AND SHE COULD BE NEXT

And She Could Be Next (2020 Tribeca Film Festival Official Selection) tells the story of a defiant movement of women of color who are transforming American politics from the ground up. The documentary series, directed by Peabody Award-winner Grace Lee (CAAMFest Spotlight Alum, American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs) and Iranian documentary filmmaker Marjan Safinia (Seeds) follows forward-thinking candidates and organizers across the country, asking whether democracy itself can be preserved —and made stronger— by those most marginalized.

Filmed from 2018 through 2019, the episodes center individuals at the heart of the movement behind the New American Majority, including: Stacey Abrams (Georgia), Bushra Amiwala (Skokie, IL), Maria Elena Durazo (Los Angeles, CA), Veronica Escobar (El Paso, TX), Lucy McBath (Atlanta, GA), Rashida Tlaib (Detroit, MI) and Nse Ufot, Executive Director of the New Georgia Project. We will be screening the first episode of this two part series.

The documentary also features an entirely women of color creative team. In addition to Lee, Safinia, producer Jyoti Sarda and executive producers like Ava DuVernay, And She Could Be Next credits contributing field directors: Yoruba Richen, Geeta Gandbhir, Amber Fares, Deborah Esquenazi, Ramona Emerson and Anayansi Prado.

Co-presented by Chinese for Affirmative Action, Bad Feminists Making Films, Brown Girls Doc Mafia, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC), APIENC (API Equality Northern California).

Conversation moderated by Stephen Gong, CAAM’s Executive Director.

Q&A Panelists include:

Grace Lee, Filmmaker/Producer
Grace Lee directed and produced the Peabody Award-winning AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY: THE EVOLUTION OF GRACE LEE BOGGS about the legendary civil rights activist. She has been a Sundance Institute Fellow, a 2017 Chicken & Egg Breakthrough Award winner, an envoy of the American Film Showcase and is co-founder of the Asian American Documentary Network. She recently directed and produced two episodes of PBS’ five-part series ASIAN AMERICANS which broadcasts nationally this month.

Marjan Safinia, Filmmaker/Producer
Marjan Safinia is an Iranian documentary filmmaker whose films examine identity, community and social justice. Until 2018, Marjan was the longest-serving President of the Board of Directors of the International Documentary Association (and the only woman of color to lead this organization since it was founded in 1982). She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Chicken & Egg. She co-hosts the pre-eminent online documentary community, The D-Word, and is a regular juror, programmer, speaker and connector of all things documentary.

Bushra Amiwala, Skokie School Board of Education
Bushra Amiwala, a Pakistani American college student from Skokie, Illinois, is the youngest Muslim elected official in the United States, serving on the Skokie School Board of Education. At age 19, she first ran for local office—for a seat on the Cook County Board of Commissioners. A true changemaker, Bushra was inspired to run for office to serve as a voice for her underrepresented community and generation. In 2020, she will graduate from college and will start as an incoming Associate at Google.