The Vermont Production Collective (VPC) is proud to announce the launch of VPC Presents: Vermont Films Showcase, a new series dedicated to exhibiting powerful, Vermont-made cinema that showcases the diversity of homegrown filmmaking talent, supports local theaters, and sparks essential community conversations.

The showcase, curated by local filmmaker Chad Ervin (Gone Guys, VPC co-founder), kicks off with a double feature: 

Braiding a New Life is a love letter to Brattleboro, Vermont, and a passionate portrait of reciprocity, mutual aid, and the value of cross-cultural friendships and diverse community. This 36-minute documentary follows Sarah, a Ghanaian asylum seeker, as she navigates life in Southern Vermont.  We are with Sarah as she learns to drive with the help of a local volunteer, braids her friend Dora’s hair, chats on the local radio station, listens to a Congolese refugee band at a houseshow, shops at an African grocery in Springfield MA, and prepares for her asylum case hearing with the support the Community Asylum Seekers Project. Above all, this is a portrait of four women — who together weave a shining net of support, advocacy, humor, ferocity, tenderness, and care — in their relationship to one another and in commitment to a world in which immigrants are welcomed, valued and respected.

La Liga focuses on immigrant dairy farmers in Vermont who, in the face of tremendous isolation, formed a pickup soccer league. It is about finding a sense of home in a new land, and of people coming together to use a national past-time to create a better future. The film tells the story of the minimum wage earning population that is keeping dairy farming alive in Vermont, while simultaneously being the population that is most heavily persecuted and harassed. The film follows farm workers as they attempt to find a path forward despite the pressures of work and ICE. But above all, the film is a story of migrational hope. These individuals came to Vermont with little more than the promise of a picture, and despite the overwhelming pressures they face, they continue to build and fight towards a better future for their community.

Following the screenings, a panel discussion will feature the filmmakers, film participants, and local leaders from immigrant support organizations.