Alligator Altar Screening + Panel

Screening of the four-minute short film, Alligator Altar and panel conversation about the fight for our public lands.
About this Event

The short film is a prayer turned immersive experience following Betty Osceola as she speaks with the Creator in the shadow of a migrant detention center built on her tribe’s sacred land.

Betty Osceola is a Miccosukkee elder and activist who has been organizing interfaith prayer vigils outside “Alligator Alcatraz” every single Sunday since the government installed a migrant detention center just a few minutes from her home. Along with pastors and rabbis, she prays for the people who find themselves captive inside the center, and for the closing of the facility that never should’ve been opened in Big Cypress National Preserve.

The image of Betty praying in front of the gates was something that shook me when I witnessed it. I wanted to hear what her prayer sounded like. I wanted others to understand what the Everglades means to the Miccosukee. More than home, it’s also church.

So along with Betty, we made an immersive short film that illustrates environmental holiness in a way that Western cultures can feel.

While the detention center has thankfully closed, the future of this land remains uncertain. Join us at the pivotal moment to come together as a community and talk about potential paths forward, and the land that unites us all.

Agenda

🕑: 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Light Lunch and Welcome
Host: Coral Gables Congregational
🕑: 02:00 PM - 02:05 PM
Screening
Host: Leslie Ramos
🕑: 02:10 PM - 03:00 PM
Panel + Community Conversation
Host: Betty Osceola