Homegrown: Future Visions

Indie Films Series / 1 Season

HOMEGROWN is a regional short film initiative with its first series “Future Visions” centering on filmmakers of color from the American Midwest and on narratives that illuminate the living histories, cultures, and future visions of the region.

Watch Latest: S1 E8

10m 27s

Using Technology to Revitalize The Ojibwe Language

S1 E8 / 10m 27s

Watch as three Ojibwe residents of Minnesota work to revitalize their language. Using modern technologies like film and video games, social media, and radio, they hope to inspire a new generation to learn their native tongue.

The Nation’s First Somali-American Art Center

S1 E7 / 12m

Follow the co-founders of the Soomal House of Art in Minneapolis, who are themselves working visual artists, as they run a community-based gallery. Together, they uplift Somali art and inspire a new generation to explore their cultural heritage.

A Lack of Cash, Not a Lack of Character

S1 E6 / 11m 2s

Follow a guaranteed income experiment in Gary, Indiana, designed to help create pathways to lift local residents out of poverty and to prove that poverty is a lack of cash, not a lack of character.

A Nurse from China Strives to Live in Iowa

S1 E5 / 11m 16s

Follow Zee, a nonbinary aspiring nurse from rural China, as they seek to build a gender-affirming life in the Midwest. After graduating from nursing school, they work tirelessly to pass their licensure exam in hopes of remaining in the U.S.

One Family, Three Generations of Racial Justice Leaders

S1 E4 / 13m 58s

Follow Rachel Willis, a third-generation resident of Lansing, Michigan, as she advances her family’s legacy of community activism. As she pursues political office, the practical and emotional labor of civic leadership begins to take its toll.

Nigerians Throw Parties, Create Community In Detroit

S1 E3 / 10m 55s

Watch as the members of a Nigerian social club in Detroit redefine community within their adopted homelands. As the elders age, their descendants worry that their traditions will be lost to time. Can the new generation rise to the challenge?

Pawnee Seed Warriors Revive Ancient Ties to Ancestors

S1 E2 / 10m 36s

In Seed Warriors, filmmaker Rebekka Schlichting follows a group of seed keepers as they work to regain food sovereignty in their ancestral homelands of Nebraska. By reclaiming their sacred corn seeds, they seek to return to the healthy, traditional lifeways of the Pawnee people.

What Does It Look Like to Bring a Violin to a Gunfight?

S1 E1 / 12m

Follow The Black String Triage Ensemble, a group of Black and Latinx musicians in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as it performs at crime scenes in the immediate aftermath of tragic events. Together, the group seeks to alter the notion of first responders.

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