When Liberty Burns.
Friday night’s offerings from the NHDocs film festival include “a film under the stars” event in the Park of the Arts on Audubon Street, featuring When Liberty Burns, an incisive and engaging examination of the life and death of Arthur McDuffie at the hands of Dade County police in Florida in 1979, the trial and acquittal of the officers charged with his murder and the subsequent riots that ensued in Miami in 1980.
Directed by Dudley Alexis, this film balances the personal and profound stories told by McDuffie’s family, friends, and community members involved in the investigation, trial, and aftermath, with insight from historians and activists about race relations in the Miami-Dade area and the years of dissonance leading up to the killing and response.
Although the “McDuffie Riots” — which resulted in 18 deaths and over 100 million dollars in property damage — happened 40 years ago, this is a tale that is as timely and as necessary as ever, documenting a dark chapter of American history many may not be aware of and giving voice to the story of Arthur “Bubba” McDuffie long after he was silenced.
The festival’s three student competitions will also be available for online viewing on Friday. There will be two for short documentary features — one for Connecticut college students and one for Connecticut middle and high school students. This is the seventh year for the college competition and the first year for the middle and high school competition.
Also new to this year’s festival is the Student Filmmakers Quarantine Challenge, in which Connecticut middle school, high school, and college students were asked to make documentaries of five minutes or less, using only what they had available to them, that conveyed their feelings about Covid-19 and/or being quarantined. The 21 films expand upon this theme in their own unique and memorable ways. There’s a bugler carrying out a special request, a project being developed on TikTok to engage the present with the past, a collection of essential workers trying to maneuver their way through their days dealing with some not-so-kind customers, and so much more. From the deeply personal to the highly comical, everyone will find someone and some way to relate to these stories and their tellers.
A Q&A with a selection of student filmmakers from each of the competitions is planned for Sunday, Aug. 23, and awards will be handed out for first, second and third place in each competition.
Further details about NHDocs including the full schedule of films and events as well as ticket purchases cane be found on their website here.