  • Language
    English
  • Country
    United States
  • Director
    Spencer Wilkinson
  • Producer
    (Consulting) Eric Arnold, Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi & Kathy Leichter
  • Executive Producer
    Endangered Ideas & 1852 Media
  • Co-Producer
    Desi Mundo
  • Cinematographer
    Demondre Ward, Ayse Gursoz & Spencer Wilkinson
  • Editor
    Jon Ayons Alonso & Spencer Wilkinson
  • Sound Design
    James Berek (Hearfilm)
  • Music
    Micah Berek