Reclaiming the Ville:
A Young Filmmakers Documentary (2024)

Our documentary was scripted, filmed, and edited by a group of young filmmakers, ages eleven to eighteen, from four New Haven, Connecticut public schools. The documentary, Reclaiming the Ville: A Young Filmmakers Documentary, was funded with a grant from The Prosperity Foundation and Social Equity Counsel. Blue Plum was retained by a New Haven nonprofit, Resurgence Now, Inc., to create and operate the Young Filmmakers program. Our documentary takes an in depth look on how the “War on Drugs” impacted the community of Newhallville, a Black neighborhood in New Haven. Although Newhallville is a unique neighborhood with different businesses and people, their story is like so many thriving Black communities left vulnerable in the face of controlled substances making their way into people's homes and lives. Through on-the-ground interviews, the young filmmakers confronted the indelible mark that the "war on drugs" left on Newhallville residents and their community. This documentary takes a multigenerational approach to this topic with interviewers as young as eleven-years-old and interview subjects ranging from eighteen to seventy-six years old.

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Please enjoy our documentary below:

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