THE LEAST OF THESE” PREMIERES IN
NEW ORLEANS MARCH 28

A Documentary on Family Detention,

American Values, and the Power of Community Activism

The acclaimed documentary The Least of These, directed by Clark Lyda and Jesse Lyda, will screen March 28 in New Orleans, as part of PATOIS: The 6th Annual New Orleans International Human Rights Film Festival.  The Least of These played to sold-out audiences at its recent world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin Texas.

The film takes a penetrating look at the T. Don Hutto Residential Center, a former medium-security prison that re-opened in 2006 as a prototype family detention center. The facility houses immigrant children and their parents from all over the world who are awaiting asylum hearings or deportation proceedings. As information about troubling conditions at the facility began to leak out, three activist attorneys sought to investigate and address the issues. In telling the story of their quest, the film explores the role - and limits - of community activism in bringing about change.  The film leads viewers to consider how core American rights and values – presumption of innocence, the protection of children, upholding the family structure as the basic unit of civil society, and America as a refuge of last resort – should apply to immigrants, particularly children.

Screening details are as follows:

Saturday March 28, 3:30 - 5:30 pm

Zeitgeist Multidisciplinary Arts Center, 1618 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd

There will be a Q&A with the directors after the screening.

The venue is in Central City, the heart of African American history and culture in uptown New Orleans.  The space will also feature a traveling art exhibit called Expressions of Nakba, which features visual responses to the 60th anniversary of al Nakba, the catastrophe that began the expulsion of Palestinians from their land.

Tags: latinola, new orleans international human rights film festival, new orleas, puentes

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