America ReFramed

Indie Films Series / 7 Seasons

America ReFramed brings to life compelling stories, personal voices and experiences that illuminate the contours of our ever-changing country. Since 2012, the series has premiered 170 films - more than half helmed by female makers and a third credited to BIPOC makers - centering stories of the LGBTQ community, people with disabilities, the formerly incarcerated, veterans, immigrants and more.

Watch Latest: S12 E6

1h 12m / TV-PG

Big Chief, Black Hawk | The Next Generation: Stepping Up

4m 57s / TV-PG

Terrance Williams, Jr. and other Black residents of the New Orleans community step out and up following the death of George Floyd in May 2020. This young generation knows they must stand up to injustice while the more senior generation recognizes the passing of the torch.

Big Chief, Black Hawk | The Joy of Brotherhood

3m 34s / TV-PG

On Mardi Gras, Terrance Williams, Jr. is known as Big Chief Tee of the Black Hawk Hunters. But to two members of this Mardi Gras Indian tribe - Tyrell "Ty" Williams, Jr. (Gang Flag) and Simeon Israel, Jr. (Spyboy Fatman), he is their eldest brother who supports and loves them as family. And that love is extended to their mother, Tinice "Tee" Williams.

Beyond the Lens with Jonathan Isaac Jackson

4m 30s / TV-PG

Jonathan Isaac Jackson talks about the making of his film, BIG CHIEF, BLACK HAWK, and the connection to the culture, history and people of New Orleans, Louisiana. The filmmaker also shares the importance of incorporating his identity and Black perspective in capturing and telling the story.

Big Chief, Black Hawk | Appreciation, Not Appropriation

1m / TV-PG

What is the difference between cultural appropriation and appreciation? Dr. Jeffery Darensbourg (Atakapa-Ishak) explains, and provides a reasoning behind why the suits of Mardi Gras Indians, who are Black New Orleanians, are influenced by their own Indigenous and African ancestry.

Big Chief, Black Hawk | The Mardi Gras Experience

54s / TV-PG

What was your first Mardi Gras experience? For most, it is a tradition seen and heard. But experiencing the celebration in New Orleans is something else when you dive deep into the culture like with the Mardi Gras Indian tribes.

Big Chief, Black Hawk | Preview

30s / TV-PG

Big Chief Tee is a high school senior and the youngest Mardi Gras Indian Big Chief in New Orleans. During COVID-19, he and the Black Hawk Hunters navigate the impacts of gentrification and systemic racism on their annual masking tradition. Through haute couture, movement, and words, BIG CHIEF, BLACK HAWK celebrates the beauty and resilience of “the culture” even in the face of crisis and change.

Big Chief, Black Hawk | Trailer

1m 32s / TV-PG

Big Chief Tee is a high school senior and the youngest Mardi Gras Indian Big Chief in New Orleans. During COVID-19, he and the Black Hawk Hunters navigate the impacts of gentrification and systemic racism on their annual masking tradition. Through haute couture, movement, and words, BIG CHIEF, BLACK HAWK celebrates the beauty and resilience of “the culture” even in the face of crisis and change.

Big Chief, Black Hawk | Mardi Gras Indians and Music

1m / TV-PG

From food to language and traditions, New Orleans is known for its culture. Jazz was birthed in this city, and music has been influenced by its people including Mardi Gras Indians. The 1965 global hit "Iko Iko" by The Dixie Cups is a prime example.

Kid Candidate | Making a Difference

1m 6s / TV-PG

Family and friends of Hayden Pedigo talk about how the Amarillo city council candidate wants to make a difference for the citizens of the Texas city. Each one of them is inspired by Pedigo's mission, actions and words, especially as a fellow young resident.

Kid Candidate | Progress is My Platform

1m 17s / TV-PG

Hayden Pedigo shares his coming of age story to the present day. The young candidate talks to the voting public about the political platform of progress that he is running on which he believes is what the city needs.

Kid Candidate | Why I'm Running for City Council

52s / TV-PG

Amarillo city council candidate Hayden Pedigo explains why it's important to run for political office as a young person in a city with young people while his wife, L'Hannah, tells it like it is when it comes to her support of him.

Kid Candidate | Listening to the People

1m 5s / TV-PG

City council candidate Hayden Pedigo is invited to a South Sudanese church to meet, listen and speak to their congregation. What he learns when listening to members of the community may surprise him the most in his run as a fellow Amarillo resident.

Kid Candidate | Preview

30s / TV-PG

A viral joke video catapults Hayden Pedigo – a 24-year-old artist and musician in Amarillo, TX – into the spotlight and prompts him to make a surprise bid for city council. With his goal of upending the status quo and ousting corrupt incumbent politicians, KID CANDIDATE follows Pedigo’s unorthodox campaign while unpacking issues of race, income inequality and gentrification in small-town America.

Kid Candidate | Trailer

1m 23s / TV-PG

A viral joke video catapults Hayden Pedigo – a 24-year-old artist and musician in Amarillo, TX – into the spotlight and prompts him to make a surprise bid for city council. With his goal of upending the status quo and ousting corrupt incumbent politicians, KID CANDIDATE follows Pedigo’s unorthodox campaign while unpacking issues of race, income inequality and gentrification in small-town America.

Kid Candidate | Born, Raised and Voting for Amarillo

41s / TV-PG

Born and raised a resident of Amarillo, Hayden Pedigo understands the desire to move away from this small Texas city for a bigger city. But for him, he has only one intention: to stay and inspire other creative young individuals like himself to live in Amarillo and go vote.

Beyond the Lens with Ellie Walton | Interview

4m 42s / TV-PG

Ellie Walton talks about the rarely heard of events that unfolded in Washington, D.C.'s Mount Pleasant neighborhood in May 1991 and how they inspired her to share the stories of the community's Memory Keepers in her documentary, La Manplesa: An Uprising Remembered. The filmmaker also discusses the impact those days had on her as a child and as a storyteller today.

La Manplesa: An Uprising Remembered | WE EXIST

1m 18s / TV-PG

Lilo Gonzalez, a singer-songwriter & educator, and Roland Roebuck, an Afro Puerto Rican activist, talk openly about the uprising - from representation to policing of the Brown and Black community - in Washington, D.C.'s neighborhood of Mount Pleasant.

La Manplesa: An Uprising Remembered | A Change in Community

1m 6s / TV-PG

The 1991 uprising in Washington, D.C.'s Mount Pleasant was "the beginning of the conversation" for the Latino/a community. Often feeling unseen and unheard, the residents had endured policing and police brutality before the shooting of young Salvadoran Daniel Gomez.

La Manplesa: An Uprising Remembered | El Barrio

3m 10s / TV-PG

With war in El Salvador, people fled to countries like the United States. And for immigrants living in a time of uncertainty, their new home of Mount Pleasant in Washington, D.C. became a community that honors family, culture, and more.

La Manplesa: An Uprising Remembered | Gentrification

3m 27s / TV-PG

Members of the Mount Pleasant community like visual artists Ronald Chacón and Sami Miranda voice their unpleasant, and sometimes violent, experiences with the police. This followed a new wave of gentrification that created considerable tension between BIPOC and white neighbors.

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