Crossing the American Crises : From Collapse To Action (PM Video, 24)

This documentary film looks at what people are doing to change their own situations and to break free from the system that inherently perpetuates economic crises. On September 15, 2008, the United States fell into the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. That day, the filmmakers set out on a trip around the country to ask the American people what they had to say about it, and in 2010, they revisited to see how things had changed. Featured in this film are the Vermont Worker’s Center, Los Angeles' Bus Rider's Union, Santa Fe's local business alliance, Oakland's Green Jobs Now, and Baltimore’s United Workers, in addition to American workers, truck drivers, farmers, homeless people, ex-felons, minorities, natural disaster survivors, indigenous communities, immigrants, and residents from coast to coast—covering nearly 40 states across the United States. Their voices reveal desperation, indignation, hope, and dreams, as well as a disastrous economic breakdown and chaos generated by a system of inequality. Above this lies an issue even more dire: human rights. The solutions to crossing the American crises are now in the hands of the people. The DVD also includes an option for Spanish subtitles.

Sílvia Leindecker is a Brazilian documentary filmmaker who has worked for the Spanish news agency EFE. Michael Fox is a freelance journalist, reporter, and documentary filmmaker based in South America. He is the coauthor of Venezuela Speaks!: Voices from the Grassroots. They are the codirectors of the documentary, Beyond Elections: Redefining Democracy in the Americas.