The American Civil Liberties Union hosted a panel of filmmakers and other prominent voices discussing impactful storytelling at the Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 25.
The Sundance Film Festival premiered various films and documentaries that touch on sensitive topics in the United States, such as criminal justice, rights for transgender people and banned books. At the panel, Vice President of Impact at 1Community Rachel Cooke represented the union, a national organization that advocates for civil liberties in courts and legislatures.
“Entertainment art has always been there in order to sort of hold a mirror to where we are,” Cooke said. “I think now is absolutely a time for artists of all kinds to stick out their neck and speak to the things that matter.”
The panel featured Chase Strangio, Lin Que Ayoung and Kim Snyder who were all involved with films or documentaries that premiered at the festival.
Snyder directed and produced “The Librarians,” a documentary film that follows librarians defending free access to information and fighting against censorship.
“I thought, ‘This is going to be five days after the inauguration with an issue about censorship,’” Snyder said. “It's really important in that time period, in this moment, that we get together in the combination of community and storytelling around that.”
Snyder noted something a friend of hers said to her — if the government takes books about certain marginalized groups out of schools, it will tell the students of those groups the school does not want them there.
“Our librarians could actually be criminalized and arrested and taken out in handcuffs simply for standing up for our rights and refusing to take books about the little kids you're talking about off the shelf,” Snyder said.
Strangio is the co-director of the union’s LGBT & HIV Project and the subject of “Heightened Scrutiny,” a documentary on media coverage of transgender issues and the impact of transgender legislation.
“We have the power to build collective strength and to transform the world that we live in," Strangio said. “We simply cannot make the change that we need to make if there are not artistic storytelling interventions that will transform the ways that people think about themselves and their relationship with others in the world.”
Strangio recently argued in the U.S. Supreme Court in favor of granting gender-affirming medical care to transgender youth.
“There's almost nothing more theatrical than a court argument,” Strangio said. “The production of the law that controls our lives is in fact a theater in which people are performing, and in which everyone has to confront the idea of what their character should be like in that performance.”
His documentary "Heightened Scrutiny" followed Strangio as he prepared to argue against anti-transgender legislation in the Supreme Court. Strangio said he’s been asked if the Supreme Court can be seen in his film, to which he responded “no” because of how hidden its dealings are from the public.
“Regardless of the story you're telling, there is always something inherently political about choosing to document and hold space in a moment when censorship and the production of sort of powerful narratives is always beating down on you,” Strangio said.
Ayoung co-wrote “Ricky,” a film about one’s life after prison and the complexities of adjusting to adulthood.
She expressed how important it was for the film’s crew to stay true to Ricky’s character and emotions in her film, so the crew interviewed ex-offenders to make Ricky’s personality and struggles as accurate as possible.
“It was very important for us to keep it as real as possible, to make sure Ricky is not this victim because it's not about victimization,” Ayoung said. “It's about atonement. It's about redemption, about second chances.”
In “Ricky,” Ricky entered prison at 15 years old and was released at 30 years old. The crew interviewed an ex-offender who was also put in prison at 15 years old. The ex-offender knew he wouldn’t be able to get a job after being released, so instead he started his own business. Ayoung said this directly impacted Ricky’s character, situation and thoughts.
“There's so much that you can get done through art without even having to speak about it,” Ayoung said.
Cooke discussed the origin of the television series “The Twilight Zone.” Its creator Rod Serling planned to develop a show about social justice issues because of the story of Emmett Till. He created “The Twilight Zone” as a subtle way of addressing these issues and telling the stories of the world.
Snyder said advocacy can move individuals uniquely when it doesn’t seem like advocacy. Because of this, she puts the narratives and the characters first when trying to advocate through a film.
“(Stories) allow you to take that moment to have the catharsis of grief and cry but also sort of regroup and be inspired by certain characters who are at the forefront of resisting it,” Snyder said.
Strangio said he struggled growing up as a transgender individual, and he is now saddened by what the government is taking away from the next generation of transgender individuals.
“It's not just about the trans kid watching and the people who need it, but all of our lawmakers and judges also exist in the cultural ecosystem that we are. Their minds and consciousness (are) being framed by the stories that are able to get out there,” Strangio said. “I believe that the people who are making art have more of an influence on lawmaking than those of us that are advocating in court.”