The next film in our learning series, The Encampments, will be screened in the Koreatown neighborhood this Thursday, August 14 at 6:30 PM. Please RSVP for the address. 

Our intention with all the films in this series is to practice two mindsets:

• When watching a story that challenges our narrative, suspend our disbelief and access our compassion

• When watching a story that matches our narrative, suspend our belief and access our critical thinking

Student protests at universities across the country captured our attention in both traditional and social media. This film and the next one in our series, October 8, look at these campus protests from opposing angles. To broaden our understanding of what Muslim and Jewish communities in the US are facing, we need to understand the rhetoric of both sides of this argument. In nearly all cases, protests were much more peaceful than the media portrayed them to be. In some cases, they were most certainly not. 

We’re using Amanda Ripley’s High Conflict as a foundation for understanding this film and the others in our series. If you missed the discussion on High Conflict from last week, you can review the attached presentation to get a solid introduction to the key points. 

From the film’s website: 

From Executive Producer Macklemore, The Encampments offers an urgent, intimate portrait of America’s student movement, ignited at Columbia University as students protested their universities’ ties to the war on Gaza. Their actions sparked a nationwide uprising, with encampments spreading across hundreds of campuses. Featuring detained activist Mahmoud Khalil, alongside professors, whistleblowers, and organizers, the film captures the deeper stakes of a historic moment that continues to reverberate across the globe.

You can watch the trailer HERE.