22 Fillmore Immigration Stories

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project description

"22 Fillmore Stories" is a 10-minute film produced as part of a socially engaged multimedia performance art intervention. In direct response to proposed anti-immigration legislation HR4437, the three of us (dom brassey, Ariana Schoellhorn and Lee Manansala) spent 36 hours: (Saturday) recording personal immigration stories from San Franciscans whom we encountered on and along the 22 Fillmore MUNI line, (Sunday) editied these stories into a 10-minute "instant movie," and (Monday) screened the finished film (via LCD projector and guitar amplifier) onto the outdoor wall of Congregation Sha’ar Zahav, a Jewish temple accessible to a public streetcorner near the Mission District’s Dolores Park (and visible from the 22 Fillmore line). After each screening of the 10-min film, we stopped to to publicly discuss with viewers some legal and cultural implications of this anti-immigrant bill in our “nation of immigrants.”

*This project is also known as "Immigrants aren't felons."

[ - - - GUERILLA SCREENING + SIDEWALK PARTY - - - ]
Where: Ourdoors, Corner of Dolores + 16th St. (San Francisco)
When: Monday, May 8 - 8pm to whenever the battery runs out or the Po tells us to disperse!
Why: Because HR 4437 is a racist, capitalist proposition that criminalizes immigrants -- and that sucks!
[ - - - FREE, ALL AGES, BYOB! - - - ]

Artist's Statement

We hope that by presenting a diverse collection of immigration narratives encountered in a familiar and local context (the 22 Fillmore bus), we can encourage you to recognize yourselves and your families in the immigrant population currently under attack by H.R. 4437 (the Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005).

Please read a summary of the legislation to gain an understanding of the drastic potential impact of this amendment to people working in our economy, living in our community, and contributing to our society.

This project (interviews, film, and sidewalk screening) is dom and Ariana's final project for SPCH 780 (Graduate Seminar in Performance Art, Communication, and Culture), With Dr. Amy Kilgard, San Francisco State University, Spring 2006. Read the course description: http://www.sfsu.edu/~bulletin /courses/31810.htm