This post was co-written by Jonha Revesencio.
Every now and then, a documentary comes along and captures the imagination of critics and audiences alike. 1994’s Hoop Dreams and 2008’s Man on a Wire immediately come to mind. Two great films that take you inside of an event, frame it with skillful narration, and establish an emotional connection with the audience. The new documentary, #StandWithMe, does this as well.
It touches on a timely subject: modern slavery. According to a recent report by the Australian-based Walk Free Foundation, there are 30 million people in the world living as slaves. This fact alone inspires activism – which is at the heart of the film’s story: the wide-eye idealism of a 9 year old girl with the belief that her lemonade stand can free 500 enslaved kids by raising $150,000.
The compelling documentary centers around the story of a 9-year-old Vivienne Harr, who saw an arresting photograph of two enslaved children in Nepal and decided to take a stand. With the aim to raise money for the child, she set up her lemonade stand for 365 days in a row, asking customers to “pay what’s in your heart”.
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A simple call to action: Do something
“Central to the theme of our movie is the moment each of our main characters learned that slavery still exists in the world, and the action they took once they knew,” explains Co-Director Patrick Moreau of Still Motion, the innovative production company that created #standwithme. “Until we met Vivienne, we didn’t know the degree to which slavery exists in our modern world — but the moment we were made aware, we had to do something. This movie is our something.”
The documentary made its debut on the National Freedom Day, February 1st, in San Francisco. It was the first leg of a 30 city tour ending in Portland, Oregon on April 8th.
#StandwithMe is not just powered by traditional media, but also a social invitation for people around the world to take a stand against slavery and invite others to join in doing so. Supporters are invited to take part in the conversation because freedom tastes better when shared.
