American Textures, a 78 minute documentary by Crossing Borders Films, follows six young Americans of Black, White and Latino origin on a road trip through the southern United States to confront race through dialogue. Their journey moves them to push through the wall of silence/fear/discomfort that surrounds race in Today’s America and face the presence of segregation, bias, and blindness, not only in US society, but also inside themselves. Their courage, vulnerability and honest interactions become emotional examples of ways to follow in their footsteps.
American Textures is a powerful and compelling film that reveals the importance of more honest discourse about race in America. The lives and stories of the young people masterfully presented in this film offer both hope and impetus for more of us to join the conversation.Bryan Stevenson, Founder, Equal Justice Institute
The heightened interracial tensions and recent violent events have rocked US society. Many of us are deeply shaken wondering if there is anything on earth that we can do to make a constructive contribution – even if small… We feel that what we as ordinary citizens can do is to develop skills and courage to address painful issues and connect openly. The engaging story of American Textures is envisioned as an encouragement and blueprint for processing conflicts constructively, developing empathy and exploring the Other’s reality. American Textures also comes with facilitation tools that support initiating honest conversations to strengthen a Culture of Dialogue within our aching communities.
You can find out more about the vision and background of American Textures in the Creative Concept and Director’s Statement. Short videos that deepen engagement skills are available on our page Initiating Interracial Dialogue.
American Textures gives us a road map to start the kind of dialogue that leads to genuine understanding and respect. The path is not easy. But it is clear.Mark Bauman, Executive Vice President, National Geographic TV
Contact us to initiate a diversity dialogue event with American Textures at your campus or in your local community. Accompanying the film we have created a variety of videos and online tools that help to engage people around Diversity & Inclusion topics.
Please note that American Textures has not been officially released yet. We are able, however, to sell licences for educational screenings.
