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Finding Má

@findingmafilm

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🎬 🎥 Foster care and prison tore them apart. Now this Viet/Black family is reuniting, starting with finding Má, their unhoused mother in Sacramento.

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4 years ago I was released from San Quentin after serving 10 and half years inside. What is time? Since my release I have changed laws, reunited my family, built a community and the list goes on and on. Bigger than accomplishments, I’ve been able to be a big brother again. I got to become a father. I got to become a filmmaker. A perfect life doesn’t exist. But a life full of meaning does. I love you community! As yall can see I’m slowly ramping up my socials again. Finally got a team to help us grow! If you are a content editor and want to volunteer on our content team feel free to dm me! Consider it my 4 years out gift! Much love yall! by @findingmafilm

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5 months ago

The new Uncuffed episode “Finding Home” is in your podcast feed now. In it, Thanh Tran shares the story of the day he and his siblings went to look for their mom, who is houseless in South Sacramento. It was the first time Thanh saw his mom since coming home from prison. Here is a clip from his documentary @findingmafilm. #podcast #documentary #mom taken in Sacramento, California by @findingmafilm

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Here’s another clip from Thanh Tran’s documentary @findingmafilm – featured in the latest episode of the Uncuffed podcast. Thanh and his siblings went looking for their mother on Christmas Day, which is her birthday. After they found her out in the cold on the streets of South Sacramento, they convinced her to let them take her to a hotel. There’s so much more to this story than can fit in Instagram reels. Listen to Thanh talk about it in the “Finding Home” podcast episode and go to findingma.com to learn more. #podcast #family taken in Sacramento, California by @findingmafilm

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“OMG your sister is amazing!” I’ve heard that from so many people who watched a sneak peek of our film, Finding Má. And they’re right. Thu IS amazing! Check her out. Can’t wait to share more in the documentary – coming soon! by @findingmafilm

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Thanh Tran, the filmmaker behind Finding Má, spent years of his life incarcerated. Art, community, and advocacy allowed him to lift himself up. In turn, he used his filmmaking and advocacy to uplift other incarcerated individuals. He's since created and supported Community Connect, the Clemency Coalition, and is in the process of releasing his documentary Finding Má.

Follow @findingmafilm to learn more and donate to our efforts at the link in bio! by @findingmafilm

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I’ve been locked up 10 times in total. Nobody thought I would be here today. Now I’m a filmmaker, a music artist, and an organizer. Can’t wait to share what comes next. by @findingmafilm

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18 days ago

Send this to someone who needs a reminder that they are 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙪𝙡! Finding Má is nearing completion and we have lots to celebrate! More updates coming soon!🎬 by @findingmafilm

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Italy Film Festival side quest! This really blew my mind as a filmmaker. It showed me what it looks like when film is free, accessible, and a cultural force in their community. I want Finding Má to have an outdoor massive screening like this.

Festival II Cinema Ritrovato was in Bologna, Italy. They had a massive screen outside, in the middle of the town square, called Piazza Maggiore. People came hours early to save themselves a seat to watch the films. They showed old films and new films.

It also made me smile to see Free Gaza and Free Palestine spray painted all through the city. They are politically conscious here and I freaking love it. More learning and honeymoon celebrating to do. See yall in states if I decide to come back. lol. by @findingmafilm

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Community Connect is about creating opportunities for connection, expression, and hope. Sometimes that looks like deep conversations. Sometimes it looks like art. And sometimes it looks like a rap cypher breaking out in the middle of the yard!

Those are the moments that stay with me. This is why I continue to utilize my platform to uplift the incredible humans and work that gets disappeared inside the prison walls.

Shout out to @theabs1er and @mahtiebush916 for heating up the cypher and everyone else who stepped into the circle and brought the energy. Y’all turned a prison yard into something sacred for our people!

More Community Connects coming to a prison far from you! by @findingmafilm

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4 months ago

One of the most dangerous prisons in California, is what they said about High Desert State Prison. Of course that’s why we brought two days of community, resources, and art to the prison yard people were too scared to go to! We will be sharing testimony from different incarcerated people we got to connect with during our two days hosting the Community Connect convening at High Desert.

A lot of people think narrative work is just film or content, but narratives shape policy, shape public opinion, and shape the way people see themselves. When incarcerated people only hear stories that say they’re failures or statistics, that becomes the self-fulfilling prophecy. But when people like Robert Palofox share their lived experience, accountability, and growth, it creates space for people to imagine something different for themselves.

Shout out to Initiate Justice, Ella Baker Center and many more orgs who came together to make these convenings happen! Special shout out to my twin Lee Gibson for manifesting these convenings together with me! Community Connect!!!! by @findingmafilm

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Your story has power. You can share it through social media. Through documentary. Through public speaking. Whatever you do, share it! There is no one who has survived and struggled like you have. The wisdom you possess can change someone’s life. It’s bigger than you! It’s bigger than me! Live purposefully my people! by @findingmafilm

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5 months ago

🎬 A big thanks to filmmakers Luca Capponi, Thanh Tran, and Alex J. Bledsoe—along with Isabella Miller (Berkeley Film Foundation) and Dawn Valadez (BAVC Media)—for joining us for DOCTALK: SUPPORTING THE VISION. Co-presented by Berkeley Film Foundation and BAVC Media.

Thanks for the inspiring and insightful conversation exploring documentary storytelling and the powerful impact of artist support through programs like the Berkeley Film Foundation grants and the BAVC’s MediaMaker Fellowship.

Photo © Bill Sumits

PS - Don't miss the next free DOCTALK: FUNDING THE VISION this Saturday, presented with CAFILM Education and Video Consortium Bay Area. doclands.com/doctalk taken in Smith Rafael Film Center by @findingmafilm

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