“Episode One: Building The Movement” opens with the powerful reminder that “women of color have been the backbone of our communities forever.” An energetic montage of modern American civil rights movements– from women’s suffrage to Stonewall, Black Lives Matter to Standing Rock– brings us to the 2018 midterm elections where a new generation of women of color is ready to take the lead. The documentary goes behind-the-scenes at local rallies, war rooms and church basements, where candidates and organizers embark on the campaign trail. We also witness the unique challenges they face, from well-resourced incumbents to systemic barriers that disproportionately affect black, brown and immigrant communities. As we get to know these women, we see how they do not live “single issue lives” but are each a product of a larger movement– one that is coalition-based, intergenerational and interfaith.

Director Biography - Grace Lee & Marjan Safinia

Grace Lee directed and produced the Peabody Award-winning AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY: THE EVOLUTION OF GRACE LEE BOGGS about the legendary civil rights activist which The Hollywood Reporter called “an entertainingly revealing portrait of the power of a single individual to effect change.” She has been a Sundance Institute Fellow, a 2017 Chicken & Egg Breakthrough Award winner, an envoy of the American Film Showcase and is co-founder of the Asian American Documentary Network. She recently directed and produced two episodes of PBS’ five-part series ASIAN AMERICANS which broadcasts nationally in May 2020.

Marjan Safinia is an Iranian documentary filmmaker whose films examine identity, community and social justice. Collectively her films haveplayed at over 100 international film festivals and been broadcast inNorth America, Europe and across the Arab world. Most recently she produced anddirected work for Google Founder Sergey Brin, the Obama administration, and HillaryClinton’s Next Generation.