Katie Galloway’s credits include “The Return,” “El Poeta,” and “Prison Town, USA.” She’s received numerous honors including the Writer’s Guild of America’s Best Documentary Screenplay Award and Tribeca’s Audience Award for Best Documentary.
Dawn Valadez is a social worker, filmmaker, fundraiser, and impact strategist, and director of the documentary “Going on 13.”
“The Pushouts” will premiere at the 2018 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival on April 7.
W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.
KG: “The Pushouts” tells a multigenerational story of young people many in the U.S. think of as “dropouts” but who are often pushed out of school for reasons beyond their control.
DV: “The Pushouts” is a beautiful story of the power of mentorship, and community responses to the needs of youth of color. It shows the impact of having people of color as mentors and teachers who truly understand the youth, their families, and communities.
The film talks about the power of people/adult mentors who have lived experiences in deeply connecting with youth by understanding the trauma of growing up poor, dealing with racism, and discrimination — on the streets, in school, and with the police.
W&H: What drew you to this story?
KG: The short answer is that, after 20-plus years covering the criminal justice system in the U.S. I was tired of investigating — and telling — horror stories. I asked around looking for good news, and someone asked if i’d heard about Victor Rios.
That impulse, the quick discovery of a treasure trove of archival material of our main characters, a rich and complex unfolding contemporary story, and more, sealed the deal for me.
DV: This is a very personal story for me. Neither of my parents graduated from high school. I was the first in my extended family to go to college and graduate, and go to grad school.
I have spent my career as a social worker working with youth in my community — from Latino, Black, Asian, Native, and white families — who are navigating the school, judicial, and housing systems that are set up to block youth from succeeding. I have trained hundreds of youth workers and teachers in how to work with youth, and understand how trauma plays out in a classroom or after-school program, and ways to lovingly intervene. I get it — how the big systems’ discrimination affects how we feel about ourselves, so the cycle continues.
Victor’s story and his books have been part of my work in the communities I provide services in, and is a framework I have used to raise money for organizations that do this good work — he is a hero to me. When Katie approached me about collaborating on a film about his life and work, I jumped at the chance.
W&H: What do you want people to think about when they are leaving the theater?
KG: There are many audiences for this film, and we hope for different things from them: that some will have their eyes opened to the destructive myths about, and framing around, “dropouts” in the U.S. That teachers, administrators, and policy makers will be motivated by the story. That the young people this film both represents and hopes to serve might see themselves reflected in our subjects, experiencing vicariously the possibilities that come into focus when their education is taken seriously, their challenges understood, and opportunities provided. That some will see it as a portrait of hope and hard work — not desperation or despair.
DV: I want them to go beyond “humanizing” the youth, and really think about what is lost when we lose these young people. I want them to consider how many Victors are out there that just need a hand up — not hand out — in order to fully realize their potential.
I want audiences to push past the headlines to the deeper stories of the real people who are working so hard to get by, and to realize that when a young person “acts out” in school or on the street there is a reason behind that, that as a society we need to address, change, deal with.
And that all of our children and youth have the right to a high quality, loving public education. We cannot let the forces in power right now dismantle our public education system.
W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.
KG&DV: When we started the film it was a train leaving the station, and we needed quick money to shoot the six weeks in Watts that is one of the core threads of the film. Small non-profits, personal funds, and a few philanthropists made those six weeks possible, and a sample reel, and two sheet possible, and from there we started the long process of raising money as we went.
Ford Foundation / Just Films; Cal Humanities; CPB; LPB; Sundance; Skoll, and others have supported us since. Still — it’s been a struggle, and there have been plenty of moments where resources were scarce. But as editor Stephanie Merchura often says, “inch by inch.”
W&H: What does it mean for you to have your film play at Full Frame?
KG: For me, Full Frame is a quasi-religious experience. Equal parts deep critique, sprawling exploration, kaleidoscopic perspective, delight, and surprise.
Full Frame reliably generates dozens of transcendent human quandaries its audiences wrestle with, from transformative experience of intimate pain or irrepressible joy. Falling into Full Frame is easy: by now I have utter faith in the festival’s — and town’s — magic. I can’t wait!
W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?
DV: Best advice: If you don’t take yourself seriously, no one else will.
KG: Best advice: Crisis = Opportunity
W&H: What advice do you have for other female directors?
DV: Love each other; have each others’ backs; build together; carve new paths; be generous and symbiotic; kick ass.
KG: Where possible, own your material. Retain rights and control where you can. Consider moonlighting on your own projects or others as a DP or editor — they pay. Don’t apologize for needing to rattle the cup to get it done: frame supporting the film as an opportunity to connect with something meaningful and powerful, and to be of service. Stretch resources: sometimes the most brilliant stories and characters are closest to home. Also, protect your subjects and keep your word; fight like hell for what you believe; choose partners carefully; develop for fiction; have fun; be brave.
W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.
DV: We have so many colleagues we love and adore, and we lift each other up. I am a member of Film Fatales and Brown Girls Doc Mafia — both of these awesome groups have so many women directors and producers that I admire!
I love all of Lourdes Portillo’s films. She was one of the first Latina filmmakers I watched and met, and I realized I could make films too. My friends Anayansi Prado and Heather Courtney are premiering at Full Frame — they are role models to me, and make films that have influenced me so much! Also Barbara Kopple’s “Harlan County, USA.” Jeez. I could go on and on.
W&H: Hollywood and the global film industry are in the midst of undergoing a major transformation. Many women — and some men — in the industry are speaking publicly about their experiences being assaulted and harassed. What are your thoughts on the #TimesUp movement and the push for equality in the film business?
DV: I think it is well past time for this to happen. Years ago, I did not want to go into the film industry. I grew up in Hollywood, and experienced sexism and harassment — including assault — beginning before I was a teen. I am grateful for the women and men who have spoken up and demanded an end to [sexual harassment,] racism, homophobia, and gross imbalances of power.
KG: Hear, hear! To ever more voices raised, truths spoken, awakenings sparked. To revisioning, organizing, and building toward a saner and more just future, in myriad ways. The horizon is a lovely place toward which to move.
