Gilda Sheppard, PhD joins LIT Friday to discuss her film SINCE I BEEN DOWN.

Lit Fridays is a literary-focused, virtual salon presented by the August Wilson African American Cultural Center, featuring conversations and guest performances on the last Friday* of each month at 6:00p EST via Facebook Live and Zoom Webinar. All conversations are moderated by AWAACC Literary Curator, Jessica Lanay.

Gilda Sheppard, PhD, is an award-winning filmmaker who has screened her documentaries throughout the United States, internationally in Canada, Ghana, South Africa, the Festival Afrique Cannes Film Festival, Nigeria Abuja Film Festival, and in Germany at the International Black Film Festival in Berlin. Sheppard is a 2017 Hedgebrook Fellow for documentary film, 2019 recipient of an Artist Trust Fellowship, 2023 Best Director New York Independent Film Festival, and awarded Best Feature Documentary for August Wilson Black Bottom Film Festival. Sheppard is faculty Emerita of Sociology, Cultural and Media Literacy at Evergreen State College in Tacoma.

SINCE I BEEN DOWN is an American story showcasing one city, Tacoma, WA, as an example of “Everytown, USA.” These are stories told through the eyes of a community impacted by the fear-based policies of the 1980’s and ‘90’s that sacrificed and labeled their most-vulnerable children as irredeemable “super predators.” The film unravels intimate stories from interviews brought to life through archival footage, cinema verité discussions, masquerade and dance to cinematically unravel why children commit violent crime, and how these children now adults are breaking free from their fate by creating a model of justice that is transforming their lives, our humanity and a quality of life for all our children.