Doc about race perspectives in the ADKS at UJAC tonight

Jun. 14—UPPER JAY — "Shades Inside the Blueline," a feature-length documentary examining perspectives about race in the Adirondacks by director Michael Hansen, was a long time in the making.

It debuted at the 2022 Lake Placid Film Festival and will be screened today, 7 p.m., at at the Upper Jay Art Center and Recovery Lounge, 12198 9N, in collaboration with the Keene Diversity Advisory Committee. Suggested donation is $10.

"I started doing it back in 2018, and it just came out in 2022," Hansen said.

"It took longer than I wanted it to."

The film was an independent project by Hansen, who is an Adirondack-based producer and video editor who works primarily on human focused, non-fiction stories.

His work has been recognized regionally with Boston/New England Emmy awards in 2019 and 2022. He was the editor of "Arts in Exile," and "On Home Ground," two feature-length documentaries that have aired on over 100 PBS stations across the country, and which won a Best Documentary regional Emmy award and New York State Broadcasters Award, respectively.

Q & A WITH MICHAEL HANSEN

RC: Why did you want to make the film? Now?

MH: I actually started working on the film back in 2018 and the bulk of the filming was completed in 2019. This was a project I worked on mostly nights and weekends so it took longer than usual to assemble. Racism exists throughout America, and it can seem like an overwhelming issue to combat. However, I think understanding the specific ways that racism manifests in a specific area makes the issue a little more manageable. Plus, it's much easier for a person or small group to affect change locally rather than trying to tackle it nationally. So that was the overall goal, to examine the distinct ways that racism exists in the North Country, and hopefully move people to address it in a more focused manner.

RC: Was there a catalyst?

MH: The inciting incident was the racist Snapchat leak that happened at SUNY Plattsburgh back in early 2018, but that story ended up being just a minor section of the film. I wanted to understand the cultural environment that led up to that incident. How does living in a largely rural, largely homogeneous area influence a person's attitudes and understanding of race? How does having part of the area's economy tied to prisons and the criminal justice system and its history of racism affect us? A large part of the North Country economy is based on tourism. What happens when a part of the population of the state doesn't feel welcome in and around the Adirondacks? These are the types of questions I want to ask in the documentary.

RC: What is your background and relationship to the Adirondacks?

MH: I am originally from Buffalo, and have been visiting the Adirondacks since I was about 5 years old. I've been living in the Adirondacks full time since 2014. I love the hiking and paddling the Adirondacks has to offer. I love the wilderness and the solitude you can find up here, and I want those things to be accessible to everyone and I want everyone to feel as comfortable and as welcome as I feel.

RC: Who are your interviewees? Their bios? How did you find them?

MH: Everyone that I interviewed has some tie or connection to the North Country, but I tried to speak to a broad cross section of people. I spoke with professors and museum directors for a historical perspective, and I spoke with local activists, members of the Adirondack Council, artists, authors and college students to get a more present day perspective. A lot of the people I interviewed were found sort of organically. I'd conclude most of my interviews by asking who else the interviewee thought I should speak with. I'd get a few names, learn a bit about their area of expertise, contact them to learn if they'd be interested in being interviewed and proceed from there.

RC: What was your premise going in and how was that affirmed or disrupted?

MH: As much as possible, I tried to approach this material with an open mind. My goal was to let the words of the interviewees carry the narrative. The documentary does not have a narration written by me and I tried to keep my own opinions off the screen as much as possible and instead focused my effort to document other people's thoughts and attitudes about race in the Adirondack region, and the historic and current cultural impact wrought by these attitudes.

RC: Who is your audience? What is it that you hope they get from the film?

MH: In the broadest sense, I hope the audience is anyone who is concerned about the long term health and sustainability of the Adirondack region. As a tourist destination I think being a diverse and welcoming area will be essential to keeping the Adirondacks as beautiful as it is.

RC: What are three takeaways from your perspective?

MH: One is that I'm both amazed and grateful that so many different people were willing to have the thoughtful and difficult conversations with me that a documentary like this requires. No one owes me their time and still so many people were willing to give it.

It was also heartening to learn more about some of the various local organizations that are working to address racism in and around the Adirondack park.

Third, the importance of getting involved in our communities. Although some incidents of racism gain national media attention, there are similar stories happening in our own backyards and those are the issues we can more substantively impact.

Email: rcaudell@pressrepublican.com

Twitter@RobinCaudell