Running To Stand Still, a 25-minute film on the humanitarian crisis at the U.S. - Mexico border, will be showing at Vinegar Hill Theatre in Charlottesville on September 25th. WMRA's Zack Furr reports.
Worldwide Documentaries has been producing films on social justice and human rights issues for 40 years.
HEIDI OSTERTAG: Our films are focused on global issues, but worldwide issues happen locally as well.
Heidi Ostertag is the executive producer of the film.
OSTERTAG: We hope that our film “Running to Stand Still,” which focuses on the humanity of who these people are by allowing them to tell their own stories, can help in some way to change the narrative from the current toxic narrative to one of a humane narrative.
The film's interviewees include migrants and the people who are trying to help them, including Dr. Brian Elmore, a global emergency medicine fellow at UVa.
OSTERTAG: These are human beings just like you and I, and their stories are very very similar to any of ours who are just looking for a decent life and a safe life for our families.
Ostertag said the title of the film stems from the U2 song of the same name.
OSTERTAG: It epitomizes what this issue is about. These are people who are fleeing dangerous situations, hopeless situations, and they run, they walk, for sometimes years. The way our policies have been for the last decade or more, you come to the U.S. border, and you stop, and that’s running to stand still.
After the showing there will be a talkback with Dr. Brain Elmore and others, moderated by Lucy Bassett, a professor and co-director of the UVa Humanitarian Collaborative. Admission is free and open to the public. The film is also available for rent online.