Many Fires This Time: We the 100 Million

A poetic documentary about the one in three Americans living in economic insecurity.
by
Jason R.A. Foster
2021
69 mins

Many Fires This Time: We the 100 Million is a documentary that illuminates the economic insecurity faced by one in three Americans. It follows poet and activist A Scribe Called Quess as he connects with fellow poets and communities in Oakland, Chicago, Kentucky, and New Orleans.

Synopsis

Many Fires This Time: We the 100 Million is a poetic documentary that sheds light on the economic insecurity faced by 1 in 3 Americans. The film follows the journey of poet and activist A Scribe Called Quess? as he connects with fellow activist poets and the communities they represent, traveling from Oakland to Chicago to Kentucky, and finally returning to his hometown of New Orleans.

Throughout the documentary, we gain insight into the lives of ordinary people who are advocating for fairness and justice in various areas such as housing, gentrification, police violence, environmental crises, job security, education, and LGBTQIA equality. Drawing inspiration from James Baldwin's prophetic words about an impending fire, Many Fires uses spoken word poetry, choreography, and community interviews to create a poetic tribute to the numerous revolutionary struggles taking place in America today.

Director Commentary

Many Fires This Time: We the 100 Million didn't start as a film; the original intent was to perform it live. The goal was to have six poets from across the country (Chicago, two from Oakland, Kentucky, San Diego/Tijuana, and New Orleans) perform their prose accompanied by live music and dance and video clips of their respective community workshops being shown before their performances. This was to take place in Oakland, California.

However, the unforeseen events of 2020 led to a significant pivot for the production team and myself. The challenge of transforming a stage show into a film, particularly in the context of directing, coordinating, and communicating my vision to videographers and filmmakers across two countries, was substantial. Clear communication and trust were paramount in overcoming these hurdles.

The driving force behind Many Fires This Time was to tell the stories of the 100 million (and counting) Americans living under the poverty line without relying on data points and numbers. How do we reframe conversations that have been going on for centuries in a way that makes you listen? By having the people speak for themselves and have poetry, music, and dance support their words. It’s clear to me now that Many Fires was never supposed to be performed live in a theater; instead, it was always meant to be a film.

Features and Languages

Film Features

  • Closed Captioning
  • Subtitles

Film/Audio Languages

  • English
  • Spanish

Subtitle/Caption Languages

  • English
  • Spanish
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