This Saturday, a Charlottesville church will host a free screening of a documentary about the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania community's response to white supremacist hate and antisemitism. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports.
The film "Repairing the World: Stories from the Tree of Life" documents how the people of Pittsburgh came together in the aftermath of the deadly terrorist attack at a synagogue in 2018.
[music from trailer]
FILM INTERVIEWEE: Eleven beautiful lives were cut down in our synagogue. But we're a tree of life. More leaves will grow back, more branches will grow back – we're not letting hate close our doors. Ever.
Filmmaker Patrice O'Neill and the organization she leads, called Not in Our Town, has been producing films about community response to hate for more than two decades.
PATRICE O'NEILL: We knew that this was an … eruption of violence that was just horrific. At the same time, our stories are focused on community response, and what we were seeing from Pittsburgh is a massive response from the entire city, supporting their Jewish neighbors.
The documentary also features a few scenes from the 2017 Unite the Right rally.
O'NEILL: We felt it was so important to reflect on what happened in Charlottesville, because it was this manifestation of the white power movement.
Over the years, O'Neill has seen how the film screenings themselves become a place of connection and healing.
O'NEILL: The films and the stories create a safe place for people to talk about what's happening to them.
The screening will be held at the Mt. Zion First African Baptist Church on Saturday the 11th at 5 p.m.
