(light music) (dramatic music) - Welcome to TvFILM, I'm Amani Olugbala.

TvFILM showcases the talents of upstate New York media makers across all genres.

This episode is comprised of four short films.

The first two are directed by activists in the City of Troy's Movement for Black Lives.

"They're Getting Away With Murder" tells the story of how Edson Thevenin, an unarmed Black man, was murdered by a Troy police officer.

The second film, "Flowers 4 Black Lives," documents the action taken by the community on the fifth anniversary of Edson's murder.

"They're Getting Away With Murder" is directed by Damaris Miller.

- Where we're at with the animation is that we have produced a clip of part one, it's a five-part film.

My dream is that this film can be a rallying cry, not just for folks in our local area but nationally, because there are so many stories like Edson's.

- And when you see all these incidents, one after another around the country, you must have to then think about your son's death, as well, right?

- Exactly, the only difference with just one and all the others is my son's death was not videotaped.

It wasn't in social media.

But if it was videotaped, the way French murdered my son, it would have been the same thing.

(dark electronic bass music) Like when he passed away, people from the neighbors, they were coming up to me and telling me what Edson had done for them.

He said, "One time, I was waiting at the bus stop "with my son and I missed the bus, "and your son was driving by and gave us a ride."

"Edson helped me with the car, my car broke down."

So he was doing all that in the neighborhood but not one time did he talk about what he was doing.

(dramatic orchestral music) He's a helper.

He's always helping people.

- Wow.

- He will stay on the phone with a cousin and talking, but that's the kind of person he is.

He was just that loving, mentoring, trickster.

All in one.

(soft haunting electronic music) (dramatic orchestral music) (car engine softly starting) - On that night when Edson was pulled over, the content of his character was not seen.

The only thing that was seen was the blackness of his skin.

(sirens loudly wailing) (soft ominous bass music) (glass loudly shatters) (glass loudly shatters) (gunshots loudly firing) (soft ominous bass music) (woman softly exhales) (soft somber keyboard music) - This is what we need.

We need justice to be done.

No more killing of our people.

None, we're done!

- No!

(crowd cheering and applauding) - To our children, who represent the hope and promise for tomorrow.

- Ashay.

- For our elders, for whom we learn much.

- Ashay.

- 'Cause it's not just about Edson's death.

My son is gone, I cannot have my son back, But we've got to prevent this from happening to other families, so the suffering, the pain.

You know, people go home and they go about their business, but we are left with the pain, to deal with the ache that they left behind.

(soft hip hop instrumental music) - There's a deep connection between over-policing and gun violence.

And we're having these discussions in Troy.

- The city's argument that Sergeant French was absolutely within his power is not supported by much of the other evidence that has been gathered in this case.

- We are intergenerational movement and we are going nowhere.

- There's a tremendous need for us to create places for them to go, safe havens, nurturing places.

- We remember them.

Their deaths are not in vain.

To all those we lost, we say- - Ashay.

- And to all those who dared to stand up for our dignity, who dared to fight, we remember them.

We remember all those that have fallen to the scores of police violence and terrorism.

We remember all those who have been the victims of the state.

That's why we stand here today, to let them know that we are here to fight for them, that we are here to fight for justice.

And that we remember them, and their lives will not be in vain.

- It's the five-year anniversary of a dear brother, who because this city lynched, has brought us together.

The police department in this city lynched a man, a person, a father.

His name is Edson Thevenin.

And today is his fifth year anniversary.

And to Edson, to Thaddeus Faison who was killed in 2015, to Ayshawn, the 11-year-old who we lost last year, and to all the names of those known and unknown, whose bodies have been taken from us by a government who approves it, a system that is okay with killing Black bodies.

From Breonna Taylor to Tony McDade, to the young boy in Chicago, Adam Toledo.

Call them, and to them we say, "Ashay."

- Ashay.

(soft tranquil music) - So tired of saying family members' names, man, 'cause the same thing going on here in Troy is the same thing going on in Minneapolis, the same thing going on in Boston, the same thing going on in Orlando.

We are no different.

But what's the difference?

We out here really to put, all honesty, we put our lives in danger.

We putting our lives in danger, 'cause we going against the system.

The government is supposed to protect you.

They are supposed to protect you, not take your life.

(crowd softly shouting) (tranquil electronic music) - I stand, for Black lives.

I stand, for Black lives.

- So every time that we are out here and they do something, they just got $900,000 for what?

For what?

New cruisers, new gear.

They got everything in there to do what?

Harass the community with it.

They take our money to help harass us with it.

- The reason why there is gang violence in our community is because they ain't give us no jobs.

- Ashay!

- They ain't give us no way.

- Ashay!

- There ain't no way out!

(tranquil electronic music) So if we dig it up by the root, and study to show ourselves improve, we can make a difference in each and every one of these cases.

(crowd chants softly echoing) (tranquil electronic music) - Whose streets?

- Our streets!

- Whose streets?

- Our streets!

- Whose streets?

- Our streets!

- Whose streets?

- Our streets!

- Whose streets?

- Our streets!

- Whose streets?

- Our streets!

- Whose streets?

- Our streets!

- Whose streets?

- Our streets!

- Whose streets?

- Our streets!

Our streets, our streets, our streets!

- Come on, come on!

- Whose streets?

(crowd loudly cheering) Whose streets?

Whose streets?

- Our streets!

- Whose streets?

- Our streets!

- Serve in the light.

We love them.

They here with us right now.

(tranquil electronic music) - The power always been in the hands of the people.

It is only when the people cry out and stand up and say enough is enough.

It is then that the changes take place.

It is time for us to stop being told when we are to meet, how long we are to meet, and what we are to talk about.

