Each Tiny Circus film begins with a collaborative process. We think up and do our project together, listening to each other and working towards shared ownership and responsibility. In August of 2014, Tiny Circus visited Buffalo, New York and worked with the Buffalo Youth Media Institute and Squeaky Wheel.
We started this project by talking about what we would like to change and what we would like to see stay the same in Buffalo. This conversation led us to think about inequality in neighborhoods both around Buffalo and in the country as a whole. When we talked about inequality, specifically racial and social class inequality, we found that we all experienced treatment from individuals in our communities in very different ways. Focusing in on our experiences with police, and prompted by stories and media coverage in Ferguson, Missouri following the shooting death of Michael Brown, we decided to make a project that addressed unequal policing.
The content of this video may be rich and full of things to think about, but our conversations were even more packed. Through listening to each other’s stories, we found that we had many different experiences (and ways of understanding those experiences) in our group. We also found we had some similarities. “This Needs To Change” is what came of listening to each other, processing difference, and coming to the center of our circle to find the main thrust of our conversation. We realized that we wanted all of our communities to be treated with respect and equality.
Ultimately, we realized that making a film about discrimination, policing, and racial or social class inequality has the potential to be polarizing – we can’t guarantee that everyone will agree with what we’re saying here. As we figured out what we wanted to say in this project, our main goal became about finding a way to communicate broadly without losing audience members along the way. How else will change happen if we don’t keep trying to “bridge the gap” by communicating across lines of difference?
Tiny Circus now grows to include the individuals that created this film! Thanks to Squeaky Wheel and the Buffalo Youth Media Institute for their support.
