Short Block | The Path of Resistance

Short documentaries that highlight the strength and courage it takes to break through societal barriers and change lives. These films show how people and communities fight for justice, love, and dignity, each finding their own way forward. Together, they remind us of the resilience of the human spirit to push back, adapt, and create a better future.

Degrees of Freedom | Dir. Aisha X Elliott, Cheryl Wilkins, Kathy Boudin, Jake Ratner | 33 min | Documentary, Short | USA

Degrees of Freedom tells the story -- our story -- of the triumph of women transcending the punishment paradigm. Through archival photos and footage, testimonials, and interviews, the film shows the history and legacy of our successful organizing to build a college program at New York's maximum-security Pr*son for women, after tough-on-crime legislation effectively eliminated higher educational opportunities for incarcerated people nation-wide in the mid-1990s. Within the confines and constraints of the Pr*son, we forged a community of care and developed leadership to make positive change -- behind bars and in the free world when we came home. The film challenges the narrative about who incarcerated women are, and what we can do when we are given the opportunities and resources.

Love Letters | Dir. Greta L. Schiller | 35 min | Documentary | USA

In the winter of 1977, Liz left her husband and four small children at home in Australia and came to New York City on a Fulbright award. There she met Kate, a paradigm-shifting feminist scholar, and they fell in love at first sight. Back then, it was a given that any lesbian mother was deemed unfit to raise her own children. But Liz’s newfound passion and self-discovery gave her the courage to fight for her kids, and for herself. In “Love Letters,” the traditional patriarchal values of the era, in which women and children were seen as possessions of men, collide head on with the newly energized, audacious lesbian feminist movement. The highly charged custody case uses courtroom line-drawing animation and verbatim testimony to tell a dramatic story of social ostracism and personal triumph. This is the story of a blazing lesbian love affair, begun in the revolutionary feminist ferment of 1970’s New York City and still going strong almost 50 years later.

Working Group | Dir. Danny Dacosta | 13 min | Documentary, Short, Student | USA

A dedicated group of university students attempt to connect with custodial workers on campus and find ways to help them in this verite style documentary.

Saw Something, Said Something | Dir. Sriyanka Ray | 15 min | Documentary, Short | USA

In April 2022, New York City made heroes out of the three immigrants who helped the NYPD catch the Brooklyn subway shooter- and then abandoned them. What happens to our heroes after the heroic deed is done?

Host or Publisher Bushwick Film Festival