The Walnut Street Synagogue in partnership with Women in Film & Video New England and the Boston Latino International Film Festival are proud to present “Tikkun Olam/Sanar el Mundo,” a film series & roundtable virtual event.
This film series focuses on and celebrates how an act of healing, no matter how small, contributes to Tikkun Olam-Sanar el Mundo, healing and repairing the world. Immediately following the screenings there will be a roundtable discussion with the filmmakers.
Our films and roundtable discussions with the filmmakers are free to attendees. The films are available in both English and Spanish (captions).
Please RSVP for any or all of the films. The links to the screenings and to the discussions will be sent the week before the event.
Register on Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tikkun-olamsanar-el-mundo-film-series-tickets-139313665925?aff=ebdssbonlinesearch
Sunday, February 28 at 3:30pm
Decade of Fire
directed by Vivian Vázquez Irizarry and Gretchen Hildebran
Throughout the 1970’s, fires consumed the South Bronx. Black and Puerto Rican residents were blamed for the devastation even as they battled daily to save their neighborhoods. In DECADE OF FIRE, Bronx-born Vivian Vázquez Irizarry pursues the truth surrounding the fires – uncovering policies of racism and neglect that still shape our cities, and offering hope to communities on the brink today. Vázquez Irizarry, in her role as the film’s central character and co-director seeks not only healing for her community, but to redeem them from the harmful mythology spread by the media that has continued largely unchallenged to this day.
Discussion with Vivan Irizarry and Gretchen Hildebran, moderated by Sabrina Aviles, featuring special guests Roseann Bongiovanni and Maria Belen from GreenRoots in Chelsea directly following the screening at 5:00pm.
An educator and facilitator, VIVIAN VÁZQUEZ IRIZARRY, ran educational and youth leadership development programs at the Coro Foundation, Bronxworks, and is currently the director of community-school partnerships at the New Settlement Community Campus. Vázquez Irizarry managed educational youth development models in GED completion and college access programs across New York City. A former member of the National Congress for Puerto Rican Rights, she is a member of 52 People for Progress, a community organization that saved her childhood playground and revitalized the South Bronx for the last 35 years.
GRETCHEN HILDEBRAN is a documentary filmmaker and editor whose work lives at the intersection of politics, policy and human experience. Credits include: WORTH SAVING (2004), which was presented in HBO’s Frame by Frame showcase; OUT IN THE HEARTLAND (2005) which explored anti-gay legislation in Kentucky. A 2005 graduate of Stanford’s documentary program, Gretchen shot Ramona Diaz’s THE LEARNING (2011) and has edited for the History Channel, PBS and the United Nations Development Programme, as well as on independent documentaries. Gretchen has also made a series of short documentaries used to educate communities across the country about life-saving interventions such as needle exchange and overdose prevention.
This program is supported in part by a grant from the Chelsea Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.