Learning Through Teaching

The semester just ended at Harvard, where I teach in the Department of Art, Film, and Visual Studies. This was definitely an experience unlike any I’ve had in more than twenty years of teaching, since it involved leading a new course – Social Justice Filmmaking – entirely online.  My teaching fellow Keisha Knight (who is also Artistic and Managing Director of Sentient.Art.Film) and I had 10 students in 3 continents across 15 times zones. Our department had to ship cameras and microphones to many of them, and smartphone kits to others when we ran out of professional cameras. (I’m incredibly fortunately to teach at an institution that has the resources, and the commitment to equity, to actually ship gear to students!)

The course considered filmmaking as a means to explore social justice. Students learned how to conceive, shoot, and edit digital videos; screened examples of successful works; and met with accomplished social justice filmmakers (over Zoom, of course… not as good as the real thing, but the format enabled us to bring folks like Deborah Esquenazi, Joshua Oppenheimer, and Brett Story who might have been impossible to bring in person). Working individually and in small groups, our students created films on a range of topics, all the while scrutinizing their role as makers responding to the complex demands of aesthetics, ethical representation, and social impact.

I learned so much about teaching through this new format, and from our incredibly engaged, talented students – whom I have yet to meet in person! They made films ranging from a search for ancestral knowledge about the stars and sky by an Afro-Indigenous student (London Vallery’s Da Bon Lalinn, pictured above); an immersive investigation into noise pollution in Chelsea, Massachusetts; a tender film poem about a father’s exodus from Belfast following The Troubles; and a stunningly cinematic visit with fishers following the eel migration in Italy’s Po River valley.

The essay format proved to be perhaps the most adaptable to a pandemic, in allowing filmmakers to incorporate a range of whatever materials they can manage to acquire – observational footage, in-person or Zoom interviews, found footage, staged scenes, audio fragments – around a carefully considered theme.

The constraints of the 2D classroom gave me a real lesson in how to accomodate different learning styles, make maximum use of time through simultaneous and small-group work, and provide flexible instruction such as pre-recorded technical videos students can watch and re-watch on their own as needed. As always, I find I learn as much as my students do!

A Violent Act Prevented

We now have a documented case of at least one violent act – possibly a homicide – that the Circle Up documentary helped prevent. After one of our recent workshops at a large urban high school, in which dozens of students and staff “circled up” to watch the film and talk about restorative justice, a school social worker asked film participant Clarissa Turner if she could speak to an upset student.

 “The social worker had been working with this young man for many months and didn’t know what else to do,” says Clarissa, whose son Marquis was murdered in 2011 on the way to visit his son. “This young man was tensed, he was hurt, he was angry. His color was red.” He had been in an escalating confrontation with a rival gang member who lived across the street from his home. After many months of clashes, he was tired of fighting and had begun to speak of getting a gun and ending the situation.

 “Before I give any talk or speak with someone, I always pray and ask God to guide my tongue,” Clarissa explains. I want to be able to give my testimony in a way that can help others.” She introduced herself to the young man and began to explore the situation with him, asking whether there was anyone who knew both sides and could mediate. “I let him know that I see his pain – he was just so exhausted with this situation. I also asked him, ‘What do you want to do in the future, what do you want out of life?’ He spoke highly of himself and had lots of dreams. I told him, ‘Give yourself a chance to do that – don’t allow the streets to cheat you of that.’

 “That was our conversation – just birthing in life, decisions, the control and power he has over his choices,” she continues. “We are here to prevent, to plant seeds, to educate on the value of life. So people can think before they do their actions. Because him taking that young man’s life could cost him his life, either through retaliation or incarceration. And I know how that feels to lose.

 “Our conversation gave him tools. And finally he said, ‘I don’t know what I’m gonna do, but I’m not gonna do that.’ He was a different kid after that.  His color came back, he was smiling. It brought me to tears when I extended my hand to say goodbye and he gave me the biggest hug.

 “I have been transformed a great deal from doing this work,” Clarissa says. “We bring our true selves and share our testimony – and so many people’s lives have been changed by Circle Up.”

 Clarissa Turner founded Legacy Lives On, a non-profit ministry to support families that have lost loved ones to homicide or street violence.

America ReFramed Broadcast & Stream

CIRCLE UP will have its broadcast premiere on May 14 at 8pm (7pm CT / 9pm PT) on public television’s award-winning America ReFramed series. Check local listings for details.

Viewers can also stream the film for free here through June 28..

Here’s an interview filmmaker Julie Mallozzi completed for the broadcast:

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your film.

I’m an independent documentary filmmaker based in the Boston area where CIRCLE UP takes place.  I’m of mixed heritage – Chinese and Italian-American and with influences from Native American, Hispanic, and Dutch cultures from various life experiences – and that has fueled my interest in the way different cultures mingle and intersect.  And in how some traditions can be “repurposed” outside of their original context to address social issues.

How and why did you become interested in the topic of restorative justice?

I have long worked for social justice in my filmmaking, through both my documentaries and the 100+ short media pieces I have created for community organizations over the years.  I learned about restorative justice about 12 years ago when I found out about peacemaking circles, an indigenous tradition that helps restore balance when harm has been done.  I was intrigued that this Native American tradition was being used in multi-cultural settings to resolve conflict and build community.  That launched my research for this film and my growing understanding of restorative justice more broadly.  Now I’m a true convert!

You are a local, Boston-based filmmaker. How did your relationship with the community give you a unique insight into the story?

