The Film
THE FILM
(2017, 75 min). Directed by Catherine Gund. DISPATCHES FROM CLEVELAND is a feature-length documentary in five parts that closely examines the city of Cleveland, Ohio, one of the most racially divided cities in America, in the wake of the police murder of 12-year-old Tamir Rice. The film follows ordinary people – long shaken by police misconduct, social discrimination, and poverty – whose love for their home pushes them to work together to bring about real change.
“I didn’t ask to be a leader... they made me a leader when they killed my son,” Samaria Rice explains, referring to the death of her 12-year-old son, Tamir, at the hands of the Cleveland police department in November 2014. The case received national attention, and the country watched as Prosecutor Timothy McGinty refused to hold police accountable and indict the police officer who shot young Tamir. Samaria continues, “Prosecutor McGinty didn’t advocate for me and he covered up for the officers.” This case and the pushback from the prosecutor’s office galvanized the citizens of Cleveland to band together to successfully unseat him in the next election.
This film presents a nuanced examination of a national movement in a way only documentary film can – focusing on an individual location and decisive characters during a crucial year. Spanning the 2015 Movement for Black Lives to the 2016 Republican National Convention, the film weaves together the experiences of people using varied strategies to achieve similar goals, such as impacting down-ballot races. Depicting the intersecting movements in Cleveland, the film highlights that lasting change will come from prioritizing the lives of those most marginalized. Jamilah King, in her coverage for Mic.com, cites that in cities like Cleveland “transforming the criminal justice system through affecting local elections has proven to be an important strategy.” Cleveland is the pulse of a nation and a potential harbinger of what is to come throughout the country.
Also available as as an episodic series on DVD, DISPATCHES FROM CLEVELAND was featured at the Cleveland International Film Festival, Minneapolis Film Festival, Frameline Film Festival, and Chicago's Injustice For All Film Festival where it won a Special Recognition Award for Feature Films.
The Film
THE FILM
(2017, 75 min). Directed by Catherine Gund. DISPATCHES FROM CLEVELAND is a feature-length documentary in five parts that closely examines the city of Cleveland, Ohio, one of the most racially divided cities in America, in the wake of the police murder of 12-year-old Tamir Rice. The film follows ordinary people – long shaken by police misconduct, social discrimination, and poverty – whose love for their home pushes them to work together to bring about real change.
“I didn’t ask to be a leader... they made me a leader when they killed my son,” Samaria Rice explains, referring to the death of her 12-year-old son, Tamir, at the hands of the Cleveland police department in November 2014. The case received national attention, and the country watched as Prosecutor Timothy McGinty refused to hold police accountable and indict the police officer who shot young Tamir. Samaria continues, “Prosecutor McGinty didn’t advocate for me and he covered up for the officers.” This case and the pushback from the prosecutor’s office galvanized the citizens of Cleveland to band together to successfully unseat him in the next election.
This film presents a nuanced examination of a national movement in a way only documentary film can – focusing on an individual location and decisive characters during a crucial year. Spanning the 2015 Movement for Black Lives to the 2016 Republican National Convention, the film weaves together the experiences of people using varied strategies to achieve similar goals, such as impacting down-ballot races. Depicting the intersecting movements in Cleveland, the film highlights that lasting change will come from prioritizing the lives of those most marginalized. Jamilah King, in her coverage for Mic.com, cites that in cities like Cleveland “transforming the criminal justice system through affecting local elections has proven to be an important strategy.” Cleveland is the pulse of a nation and a potential harbinger of what is to come throughout the country.
Also available as as an episodic series on DVD, DISPATCHES FROM CLEVELAND was featured at the Cleveland International Film Festival, Minneapolis Film Festival, Frameline Film Festival, and Chicago's Injustice For All Film Festival where it won a Special Recognition Award for Feature Films.
Our Team
Our Team
Our Team
Catherine Gund
Director/Producer
Catherine Gund, the Founder and Director of Aubin Pictures, is an Emmy-nominated producer, director, writer, and activist. Her media work focuses on strategic and sustainable social transformation, arts and culture, HIV/AIDS and reproductive health, and the environment. Her films - which include Chavela, Dispatches from Cleveland, American Rhapsody (in progress), Born to Fly: Elizabeth Streb vs. Gravity, What’s On Your Plate?, A Touch of Greatness, Motherland Afghanistan, Making Grace, On Hostile Ground, and Hallelujah! Ron Athey: A Story of Deliverance - have screened around the world in festivals, theaters, museums, and schools; on PBS, the Discovery Channel, and the Sundance Channel.
