TIPPING POINT

PORTLAND THEATRICAL PREMIERE

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE BY MIC CRENSHAW

In 2020, following the M**der of George Floyd, the largest civil rights protest in recent history erupted worldwide during a global pandemic. Portland, Oregon, became the focus of media attention for its protests and demonstrations against systemic racism and police brutality. TIPPING POINT is a documentary film that captures the first 90 days of the Portland protests. Told through the individual stories of Portlanders on the ground, Tipping Point humanizes the struggle while allowing Portland’s story to serve as a mirror to the rest of the country – the past that brought us here and the future we must choose.

Willamette Week wrote that Tipping Point reaches for a “deeper, depoliticized look at the city’s spotlight-grabbing reckoning” through compelling interviews by Julianne R. Johnson and gorgeous footage captured by director Jon Meyer. It creates an opportunity for members of the Portland community to examine the recent protests through the perspectives of local protesters, police, activists, live-streamers, historians, and civil rights advocates, in a way that goes beyond the mass-media representation of tear gas, flash-bangs and people screaming.

While shuttered by COVID-19, THE OLD CHURCH CONCERT HALL (TOC) was focusing on presenting virtual programming in keeping with its mission to produce programs that reflect and enhance the cultural life of the community. During this time, one of TOC's artist partners, local filmmaker Jon Meyer, was on the streets capturing the protests for weeks following the death of George Floyd. Julianne Johnson, the moderator of TOC’s social justice program WE CAN LISTEN, collaborated with Meyer to develop a program about the Portland protests for the WE CAN LISTEN series. An early work-in-progress of the film was streamed in November 2020 to an international audience of over 10,000. In 2021 the documentary grew into a feature film and in 2022 made its way onto the film festival circuit. Tipping Point had its worldwide premiere at the Social Justice Film Festival in Seattle, WA where it won the GOLD prize for Best Documentary and Best in Fest.

Most of the footage for Tipping Point was captured by the director, Jon Meyer, as he showed up night after night to witness the Portland protests, and the perspective comes from wherever he was standing at a given time. Along the way, people volunteered their time to be interviewed to record this vital document. As word spread about the project, live-streamers and photographers offered their work to be used in the film. The documentary was shaped by feedback from a national council of BIPOC activists, filmmakers, producers, sociologists, historians, artists, writers and educators. Then a few generous donors offered funds to help cover the start-up costs of making the film.

Funds raised at the Portland premiere this June 15th will bolster efforts to make Tipping Point widely available online. No one involved in producing this documentary will receive profits or royalties. Any profits will be distributed to benefit BIPOC-owned and operated businesses and organizations in the Portland community.

Directed by Jon Meyer. Co-produced by Julianne R. Johnson. A WE CAN LISTEN Production, in Association with Some Serious Business. Executive Producer TOC.

tippingpointfilm.com

Host or Publisher Alberta Abbey