Press Kit

Trailer | Press Release | Director’s Statement | Credits | Film Stills

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REPAIRING THE WORLD: STORIES FROM THE TREE OF LIFE

DOCUMENTARY ON PITTSBURGH RESPONSE TO HATE AND ANTISEMITISM

Short Description

For three years Repairing the World: Stories from the Tree of Life follows survivors, families of the victims, diverse community members, students and civic leaders as they examine their vulnerabilities and the impact of rising antisemitism, racism, hate speech, and gun violence. Against the backdrop of a tumultuous period in the country, a local community that has faced violence and trauma works to heal and grapple with what it means to be stronger than hate.

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Longer Film Description

Repairing the World: Stories from the Tree of Life (80:00) documents Pittsburgh, PA’s powerful community response to hate and antisemitism in the aftermath of the deadly attack at the Tree of Life synagogue in 2018 that killed eleven people. For three years the film follows survivors, families of the victims, diverse community members, and civic leaders as they examine their vulnerabilities and the impact of rising antisemitism, racism, hate speech, and gun violence. Against the backdrop of a tumultuous period in the country, a local community that has faced violence and trauma works to heal and grapple with what it means to be stronger than hate.

Produced by Not in Our Town, the globally recognized team behind the public television films Waking in Oak Creek and Light in the Darkness, Repairing the World explores many of the same factors that are evident in this latest deadly manifestation of hate in Pittsburgh, including hate speech, gun violence and the spread of hate online and on-air. The story that unfolds in Pittsburgh reveals signs of hope, ways to bridge deep divisions and build resilience, and shows a determined community in the process of addressing some of the deepest challenges facing humanity.

“Racism and antisemitism are intertwined in the messaging that fueled recent mass hate crime killings, but the diverse communities that are working together to counter this hate in Pittsburgh are beginning to define what it means to be stronger than hate” said NIOT founder and documentary filmmaker Patrice O’Neill.

“We can do something to stop the spread of hate, and our local communities are places where we can effectively make a change that can be felt in people’s lives,” said O’Neill, who has chronicled successful hate crime response in communities facing violence and bigotry since 1995.

“We have to find new ways to mobilize the vast majority of people in our cities and towns who don’t want the spread of hate speech and violence to harm themselves, their children or their neighbors,” O’Neill said. “The fear and insecurity caused by hate violence is creating incalculable harm. These attacks have a devastating effect on entire communities, driving decisions about where to live and work, or how often to participate in community and civic life.”

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Background

From Christchurch to Pittsburgh, El Paso to Buffalo, a racist and antisemitic theory, spread regularly online and on mainstream cable shows is fueling an eruption of mass killings. Repairing the World: Stories from the Tree of Life is a new film that documents Pittsburgh’s response to hate and antisemitism in the aftermath of the assault on three congregations at the Tree of Life synagogue in 2018 that killed eleven people.

Director Biography

Patrice O’Neill is a filmmaker and CEO of the Oakland-based non-profit strategic media company, The Working Group and leader of Not In Our Town. Her film Not In Our Town began as a half-hour PBS special and turned into a dynamic movement to stop hate and build inclusion in communities across the U.S. and around the world. Recognized as a pioneer in impact media producing, O’Neill’s PBS films and community engagement campaigns have focused on stories about local communities working together for change.

About “Not In Our Town”

Not In Our Town (NIOT) is a movement to stop hate, address bullying and build safe, inclusive communities for all. NIOT’s unique approach combines documentary storytelling with community engagement to help local leaders build vibrant, diverse cities and towns.

Launched by a PBS film campaign in 1995, Not In Our Town serves a network of hundreds of NIOT groups, schools and communities across the country who are working to create connection, bridge differences, foster inclusion and inspire action. The first Not In Our Town PBS film told the story of ordinary citizens in Billings, Montana who stood together when their neighbors were under attack by white supremacists.

Townspeople of all races and religions found common ground against hate based attacks when African American, Native American and Jewish families and congregations were targeted. After a Jewish boy’s window was shattered during the Hanukkah festival, in an act of solidarity, the people of Billings placed 10,000 menorahs in their windows. Community members, faith and civic leaders, labor union volunteers, law enforcement and the local newspaper united in action and said “No Hate, No Fear, No Violence, Not in Our Town.”

The Billings story inspired communities across the country and around the world to find ways to address hate in their own towns. Since then, NIOT has produced five additional PBS documentaries and dozens of short films, reaching millions through television broadcasts, online engagement, film screenings and town hall discussions.

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Director’s Statement, Patrice O’Neill

Hate has been my beat for 25 years. I have practiced studying its nuances and the mutable forces at play that unleash it. It started with a little half hour movie about a town standing up to hate and antisemitism (Not In Our Town) that would compel me to follow the story. My films have tracked the rise of hate speech and the threat of extremist violence (The Fire Next Time), hate crimes targeting immigrants (Light In The Darkness) and now, with Repairing the World: Stories from the Tree of Life, the ideological spread of antisemitic, white supremacist ideology that manifested in the deadliest attack on Jewish people in U.S. history.

Although I function as a Director/Producer, our films are always a collaborative process, both with our filmmaking team (including producers Charene Zalis, Linda Peckham and Lisa Frank) and the characters who open up to us. The people in this film are aware of previous Not In Our Town films and chose to participate with a shared sense purpose for the story.

The essential conflict in our films lives inside the viewer. Our films look at how communities collectively respond to hate and the bigotry and bias that fuel it. We choose to focus on those who were harmed, not to dwell on the perpetrators (a subject for a different movie), and try to show as little of the violence while showing as much of the courage, determination and humor as possible. We redirect the dramatic emphasis to position hope over hate. At the same time, we are committed to surfacing the painful complexities of the story. While we hope that our films “speak to the choir” it is the broader community of bystanders that we seek to engage.

For years, NIOT has witnessed signs of escalating antisemitism in our screenings for communities and schools. What we were hearing was painfully confirmed with The Tree of Life massacre and increased antisemitic violence in the years following. Our film team was on the ground in Pittsburgh the week after the attack at the synagogue, and for over three years we have been building relationships with survivors, Jewish leaders, and elected officials, documenting powerful stories of resilience in the

aftermath of this deep trauma in the community. Many thanks to all who shared their stories and to our filmmaking team We dedicate our film to the people who lost their lives on 10.27.18, and to all who repair the world in their memory.

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CREDITS

DIRECTOR/PRODUCER - Patrice O’Neill

PRODUCER - Linda Peckham

REPORTER/FIELD PRODUCER - Charene Zalis

PRODUCER - Lisa Frank

EDITED BY - Linda Peckham, with Andrew Gersh

PRINCIPAL PHOTOGRAPHY - Kevin O’Brien, Brian Dentz, Joshua Franzos

ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS- Jeremy Jue, Emma Schwartz FIELD PRODUCERS- Joshua

Franzos, Gina Catanzarite, Ryan Loew, Tim Murray, Stephen Stept

ADDITIONAL CAMERA- Mark Knobil, Ryan Loew, Tim Murray, Glenn Syska, Nick Childers

THE WORKING GROUP / NOT IN OUR TOWN - Co-Director, Pardeep Kaleka