Gund’s most recent project, Chavela (Berlinale, Hot Docs, Ambulante), is centered around exclusive interview and performance footage of Mexican chanteuse Chavela Vargas shot in 1991, and guided by her unique voice, the film weaves an arresting portrait of a woman who dared to dress, speak, sing, and dream her unique life into being. Her other film Born to Fly (SXSW, Full Frame, PBS) pushes the boundaries between action and art, daring us to join choreographer Elizabeth Streb and her dancers in pursuit of human flight. She lives in NYC with her four children.
Gund currently serves on several boards including Art For Justice, Art Matters, and The George Gund Foundation. She co-founded the Third Wave Foundation which supports young women and transgender youth, and DIVA TV, an affinity group of ACT UP/NY. She was the founding director of BENT TV, the video workshop for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender youth. She was on the founding boards of Bard Early Colleges, Iris House, Working Films, Reality Dance Company and The Sister Fund and has also served for MediaRights.org, The Robeson Fund of the Funding Exchange, The Vera List Center for Art and Politics at the New School, and the Astraea Foundation. An alumnus of Brown University and the Whitney Independent Study Program, she lives in NYC with her four children.
Daresha Kyi
Producer
Daresha Kyi is an award-winning filmmaker and television producer with over 25 years in the business. After working in the New York City independent film community, she decided to attend film school and became a member of the scholars program at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts where she graduated with a degree in Film & TV. She also won a full fellowship from TriStar Pictures to attend the Directors Program at The American Film Institute (AFI) based on her multiple award-winning short films. She wrote, produced, directed and co-starred in Land Where My Fathers Died with Isaiah Washington. She also served as executive producer of the award-winning short, Thugs, The Musical! starring David Alan Grier and Margaret Cho. Most recently she was a field producer on Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell, story producer on La Voz Kids (Telemundo's The Voice for children), and the writer for the weekend morning talk show Arise & Shine, hosted by Richard Pryor's daughter, Rain. A natural born story teller, Daresha has produced television for WE, AMC, OXYGEN, E!, BRAVO, and FUSE among many others. She is also currently co-directing and co-producing Aubin Pictures' Chavela.
Stephanie Wang-Breal
Consulting Producer
Stephanie Wang-Breal has been producing and directing films and commercials for the past 13 years. She directed the award-winning feature length documentary, Wo Ai Ni Mommy (I Love You, Mommy). The film was nominated for an Emmy®, and was the recipient of three Grand Jury Best Documentary Awards at the AFI/ Discovery Silverdocs Film Festival, the Asian American International Film Festival and the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, as well as a 2011 CINE special Jury Award. The film had its national television broadcast in 2010 on the award winning PBS series POV. Stephanie’s second feature-length documentary, Tough Love, premiered at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in April 2014 and premiered on PBS POV in July 2015. Stephanie has also directed pieces for Verifone, Tiffany’s, Apple, Goldman Sachs, UNICEF, CNN, MTV Networks. Stephanie currently sits on the board of the New York Women's Foundation and resides in Brooklyn with her husband, son & daughter.
Laura Tatham
Associate Producer
Laura Tatham hails from the world of book publishing, having spent five years working in both the corporate (Simon & Schuster) and non-profit (Feminist Press) sector. In that time, she worked on multiple New York Times bestsellers, as well as Lambda Literary and Pulitzer Prize winning works. She has experience in marketing, publishing, as well as film and book production. She has a background in literature, having earned a Master’s degree in American Literature from Drew University in 2009. Laura is also associate producing Aubin's Chavela. Laura resides in Jersey City with her loving partner and cat.
Laura Pilloni
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER
Laura Pilloni has been working on feature-length and short form documentary and narrative film projects such as Front Cover (2015) and Kingdom Of Shadows (2015) since 2013. Most recently she was an associate producer for the upcoming women and human rights documentary, Home Truth. Keeping in line with her work on these impactful films, she was very excited to become part of such an innovative and socially conscious production company when she joined the Aubin Pictures team.
Laura graduated summa cum laude from the City College of New York (CCNY) where she received a BFA in Film and Video Production. She worked as a tutor and administrative assistant at the CNNY Writing Center for four years. She was also a mentor and videographer at Hofstra University's Documenting Diversity program. In her spare time, Laura enjoys working as an assistant director on short films, reading, and watching films.
Advisory Table
SOUND DESIGNER
Dr. Marlowe "Mauly" Taylor is the lead sound designer at Studio 76 and a native of Cleveland. He is a Distinguished Alumni from Ohio University, where he received an MFA from the School of Film, in addition to completing PhD work there and teaching classes at Cleveland State University. DJ Mauly has earned certified RIAA multi-platinum honors as well as certified gold achievements. He has mixed sound for over 43 films, including The Bronze (2015), Draft Day (2014), The Kings of Summer (2013), Alex Cross (2012), and worked with numerous artists including Chuck D of Public Enemy, Bone Thugs & Harmony, Snoop Dogg, and Buck Cherry.