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Radical Love: The Haley House Documentary
A film by Alexandra Pinschmidt
My name is Alexandra Pinschmidt, and I am a 29-year old emerging
documentary filmmaker. I am writing, filming, and editing a documentary
about Haley House and its personal approaches to addressing societal
inequality. Haley House is a "radical" organization, in that it
"gets to the root of" so many overwhelming social issues. Its
programs address poverty and marginalization from a number of different
strategies and levels. This documentary film will artistically and
personally delve into issues of homelessness, marginalization, and racial
and economic inequality. The documentary will also focus on productive ways
of engaging these issues, through economic and social empowerment, fostering
personal relationships and community, and challenging our own beliefs and
oppressive structures in society.
The creation of the documentary will in itself mirror the community-based
ethos of Haley House; it is a participatory project that engages the entire
Haley House community, from the directors and staff, to the guests in the
soup kitchen, vendors of the street magazine, and trainees at the bakery.
The poetry, artwork, and music is all created or performed by people
associated with Haley House, and Bostonian street musicians, thereby
creating an organic, inclusive, and empowering grass-roots community
project. The documentary will also have strong artistic undercurrents of
urban and natural motifs, which evoke the outdoor aspects of being homeless.
Haley House's story is also important to document because of its
connection to the historic Catholic Worker Movement, a non-violent,
progressive social justice movement begun in the 1930s that sought to
challenge structural inequality on a personal level. Although Haley House is
modeled in this tradition, it is uniquely different in that it is a
registered non-profit, and does not exclusively identify as a Catholic
organization. Haley House espouses an eclectic and open spiritual
undercurrent that is inclusive of all beliefs and people.
If you would like to support this effort or have questions, please contact the filmmaker: alipinschmidt@yahoo.com.
View a 7 minute trailer...
MySpace page...
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