SYNCHRONIZED

SYNCHRONIZED is an experimental documentary short that embraces 5 women of color as they collectively reflect about their experiences living and thriving in Oakland. This will uncover their perspectives of what it means living in the Town, a city that’s ever-changing – from memories, dreams, home, and resiliency. Like a mixtape, SYNCHRONIZED amalgamates their voices, natural landscape sounds, and unconventional Oakland imagery to encapsulate a unique representation that acknowledges how the personal and environment coexist together.

Inspired by Godfrey Reggio’s 1982 film, Koyaanisqatsi, this film was produced during the COVID-19 pandemic and features voices from BIPOC LGBTQ+ Oakland residents along with beautiful takes of Oakland’s changing urban landscape.

THIS FILM IS AVAILABLE ON DEMAND. 

About the filmmaker: Corinne Manabat Cueva is a Filipina American independent filmmaker dedicated to using media as a vehicle for social change and empowerment for those on the periphery of mainstream media. Corinne completed Synchronized as part of the Re-Take Oakland Fellowship, a two-year public education and filmmaker mentoring program with Re-present Media. Her previous works include Why We Rise, winner of the CAAMFest 2014 Loni Ding Award for Social Issue Documentary and featured on the PBS Online Film Festival, and Excuse My Gangsta Ways. Corinne has more than a decade of experience as a media educator mentoring aspiring filmmakers at Reel Stories, Tribeca Film Institute, Third World Newsreel, Maysles Documentary Center, Global Action Project and The City College of New York. She is co-founder of C&C Buhay Studios with illustrator/artist, Cesar Cueva, and has contributed to two books: Empire of Funk: Hip Hop and Representation in Filipina/O America (2013) and Filipinos in New York City (2015). She received her B.A. in Communication Media and Media Management from SUNY New Paltz and her graduate certificate in Documentary Studies from The New School.

Plays in

SELF | PORTRAITS SHORTS

In this thought-provoking and forceful program, these characters are exploring their complex histories and envisioning their futures. SELF | PORTRAITS is a study on the power of identity and how we become who we are.