"Amazing and heartbreaking. Deeply relevant to my own work on public housing demolition, serial displacement of African American communities, and affordable housing challenges."
Dr. Danya Keene, Assistant Professor, Yale School of Public Health
"In an age when individual rights are seemingly trampled upon with impunity, this film illustrates how it's possible for even the common man to have his say and to fight back."
Library Journal"This potent and at times heartbreaking film raises issues regarding urban renewal, preservation of neighborhoods, and community involvement."
Booklist"The Hill is a remarkable film that follows a group of people who decide to protest the destruction of their neighborhood. Its great achievement is in revealing the meaning a poor, disheveled neighborhood has for the people who live there. It teaches us the 'how' and the 'why' of fighting city hall.”
Mindy Thompson Fullilove, MD, Prof. of Clinical Psychiatry and Public Health,Columbia University
Synopsis
Set upon building a new school, the city of New Haven claims eminent domain over the Upper Hill neighborhood. While the city argues the building of the new school corresponds to a need for better school facilities, the residents of the area, mostly struggling low-income African-American families, say the decision corresponds to the city’s determination to sanitize the neighborhood in the proximity of the Yale-New Haven Hospital.
Together with the help of community leaders and a civil rights lawyer, the unlikely group of neighbors decides to contest the city’s claim and take the case to federal court. The Hill is a fascinating look at the complex issues surrounding urban planning, gentrification and economic renewal.
Trailer
Awards / Festivals
San Diego Black Film Festival
OFFICIAL SELECTION
Awareness Film Festival
OFFICIAL SELECTION
ENCORE NEW HAVEN SCREENINGS
Special screenings hosted by The Bradley Street Bicycle Co-Op on Sep 12 & 15, 2016
Press
Purchase the DVD
For educational use, click here.
For home use, click below.
Contact us to Host a screening
Copyright 2017 Otis Films