PATOIS 2023 Opening Night Film: The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales

Founded in 2004 by New Orleans artists and activists, PATOIS has premiered hundreds of powerful social justice-oriented films from around the world while highlighting brilliant local filmmakers and vital local grassroots organizations. PATOIS is dedicated to nurturing the New Orleans' human rights community, supporting the work of local organizers and organizations involved in these struggles, and providing a forum for artistic expression of local and international issues.In addition to the film festival every spring, PATOIS hosts a variety of community screenings, workshops and organizing events all year. Because Patois has always prioritized community accountability, we curate our programming in consultation with a range of New Orleans’ grassroots organizations and community members.

PATOIS: New Orleans International Human Rights Film Festival

New Orleans Premiere and post-screening conversation with filmmaker Abigail Disney and local low wage workers and organizers

The Broad Theater

PATOIS 2023

Join us for PATOIS 2023! Celebrating work for liberation by both local and international organizers on climate change, abolition, Palestine liberation, birth workers, saving public schools, queering the border, and more.

Film and P﻿ost-Screening Discussion with Abigail Disney and Low Wage Workers and Organizers, Moderated by Sakajawea Hall of Cooperation JacksonFILM:In this feature-length, personal essay documentary, The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales filmmaker and philanthropist Abigail Disney grapples with America’s profound inequality crisis. Disney looks at America’s dysfunctional and unequal economy and asks why the American Dream has worked for the wealthy, yet is a nightmare for people born with less. As a way to imagine a more equitable future, Disney uses her family’s story to explore how this systemic injustice took hold. Filmed over a two-year period, The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales expertly weaves together Abigail’s family story and the stories of Disneyland workers; with commentary from historians, authors, and academics. The film artfully employs archive, animation, and never-before-seen Disney family movies. B﻿IOSAbigail E. Disney advocates for real changes to the way capitalism operates in today’s world. As a philanthropist and social activist, she has worked with organizations supporting peacebuilding, gender justice, and systemic cultural change. She is an Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker and Co-Founder of Fork Films, a nonfiction media production company, which produces original documentaries and the podcast “All Ears.” Her latest film, “The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales,” which she co-directed with Kathleen Hughes, made its world premiere at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. She also created the nonprofit Peace is Loud, which uses storytelling to advance social movements, and the Daphne Foundation, which supports organizations working for a more equitable, fair, and peaceful New York City. Her 2020 TED Talk entitled, “Dignity isn’t a privilege. It’s a worker’s right,” has garnered nearly 2 million views. Disney has been featured in the New York Times, the New Yorker, CBS Sunday Morning, CNN’s “At This Hour with Kate Bolduan,” Washington Post, The Guardian, CNN Business, BBC Radio, KCRW “The Business,” Seat at the Table with Anand Giridharadas, Bloomberg Businessweek Radio, TED Radio Hour, NowThis, Agenda – Financial Times, among other outlets. Disney’s writing has appeared in print and online versions of The Atlantic, CNN Business, Washington Post, and USA Today.Sacajawea "saki" Hall is a black feminist, activist, mother, birth-worker, educator and journalist. Saki sees her life's work as engaging in the collective struggle for African liberation, human rights and overall social transformation. She is a native Lower East Side New Yorker and has migrated to Jackson, Mississippi where she is a founding member of Cooperation Jackson. saki's leadership within Coop Jackson includes strategic planning, cooperative development and financial planning, fundraising, communications and she anchors the development of the Fannie Lou Hamer Community Land Trust.R﻿hett Ralph is a lifelong New Orleanian and an organizer with the worker-led campaign to organize Dollar Stores. He has been organizing for workers' rights for 14 years, and has been fired twice for organizing his workplace. He is also a former shop steward and chairperson with the UAW union.

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PATOIS 2023 Opening Night Film: The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales

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PATOIS 2023 Opening Night Film: The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales

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