Arresting Power: Resisting Police Violence in Portland, Oregon
documentary, police violence, community media, archives, portland
Available through Kanopy subscriptions and Collective Eye films.
Co-directed with Jodi Darby & Erin Yanke
Distributed by Collective Eye Films
Format: documentary feature film
Duration: 84 minutes
Year: 2015
Arresting Power: Resisting Police Violence in Portland, Oregon documents the history of conflict between the Portland police and community members throughout the past fifty years. The film features personal stories of resistance told by victims of police misconduct, the families of people who were killed by police, and members of Portland’s reform and abolition movements. Utilizing meditative footage taken at sites of police violence, experimental filmmaking techniques, and archival newsreel, Arresting Power creates a space for understanding the impacts of police violence and imagining a world without police. The film grew out of Safe & Sound: Artists Respond to Police Violence, a video/web project about police violence in Portland, Oregon, that I collectively produced in 2012 - 2013 with Erin Yanke and Jodi Darby.
Safe & Sound received a 2012 Project Grant from the Regional Arts & Culture Council. Arresting Power received a 2013 Precipice Fund Project Grant from the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art through the Andy Warhol Regional Re-grant Program. Arresting Power was made possible through individual donations from hundreds of friends and supporters.