It is crime for us to move and to be where we choose to be, speak out when we need to speak out, (cheering drowns out speaker) bend for the Troy Police Department where the criminals aren't locked up and continuing to violate the rights of the people in the city.

- Why, because they had their time, we're E203.

They had their time to show that they was really willing and committed to listening to us in this community, and what'd they do?

They said that systematic injustices does not happen in the City of Troy.

They said the system of racism, white supremacy does not exist in Troy.

We need to come up in numbers.

We need to be seen continuously everyday to be crying out daily!

Enough is enough!

(crowd loudly applauding) We will not allow to (crowd drowns out speaker) We will not allow to treat the police.

We will not allow any police dignity until they are to understand this is our city and enough is enough!

(crowd loudly applauding and cheering) You're either doing right, or you're not gonna do it at all.

It is not gonna be on their terms, it is done on our terms.

It is our city!

We pay the salaries of the police department.

You pay for everything, every car they drive, every bullet they shoot, every gun they have, and they're gonna tell you what you will and won't do?

That doesn't make sense.

- No!

- No!

- It is time.

(tranquil electronic music) (soft piano music) - The next film showcases a community collaborative public mural project, which amplifies the voices of local young artists of color in the wake of peaceful protest, unrest, and riots across the country.

Amplified voices is by Jeanette Lam and artist, Jade Warrick.

- Hi, my name is Jeanette Lam.

I'm a filmmaker and educator at Youth FX.

We're a film organization based in the south end of Albany, designed to teach young people of color storytelling skills.

- My goal is to have youth of color and folks of color in general be able to feel validated and have their voices heard through art.

- I feel like our mission just like really aligned with Jade's mission, and I think it's just been like a very beautiful collaboration.

(bell loudly chiming) - Voice, empower.

No judging.

Feeling.

Connecting.

Super power.

(dramatic hip hop beats) So when we come here, We're talking about things that really matter.

We're talking about things that hurt people.

We're talking about things that help people.

- Having an art community for people of color and youth of color specifically is a huge gap that Albany seems to miss a lot.

"Amplified Voices" was kind of fueled by passion and anger.

Passion for me wanting to help in my community, anger at white artists kind of gentrifying spaces that I thought should be upheld for Black artists, considering that this is a civil rights movement involving mostly Black people and people of color.

- Arts and crafts is what we think arts is in school.

But healing and wellness is the most important aspect of teaching art.

How do we communicate what's going on in our head?

How do we express what we're feeling?

- With the workshop that I facilitated, I really wanted to kids to generate their own ideas.

So I asked a lot of questions, what is an activist?

What is an artist?

What is poetry?

I wanted them to like reach out into their imagination with language and have the language kind of ground them in what messages we wanted to convey in the mural.

- You can see a hand coming out of the ground and this is like telling us we have to make the world different before people make it different in their own way.

(bright hip hop beats) - If you're speaking on behalf of a community, maybe they should be included in the conversation too.

Everyone had a part in the community of saying what the mural was gonna be.

Every aspect of the mural has an intention.

- The roots leading up to Black freedom and those roots having words.

- What about people who just passed due to the movement and stuff like that?

Where like a cause of movement, kind of like- - Different areas.

- George Floyd, and stuff like that.

- Yeah.

- Everything that the adults are saying in these riots and these protests, these children were also saying it.

This is their neighborhood, and there are a lot of political and social issues that are going on that can be overshadowed by adults.

You don't have to be an adult to be an activist.

(soft hip hop beats) - I've been through a lot in my young age.

Whenever I was like not in the mood to talk to anybody, I'd be able to express my art on paper.

Black freedom means to me, no matter what color, race, you should be able to walk around the streets without having to be threatened by police.

- I would like my community to know about me and people like me is that we're all our own people and we're all strong in what we do and to not judge a book by its cover.

- People think kids are too young to know anything and that they don't really know that much about stuff that's happening in the world.

But like, we really do.

I think it's important to amplify young Black and brown voices because we have a lot of important things to say and people could learn from what we say.

- When people see the mural, I really want them to feel hope.

Without hope, there can be no change.

Without hope, people give up and we can't give up right now.

What we need to do is keep fighting.

- I think having something like this may be a breath of fresh air.

I hope all these kids go away feeling that their lives matter and that they could use art as a device for activism.

- If I ruled the world, I'd be the girl that I was meant to be.

I'd care for more than what's right in front of me.

- I would make it so people can express themself as much or as little as they want.

- I would change the things that set us apart.

I would make a difference with my art.

- I would want no one to be judged for what they do, look, or act.

- I'd speak with the voice God gave me in the body in which he shaped me for those who came before me and the kids who couldn't afford to.

- Everyone would be happy, not worrying about what they are doing.

- I'd make my mama proud by helping the crowd.

I'd rid the world of hate in hope that things might change.

- There would be laughter and happiness if I ruled the world.

(soft hip hop beats) - Our final film for today, "Discarding Earth," is a meditative look at abandoned and uninhabited places.

Director Michael Chernoff explains.

- This film is a documentary of constructs that are in the process of being geological formations.

We've made an impact and the stuff that's, the stuff is returning to the earth.

The progress of these locations is not done.

It is going to keep progressing whether we are or aren't noticing it.

(cars softly rustling) (metal softly clinking) (rain softly tapping) (birds softly chirping) (motorbike softly rustling) (cars softly rustling) (wind loudly rustling) (rain softly tapping) (cars softly rustling) (cars softly rustling) - Learn more about the films and filmmakers in this season of TvFILM at wmht.org/tvfilm and be sure to connect with WMHT on social media.

I'm Amani Olugbala.

(dramatic orchestral music) - TvFILM is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State legislature.