Make a Circle Documentary

Winner of the 2024 DocLands Audience Award, MAKE A CIRCLE follows a group of child care providers who are determined to change how our society values the education of its youngest citizens. With a mix of humor, outrage, and passion, MAKE A CIRCLE captures the unfolding stories of Patricia, a leader of the California child care workers union, as she fights on behalf of a largely immigrant workforce; Charlotte, another union member who tirelessly lifts up the low-income families in her care; and Anne, the director of a large preschool, who finds novel ways to value and support her teachers when jobs at Starbucks are offering higher pay. Within their stories are interludes that offer a cinematic window into the unique, imaginative world of the young children in their care. The film culminates as thousands of child care union members march on their state capitol demanding better working conditions, just as their contract is set to expire. Weaving together the magic they create in the classroom, the struggles they endure at home, and their tireless activism for their profession, MAKE A CIRCLE is a moving portrait of life as an early childhood educator and a promising blueprint for fixing our broken child care system.

Please join the filmmakers and early educator film participants for an engaging Q&A around supporting our youngest Californians at the beginning of their educational journey.

Host or Publisher ECE Department and Old Firehouse School