SYNOPSIS
Beyond the bloodshed and bullets, in urban America, there are communities where unprecedented courage resides, extraordinary families are tested and improvement is difficult to find…until now.
Envision Films, in collaboration with Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center, The Hartford Police Department, The Guardian Angels, Mothers United Against Violence, WDRC’s Brad Davis and a community on the front lines of hope and sacrifice presents: THE SWEETEST LAND – a documentary film about recovery, engagement and politics – where complacency can no longer be an option.
SCREENINGS
THE SWEETEST LAND is screening in select festivals nationwide. It recently won the Los Angeles Film Awards, received Best Documentary at the Fort Worth Indie Film Showcase and Best Documentary at the Queens World Film Festival. It received an Excellence in Social Issues Award at Docs Without Borders Film Festival and was recently featured at Yale’s Whitney Humanities Center as part of the New Haven Documentary Festival The Sweetest Land had its Manhattan premiere at the Lower East Side Film Festival Check back for additional screenings and updates.
We would like to thank The Center’s for Disease Control (CDC), Harvard School of Public Health, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard School of Law, Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center, The Injury Prevention Center and The LEF Foundation for your assistance and engagement throughout our post production period. Sometimes a story can change everything.
UPCOMING SCREENINGS
COMMUNITY ARTS FESTIVAL – SAINT LOUIS, MO – SEPT 8
CAPITOL CITY BLACK FILM FESTIVAL – AUSTIN, TX – TBA
(IN)JUSTICE FOR ALL FILM FESTIVAL – CHICAGO, IL – TBA
JULY 26th, 2019 FORT WORTH INDIE FILM SHOWCASE – FORT WORTH, TX
JUNE 7TH, 2019 – FILM INVASION LOS ANGELES, LOS ANGELES, CA
JUNE 10th, 2019 – LOWER EAST SIDE FILM FESTIVAL – NYC, NY
Additional festivals coming soon! LIVES CAN MATTER
FORT WORTH INDEPENDENT FILM SHOWCASE AWARDS THE SWEETEST LAND – BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
We are pleased to announce that the Fort Worth Independent Film Showcase has awarded The Sweetest Land a Best Documentary Feature, within the out-of-state film genre. On behalf of those in the film as well as those who have worked so hard on it, thank you for recognizing the often overlooked survivors of inner city […]
HARTFORD COURANT PUBLISHES A SWEETEST LAND OP-ED
Read on the Courant: When you spend nights and weekends in one of New England’s most violent cities, you realize how little you know and how much can be revealed. For years, I focused my camera on Connecticut’s capital city of Hartford. I was embedded with police, clergy, community organizations, emergency personnel and victims of […]
CONNECTICUT AGAINST GUN VIOLENCE ENDORSES THE SWEETEST LAND
This week THE SWEETEST LAND was honored to receive the endorsement of CT Against Gun Violence. Lobbying in Connecticut for over 25 years, CAGV focuses on the reduction of gun violence through education, coalition building and legislative action. For many years we have been looking for a film that speaks to diverse communities, advocates and […]
FORT WORTH INDEPENDENT FILM SHOWCASE SELECTS THE SWEETEST LAND
We are pleased to announce THE SWEETEST LAND is an OFFICIAL SELECTION within the FORT WORTH INDEPENDENT FILM SHOWCASE. The film will be featured this July 26, 2019 in Fort Worth, TX . FWIFS is a top 100 best reviewed festivals on Film Freeway. LIVES CAN MATTER.
THE SWEETEST LAND IS A FINALIST IN DAVINCI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
THE SWEETEST LAND is a selected finalist in the Davinci Film Awards. Stay tuned for upcoming screenings and additional awards. Violence is preventable. Lives must matter!
