Rachel Lears | USA
105 min | Partial Subtitles
***IN-PERSON ONLY***
Co-presented by OPIRG Guelph
A sequel to Knock Down the House (2019), To the End tells the gripping story of four visionary young women of color who are leading the fight for a Green New Deal—a bold and ambitious plan to stop the climate crisis and make racial and economic justice part of the solution.
The film’s high profile protagonists—Varshini Prakash (Sunrise Movement), Alexandra Rojas (Justice Democrats), Rhiana Gunn-Wright (Roosevelt Institute), and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez—are each grappling with new challenges of leadership and power in the face of cynicism and uncertainty. Over three volatile years of crisis and upheaval, from street protests to the halls of Congress, the film tracks a dramatic, historic shift in climate politics in the U.S. as these young leaders work together to defend their generation’s right to a future. A coming-of-age story for a movement, To The End gives audiences an unflinching look at how power works in today’s America, and a front seat view of history in the making.
Time: 11:30am
Venue: Guelph Civic Museum
Tickets: $12/PWYC
Event: Community talkback with local youth activists, Horeen Hassan & Megan Peres, moderated by Memona Hossain.
DIRECTOR BIO
Rachel Lears
Rachel Lears (director, DP) is a documentary director, producer and cinematographer based in Brooklyn, NY. Rachel's last feature documentary, Knock Down the House (Netflix), follows four women who ran insurgent congressional campaigns in 2018, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Cori Bush. The film won the US Documentary Audience Award and the Festival Favorite award at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, was shortlisted for an Oscar and nominated for an Emmy in 2020. Her previous feature, The Hand That Feeds (co-directed with Robin Blotnick; PBS), won numerous festival awards and was nominated for an Emmy in 2017. Rachel received the IDA Emerging Filmmaker Award in 2019, and also holds a PhD in Cultural Anthropology from NYU.