It made a big difference to live near my film subjects because it enabled me to spend a good deal of time with them before starting to film, to film over a long period, and to stay in close contact during the editing process.  This was the first time I had made a film with survivors of trauma.  I learned a lot about what it might mean to do “restorative filmmaking.”  Janet, Clarissa, and the other people in the film watched many cuts and their feedback truly shaped the final film.

When did you develop a relationship with Janet?

I met Janet in 2012, after five years of (part-time) research into peacemaking circles.  I had flown all over the country observing and filming restorative justice programs and then one of my advisors introduced me to Janet, who lives 10 minutes from my house.  I was so struck by her personal story of healing and justice – and her impact on the wider community.  I knew she would make a great subject for the film.  And now she has become a good friend.

After enduring such a brutal tragedy, what gives Janet the strength to do the work she does?

Janet is one of the most amazing people I have met.  She somehow had it in her to not only forgive the men responsible for her son’s murder, but to turn this tragedy around into healing for herself and her community.  I'm not exactly sure where that strength comes from, but I know that when she sees positive change it helps her get through the tough times.  She has told me some stories about things that happened to her as a child and how she tried to turn difficult things into something positive – so maybe it’s just part of her spirit.  At the same time, Janet is always resisting being labeled as a hero or an angel.  She thinks that anyone can do restorative justice work and live their life in a restorative way.

Are there any updates about Janet, Clarissa, or any of the other women in the film since you stopped filming?

Janet and Clarissa are both doing really well.  In fact, they just returned from a second trip to New York City with CIRCLE UP.  The first one, in February, was to present the film as part of a professional development event for a group of principals, social workers, and restorative justice coordinators from 20 different high schools.  This week was to visit show the film and hold restorative circles for students and staff at schools in Brooklyn and the Bronx.  I know that anniversaries, birthdays, and holidays are still hard for Janet and Clarissa - as it is for all survivors of homicide victims - but they tell me that when they do this work it feeds their souls!  “We can’t bring our sons back, but we can bring them forward in everything we do."

How do you hope your film will help other survivors of homicide?

“Homicide doesn’t come with any directions or instruction manuals,” Clarissa often says.  After her son was murdered, she felt so shaken and angry and alone that she reached out in the darkness for others who had experienced the same loss.  This initial group of survivors of homicide victims became Legacy Lives On, which is featured in CIRCLE UP.  I hope that the film helps her survivors find community so they can get through those very dark moments.  I also hope it helps people find other paths to justice where the criminal justice system might fail. It’s not possible to bring back a stolen life.  But there are ways that a person, a family, a community can be made whole again.  If CIRCLE UP can help one person recover from trauma, or prevent one act of revenge violence, then all of my years of work will have been worth it

On the Road to Social Impact

By Genevieve Hunt

As damp, gray clouds blanketed mile upon mile of Massachusetts’s farmland, I drove CIRCLE UP film subjects Janet Connors and Clarissa Turner to meet our filmmaker Julie Mallozzi for two screenings in Brooklyn and Manhattan. We had scheduled two events in one day: the first a restorative justice professional development for the NYC Department of Education and the second a screening at New York Law School for what would be an audience of over 200.  The long hours in the car –  stuck in traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge and praying our GPS would not lead us astray – were a wonderful opportunity for me to spend with Janet and Clarissa. Janet kept my boredom at bay with stories of growing up Irish-American in Dorchester. From the back seat, Clarissa plied us with enough snacks to feed her six children back home in Boston.

I had been looking forward to this trip because it is always a wonderful experience to watch our film with an audience and get their feedback in a face-to-face setting. As an impact coordinator for CIRCLE UP, my job is to find the audiences who want to change our society’s way of thinking about harm and punishment and will use our film as a tool to drive that impact.  I write hundreds of emails inviting teachers, school administrators, faith leaders, college professors, probation officers, lawyers and judges because they have the ability to impact how justice is served in their communities.  I set up trip logistics and drive our film subjects to screenings where they lead circles and panel discussions.  I make sure the connections work for Skype conversations and the visual and audio equipment is ready. All the work is worth it because I’ve seen the power of CIRCLE UP move audiences from distraught teens to judges with decades of experience in a stressed and unforgiving criminal justice system.. I learn so much about how the film could be used by various audiences, educational institutions and social justice organizations to spread the work of restorative justice in the US.  People come up to me with tears in their eyes pushing scraps of paper at me with names of contacts they insist need to see the film. They tell me about a time when they forgave someone for something unthinkable or when they themselves were forgiven for a transgression they’ve committed and how it changed their life. 

No matter how many times I see CIRCLE UP, I learn something new. I watch the faces of Janet and Clarissa and think about how courageous and loving they are to share something so painful over and over again so that others can learn that forgiveness is possible. During this trip, it was wonderful to hear one educator in a restorative circle share how much staff and teachers needed to hold support circles for each other so that they could adopt a restorative mindset in the classroom. Later that day, I felt tears prick the back of my eyes as I watched a group of law students gather excitedly around Janet as if she were a rock star. “Mama J” gathered the group in her arms for warm hugs and photos. I listened to Clarissa gently explain to the astonishment of several law school professors how her faith in God lifted her up and prompted her suddenly to blurt out to her son’s killer in court that she forgave him. As always, seeing these two extraordinary women share their experiences with others has an uplifting effect on me.  

In the weeks following our trip to NYC, more high schools, churches and law schools are contacting us, wanting to share CIRCLE UP as an example of what restorative justice truly looks and feels like with their educators and students as they begin building or refining their own restorative justice programs. I look forward to getting out on the road again across America to meet people who gather in schools, courtrooms, prisons, churches, and colleges, hoping to hear about an alternative path to justice based on restoring wholeness to individuals and communities.