DOCS WITHOUT BORDERS AWARDS THE SWEETEST LAND
We are pleased to announce THE SWEETEST LAND has won an OUTSTANDING EXCELLENCE AWARD within SOCIAL ISSUES from DOCS WITHOUT BORDERS FILM FESTIVAL Stay connected to future screenings and updates through our FACEBOOK or INSTAGRAM pages Turn On Builder
WNPR’S WHERE WE LIVE FEATURES THE SWEETEST LAND
Urban Gun Violence Is A Problem. What Are The Solutions? By CARMEN BASKAUF & LUCY NALPATHANCHIL Where We Live In 2017, nearly 40,000 people died from gun violence in the U.S. according to the CDC. Aswad Thomas is a survivor. A victim of a Hartford shooting outside a convenience store in 2009. He is also […]
AN UNFLINCHING EYE SETS THE STAGE FOR THE SWEETEST LAND – LOWER EAST SIDE FILM FESTIVAL
SEE IT ON THE LOWER EAST SIDE FILM FESTIVAL’S BLOG June 8, 2019 AN UNFLINCHING EYE SETS THE STAGE FOR THE SWEETEST LAND, DIRECTED BY JEFFREY B. TEITLER. Whether you live in New York City or Roswell New Mexico, gun violence has become a nationwide epidemic. Through extensive research and lengthy persistence, Jeffrey Teitler examines an […]
OFFICIAL SELECTION – LOWER EAST SIDE FILM FESTIVAL, NYC
We are so pleased and honored to announce that THE SWEETEST LAND has been selected to screen, on June 10th, 2019 within the Lower East Side Film Festival. NYC. EVENT DETAILS 7:00 PM Doors Open | Open Beer & Wine Bar! 7:30 PM Film Begins 8:30 PM Q&A with Filmmakers VENUE Village East Cinema 181-189 […]
THE SWEETEST LAND WINS LOS ANGELES FILM AWARDS
We are so pleased to announce that THE SWEETEST LAND has won Best Documentary Feature in the Los Angeles Film Awards. Thank you LAFA!!! https://www.lafilmawards.net/february-2019
From Street Violence To Showbiz – New Haven Independent
Read on the NEW HAVEN INDEPENDENT This is the first of a series of reviews of movies showing at the New Haven Documentary Film Festival, or NHDocs, which runs May 30 through June 9 at the Whitney Humanities Center at Yale, the main branch of the New Haven Free Public Library, Cafe Nine, and the […]
Hartford gun-violence doc ‘The Sweetest Land’ to be screened in New Haven
Read On the Hartford Courant by Susan Dunne In 2009, Aswad Thomas was a college grad and was looking forward to a career playing basketball in Europe. That didn’t happen. On Aug. 24, Thomas was shot on Albany Avenue in Hartford while leaving a convenience store. Thomas survived and walked again, but his life changed forever. […]
THE SWEETEST LAND WINS BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE – QUEENS WORLD FILM FESTIVAL
Featured at The Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, NY, we are so pleased to announce that THE SWEETEST LAND was the festival winner. Thank you, QWFF https://www.queensworldfilmfestival.com/winners/
WHO’S WATCHING PREVENTION? – HARTFORD COURANT – OP-ED III
READ ON THE HARTFORD COURANT I grew up in Hartford, attended Hartford schools and college. I have always seen life differently. My family raised me here, we definitely struggled and yet I believe it was living in Hartford that created my determination to serve my community in deeply committed ways. Before retiring in June, I […]
LEFT TO DIE IN URBAN AMERICA – HARTFORD COURANT – OP-ED II
For too many years, the capital city has had too many lives lost and families broken from violence. We respond with community rallies and meetings. Politicians use the issue to get elected. But with all of this talk, what preventive measures are in place to address these problems, and what programs actually help victims? Too many victims experience abandonment.
THE SWEETEST LAND COLLABORATES WITH THE HARTFORD COURANT
THE SWEETEST LAND is pleased to announce an innovative collaboration with the Hartford Courant. VIEW THE SWEETEST LAND’S OUTTAKE SERIES ON THE HARTFORD COURANT Prior to THE SWEETEST LAND’s completion and release, the Hartford Courant will present exclusive cutting room footage (stories not used in the film), imagery and opinion pieces from film participants. National prevention experts along side of Hartford’s […]
THE SWEETEST LAND – AN UNLIKELY JOURNEY
While THE SWEETEST LAND took years to construct, the events, findings and actions, could never have been predicted. Having documented years of incidents with vulnerable individuals and families, finding effective prevention services or established programs, which offered substantial improvement to a victim’s life was difficult. In fact, regardless of the year’s violent crime rate, political party in power or annual safety-net funds spent, in […]
ENGAGEMENT, ACTION AND CHANGE?
THE SWEETEST LAND has engaged the following individuals and organizations for advocacy and social action: US Senator (CT) Chris Murphy — Status (PENDING/TO BE ANNOUNCED) US Senator (CT) Richard Blumenthal — Status (PENDING/TO BE ANNOUNCED) US Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty — Status (PENDING/TO BE ANNOUNCED) US Congressman, John Larson — Status (PENDING/TO BE ANNOUNCED) Governor Dannel […]
ENGAGEMENT:
Check back for additional announcements on national collaborations and advocacy initiatives.
To keep in touch, click to join our FACEBOOK PAGE
To contact THE SWEETEST LAND for partnerships, social action and related events:
The SWEETEST LAND is produced by ENVISION FILMS
The Sweetest Land is supported by: LEF FOUNDATION PETER J. KNOX WISE FAMILY FOUNDATION CONNECTICUT COMMISSION ON CULTURE AND TOURISIM COMMUNITY BANK FOUNDATION CCSU FOUNDATION WADSWORTH ATHENEUM
