My name is Alexandra Pinschmidt, and I am the filmmaker behind "Radical Love" - a documentary about a 40-year old non-profit organization in Boston and its personal approaches to addressing societal inequality. Haley House is a "radical" organization, in that it "gets to the root of" so many overwhelming social issues. Its programs address poverty and marginalization from a number of different strategies and levels, including: a soup kitchen, a socially responsible café and bakery training program, over 100 affordable housing units, and an organic farm outside the city. This documentary film will artistically and personally delve into issues of homelessness, marginalization, and economic inequality. The documentary will also focus on productive ways of engaging these issues, through economic and social empowerment, fostering personal relationships and community, and challenging our own beliefs and oppressive structures in society.
The creation of the documentary will in itself mirror the community-based ethos of Haley House; it is a participatory project that engages the entire Haley House community, from the directors and staff, to the guests in the soup kitchen. The poetry, artwork, and music is all created or performed by people associated with Haley House, and Bostonian street musicians. The documentary will also have strong artistic undercurrents of urban and natural motifs, which evoke the outdoor aspects of being homeless.
Haley House's story is also important to document because of its connection to the historic Catholic Worker Movement, a non-violent, progressive social justice movement begun in the 1930s that sought to challenge structural inequality on a personal level. Although Haley House is modeled in this tradition, it is uniquely different in that it is a registered non-profit, and does not identify as a Catholic organization. Haley House espouses an eclectic and open spiritual undercurrent that is inclusive of all beliefs and people.
www.haleyhouse.org
[email protected]