This documentary is a portrait of 21st century activism in action, sparked by an outcry of the homeless community and their supporters at the local Food Not Bombs (FNB) food distributions in Santa Cruz, California. In early summer, 2015, the city intensified its criminalization of the homeless for sleeping at the very same time that the minimal active homeless services were being shutdown. The Homeless Service Center (HSC) had lost funding and was shutting their doors with little notice to people relying on those services for survival. Bathrooms downtown were being closed at night and beach showers were being removed. Many churches reduced the number of formerly dependable food distributions, leaving many hungry and alone. All this happened while there was a surge in the targeting and ticketing of the homeless for sleeping outside in Santa Cruz, particularly at night. These events sparked a public outcry of desperation from the homeless community that was heard by many activists and community members.
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The founder of Food Not Bombs, Keith McHenry, and his partner, Abbi Samuels, joined forces with Robert Norse, a 35-year activist and advocate for the human and civil rights of the homeless in Santa Cruz. Guided by Rabbi Philip Posner, a Freedom Rider of the 1960s, they formed the Freedom Sleepers Movement. The Freedom Sleepers documentary focuses on the movement at the nexus of its political actions, where action meets reaction. The public outcry by the poorest in our community translated into political outcry by the Freedom Sleepers activists at the violation of basic human rights and a demand that the city stop criminalizing the homeless for doing what they must to survive.
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Shot on widescreen with a Sony E50 in 24fps in multiple lighting situations, the majority of the observational footage is shot handheld in the thick of the political action. The camera tries to establish the point-of-view of the audience, enabling them to experience the political action as an included observer. The camera, at times, is used as a tool to empower the activists in the face of police aggression, fighting for political recognition and change and reflecting the principles of “Third cinema”. The camera gets up close and personal in the town hall meetings as the city council officials attempt to address the issue and its multitude of vocal proponents. In an unexpected yet telling rupture of the “fourth wall” that serves to draw the audience further into the intense and overwhelming experience of police aggression towards protestors, the filmmaker was arrested in the making of this film. This sequence of events is shown during the final credit sequence.