Sawyer Avenue, Sunday Afternoon: Film Screening & Panel

The Cooper Union and The New Yorker present a free screening of The New Yorker Documentary’s award-winning short documentary Sawyer Avenue, Sunday Afternoon, directed by filmmaker and Cooper Union School of Art alumnus Bill Morrison and produced in collaboration with Invisible Institute.

When masked and nameless US Border Patrol agents abduct a man from a residential street in Chicago’s Albany Park neighborhood without a warrant, his neighbors attempt to obstruct the vehicle carrying him from leaving their block. Continuing the language they developed with their Oscar-nominated short Incident, Morrison, working again with journalist-producer Jamie Kalven and joined by journalist María Inés Zamudio, combined CBP body-cam footage with cell phone recordings shot by neighbors on the scene to capture a specific moment in the rise of fascist policing in America.

Following the documentary, Morrison will be joined by his co-producer Kalven and Devashish “Dave” Basnet, senior immigration policy strategist at the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), for a discussion about justice, surveillance, and the state-sponsored abuse of power. Sawyer Avenue, Sunday Afternoon is part of the award-winning New Yorker Documentary series, which showcases innovative short films from around the world. Produced by both emerging and renowned filmmakers, the series offers uncommon perspectives on issues that matter to us now. The film is streaming now on The New Yorker’s digital platforms.

Please note: RSVP link will take you to a third party website, cooper.edu