2026 Program

America sold the U.S. public a poster: the “American Worker.” The American Worker belongs here. He is patriotic and free. He is white and male. He built the nation, so the nation belongs to him. This film tears the myth open. In the wreckage of decades of mythmaking, an AAPI immigrant filmmaker embarks on a journey across time and geography to uncover how race, labor, and power have shaped belonging and exclusion in America’s story of work.

Directed by Thien Dinh, Produced by John Beder and Anthony Banua-Simon

FREE JOAN LITTLE tells the story of the 1975 groundbreaking case of Joan Little who was the first woman in U.S history to be acquitted for using deadly force to resist sexual assault. At 20 years old, Joan (pronounced Jo-Ann) Little was incarcerated in North Carolina when she killed a white jailer who she said tried to rape her. Her trial drew international attention, becoming a rallying point for civil rights, women’s rights and prison reform. The case brought together activists, including Angela Davis and Rosa Parks, and catalyzed an international conversation about sexual assault and racial justice that has reverberations to this day.  With rare archival footage, contemporary interviews, and the folk anthem that carried her cause, FREE JOAN LITTLE captures the spirit of resistance that made history. The film features Oscar-nominated actress Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple) as the voice of Joan and is produced by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Christalyn Hampton (The Devil is Busy) and Bonnie Bertram, in association with Retro Report.

Directed by Yoruba Richen, produced by and produced and Bonnie Bertram, Edited by Hannah Vanderlan, Music Composed by Reggie Dokes, Graphics by Peter Mishara, Executive Producer for Retro Report Kyra Darnton

Featuring Karen Bethea-Shields, Angela Davis, Christina Greene, Larry Little, with Danielle Brooks