Join us for a screening and conversation about the militarization of American police forces.
Beginning with on-the-ground protests in Ferguson, Missouri, in the wake of the fatal shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown by a police officer, Craig Atkinson’s documentary Do Not Resist examines the impact of post-9/11 policies that have steered military artillery into American cities and towns. Intense and unsettling, Do Not Resist exposes ways that public policy impacts police action. 2016, DCP, 73 minutes. Winner of Best Documentary Feature at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival.
A discussion with director Craig Atkinson, Congressman Keith Ellison, ACLU-MN legislative director Benjamin Feist, and Black Lives Matter Minneapolis cofounder Mica Grimm follows the screening.
Cinema of Urgency is programmed in partnership with Full Frame Documentary Festival.
About the Speakers
A multifaceted documentary filmmaker, Craig Atkinson is a producer, editor, and cinematographer. Most recently, Craig was a cinematographer on the documentary Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You. He also produced and was the co-cinematographer on the documentary Detropia, a lyrical exploration of the city of Detroit, which premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and won the Editing Award for US Documentary along with 10 additional awards and honors worldwide. Craig was also a cinematographer on The Education of Muhammed Hussein, a short documentary exploring the Muslim population in the Detroit area, which was made for HBO and short-listed for an Academy Award. Craig holds an MA in Visual Media Arts from Emerson College.
Rep. Keith Ellison has represented the Fifth Congressional District of Minnesota in the US House of Representatives since 2007. The state’s most vibrant and ethnically diverse district, it includes the City of Minneapolis and the surrounding suburbs. Ellison’s philosophy is one of “generosity and inclusiveness.” His roots as a community activist and his message of inclusivity through democratic participation resonates throughout the Fifth District. As a member of the House Financial Services Committee, he helps oversee the nation’s financial services and housing industries as well as Wall Street. Ellison also serves on the House Democratic Steering & Policy Committee. His priorities in Congress are promoting peace, prosperity for working families, environmental sustainability, and civil and human rights.
Benjamin Feist is the Legislative Director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota (ACLU-MN). In this role, he directs and manages the ACLU-MN’s overall legislative strategy and serves as the organization’s lobbyist at the Minnesota Legislature. Prior to joining the ACLU, Feist practiced law in both the public and private sectors, focusing on the areas of complex litigation, consumer protection, and immigration law. He is a former assistant attorney general with the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office and worked for two US Congressmen at their Minnesota district offices. He received his BA in Political Science from the University of Minnesota and his JD from William Mitchell College of Law.
Mica Grimm is an artist, organizer, and cofounder of Black Lives Matter Minneapolis hailing from the Southside. Her work combines the natural world with the abstract to construct what she envisions as the universe residing within us all. Grimm utilizes protests, rallies, and dance parties as subverted space to fuel the revolution, moments seeking an interstice to freedom. She spends her days influencing public policy, building new coalitions, and writing legislation on police accountability. Grimm is the statewide racial justice coordinator at MPIRG and a board member for the nonprofit Voices for Racial Justice. All of her work is grounded by the notion that self-love is a revolutionary act, community is not strictly bound by area, and freedom lies within our innate ability to connect with one another.