Directed by Cheryl Fabio • Documentary • 2023 • 93 minutes
Seen primarily through the eyes of women and children of color living through housing insecurity in California's Alameda County, A Rising Tide aims to identify how and why homelessness occurs.
The film juxtaposes the perspectives of various stakeholders affected by the "affordable-housing industrial complex," capturing the adversity faced by homeless families in Oakland and exploring the plight of service providers and social workers on the frontlines of the housing crises.
In the Bay Area minimum wage employment doesn't afford families—particularly those of color—the basic necessities for raising their children in decent housing with childcare, food, transportation, and adequate health care. The consequences of this deprivation increase wildly when homelessness is prolonged due to systemic failures and policy-based deficiencies.
Ultimately, A Rising Tide aims to shift the narrative, challenging a commonly held misconception—including by some professionals working on affordable housing solutions—that unhoused individuals are all addicts or suffering from mental health issues. It also asks what considerations should be addressed to serve the unhoused when cities and counties are planning new housing.
Up Next in African-American Docs
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Anthem (Marlon Riggs)
Directed by Marlon Riggs • Documentary • 1991 • 8 minutes
Marlon Riggs' experimental music video politicizes the homoeroticism of African-American men. With images—sensual, sexual, and defiant—and words intended to provoke, Anthem reasserts the self-evident right to life and liberty in an era of...
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CodeSwitching: Race & Identity in the...
Directed by Mike Mascoll • Documentary • 2020 • 54 minutes
An educated citizenry is said to be the backbone of democracy and a crucial bulwark in an increasingly interconnected and hyper-competitive world. Brown v. Board of Education and the Civil Rights Act helped weave equal education for all ...
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Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien
Directed by Marlon Riggs • Documentary • 1992 • 38 minutes
Through music, poetry and quiet, at times, chilling self-disclosure, five positive black gay men speak of their individual confrontation with AIDS, illuminating the difficult journey black men throughout America have made in coping with ...
