This is a bittersweet reflection on urban change. As Whiskey Gulch counts down to demolition, the film moves through street and storefront gathering testimonies, some definite and some ambivalent. Former Mayor Sharifa Wilson notes the tremendous economic and essential benefits that are to come. Eddie from West Sounds talks about supplying CDs to incarcerated young men who grew up here and says finding a new place for himself will be like pie in the sky. A last glance at a community in the process of vanishing. Features fluid, evocative editing by noted editor/filmmaker Maureen Gosling. Photographed and produced by Michael Levin for TheatreWorks for Education.

Producer: Michael Levin
Running Time: 19 Minutes
Source / Filmmaker Bios

This personal documentary follows Won Choi, owner/operator of House of Wigs in Whiskey Gulch, through the eyes of her niece, Elizabeth Choe. The film shows the close bonds that have developed over a quarter century between Won Choi and her customers, primarily African American women. House of Wigs becomes more than a store as the deeply religious Won prays with her customers and offers counsel and solace for the problems they bring her. In the age of the globalized franchise, “Her Promised Home” reminds us, in Won’s words, that “Its not just business and money, its people, really.” Produced by Elizabeth Choe for Pacifica Community Television.

Note: we are fortunate to have a special Whiskey Gulch photo-collage poster as an addition to this program. Local photographer Mickey Shanabarger has taken two types of imagery -- architectural large negative shots of storefronts and photojournalistic portraits of small business owners and nonprofit staff and clients – to create a 3 ft. by 4 ft. Whiskey Gulch poster that will be on display throughout the Festival.

Producer: Elizabeth Choe
Running Time: 55 Minutes
Source / Filmmaker Bios

"Horror comes to the hood" in this all-local production. But "Freddy vs. Jason" east of Bayshore this is not. The rappers, artists, actors and musicians making up the creative team were perhaps a little too carried away to make a proper exploitation film. This self-described "horror comedy" hurdles down a plotline of supernatural revenge, but takes radical tangents into other dimensions of East Palo Alto. Not to be missed! See the most East Palo Alto film ever made at the EPA Premiere! Written and directed by Teodros Hailye.

Producer: Teodros Hailye
Running Time: 55 Minutes
Source / Filmmaker Bios

This Bill Moyer’s classic is a portrait of seven African-American men in East Palo Alto who meet weekly to help each other in the process of recovery from addiction. They talk frankly as they address the other issues that become caught in the web of substance abuse: family, anger, racism, love, sex, self-worth and others "Recovery doesn’t happen in isolation," says one member. "No one does it alone." Features David Lewis, who went through his recovery to go on and help others as co-founder and board chair of Free at Last recovery. Produced by Tom Casiato for Bill Moyers’ Public Affairs Television, Inc.

Producer: Tom Casciato
Running Time: 57 Minutes
Source / Filmmaker Bios

Priya Haji, Free at Last co-founder and first Executive Director, was a young Stanford student when she met ex-convict David Lewis while doing AIDS outreach in East Palo Alto at the height of the AIDS epidemic. From this unlikely start, David and Priya, along with Vicki Smothers and other residents, went on to found Free at Last, a recovery center with the philosophy “in the community, for the community, by the community.” This short film accompanied a tribute to Priya. In the film her colleagues David and Vicki tell the story of how Priya led a decade-long effort across many barriers to take an agency with “two employees and a pay phone” to national recognition as a model of community-based recovery. Produced by Michael Levin for Free at Last’s 2001 Courage to Change Award Dinner.

Producer: Michael Levin
Running Time: 9 Minutes
Source / Filmmaker Bios

Ten years after “Circle of Recovery,” Bill Moyers follows up with David Lewis, who now speaks and trains nationally on overcoming addiction and the inevitable cycles of incarceration that follow. We see David’s success with Free at Last and his own personal success in reconciling with and supporting his son. With the number of Americans in prison approaching two million – now the highest number for any country in the world – and an enormous share due to substance abuse, David Lewis continues to speak at prisons around the country to show that there is a way out of drugs and the prison system. Produced by Kathy Hughes for NOW with Bill Moyers. This is a 20-minute segment from a 60-minute edition of NOW.

Producer: Kathy Hughes
Running Time: 20 Minutes
Source / Filmmaker Bios

These two films provide snapshots of East Palo Alto in 1990 and 1996. In 1990 economic development had not yet gotten off the ground, but by 1996 it was beginning to start to move forward, even though benefits were still years away. Now the effort has taken giant steps forward with the Ravenswood 101 shopping center and especially the recent opening of IKEA.

Community activist Bob Hoover has spoken of East Palo Alto creating what he calls a “quality community,” “a community that works for everyone,” that still take many more years of effort and of patience. In different ways this struggle is grappled with everyday, whether it be as large as opening an IKEA, a the new clinic or a charter high school, or as small one neighbor making the effort to talk to another about a mutual concern. The two films show different stages of this struggle and confirm that really significant change has been made in East Palo Alto but that much more stills needs to come about. In the words spoken by the late community leader Ed Becks at the end of “Dreams of a City:"

“Struggle, that’s what life is about. And when you stop having struggle, you stop having life. The pursuit of happiness doesn’t give you anything but some track shoes and a course to run on. So that’s what we’re doing. That’s what we will be doing. That’s what what I’m doing.”

New Years Eve, 1989. In retaliation for her vocal opposition to drug sales on her block, a gunman in a passing car fired into the home of Mrs. CW Roddy, leaving her wounded but not seriously injured. “That was the worst mistake they could have made,” said the Police Chief from that time. “Now she’s going to be relentless; she’ll never give up.” This special report from KQED looks at how East Palo Alto residents, inspired by Mrs. Roddy’s courage, stand up to drugs and violence. Their response draws national attention, including a rally led by activist Dick Gregory. With economic development still a decade away and a 40% budget cut that depletes the Police Dept, Gregory ends the film with an optimistic, even prophetic statement. “Organize this community; the world is waiting for you. And then they’ll beat a path here.” Mrs. Roddy, still a community activist, will answer questions after the screening. Produced by Scott Pearson for KQED Community Affairs.

Producer: Scott Pearson
Running Time: 30 Minutes
Source / Filmmaker Bios

What takes three years, 146 videotapes and a grant from then Stanford Provost Condoleezza Rice to complete? “Dreams of a City” was the outcome of a massive and probably unique type of collaboration between Stanford University, East Palo Alto residents and top Bay Area film professionals. Drawing on everything from 185O’s railroad maps to dozens of oral histories to a 70s rendition of “Oh, Freedom” by the Nairobi Messengers, “Dreams” remains the only work in any medium to tell the full story of East Palo Alto. Stretching from the now lost port town of Ravenswood to the demolition of Ravenswood High School almost 150 years later, even seven years after its release, “Dreams of a City” is fundamental to understanding present-day East Palo Alto. This current version has been updated to correct an earlier flaw with the inclusion of incorporation mastermind Omowale Satterwhite. Produced and directed by Michael Levin for Stanford University Libraries and the Committee on Black Performing Arts, as a part of “Dreams of a City: The East Palo Alto Project.”

Producer: Michael Levin
Running Time: 55 Minutes
Source / Filmmaker Bios