June 27, 2026
6 - 7 pm
TILT Institute
Free
TILT Institute concludes the exhibition and program series, How We Stay Free, with a collection of films created by filmmakers from Scribe Video Center in West Philadelphia. The Center’s mission is to explore, develop, and advance the use of digital media as an artistic means for creative expression and as tools for progressive social change. Scribe is a metaphor for the use of media to record significant historical and contemporary concerns and events, with emphasis on individuals and community groups that have limited resources, and have been denied access to media production technology because of race, ethnicity, age, income, or gender.
Youth in Action: Agents of Change (1995, 28 mins + 45 secs)
Produced by Miguel A. Ortiz Jr.
History has shown that activism is often initiated and sustained by young people. Producer Miguel A. Ortiz Jr. conducted intimate interviews with subjects who reflect on the importance of youth involvement in social causes from a personal perspective.
Tides of Change (2011, 8 mins)
Produced by Michelle Saul Yamasaki
Tides of Change establishes a parallel between the Vietnam War protests that occurred in Philadelphia (late 1960s/early 1970s) and the 2011 Occupy Philadelphia movement. The film utilizes a diverse range of archival materials—including photographs, newspaper clippings, and footage of the Occupy protests—to formally document these demonstrations. A principal point of emphasis is the substantial involvement of Temple University students, among others, across both protest movements.
May Day Takeover (1991, 12 mins + 50 secs)
Produced by Toni Cade Bambara, Laurel Brooke, Bryn Clark, Antonio Da Motta Leal, Louis Massiah, Sharon Mullally, Aishah Simmons, and Beatriz Vieira
On May 1, 1990, members of Dignity Housing, a local organization of unhoused and formerly unhoused individuals working toward permanent housing solutions to the shelter crisis, emerged from a van in an upper-middle-class Philadelphia neighborhood and translated their mission into action. To the neighbors’ surprise, the activists executed a relatively courteous and highly organized occupation of a vacant, federally owned building in a community distant from their own to underscore the federal government’s failure to address the housing needs of the poor.
The Taking of One Liberty Place (1987, 7 mins + 15 secs)
Produced by Louis Massiah
The Taking of One Liberty Place is a compelling account of the October 1, 1987, sit-in and occupation of the iconic skyscraper, then Philadelphia’s newest and largest office building. The demonstrators, many of whom were unhoused and/or members of the National Homeless Union, selected the site to symbolize misplaced corporate and government priorities, and call attention to the ongoing homelessness epidemic in the City. As protestors occupied the lobby in an effort to compel developer Willard Rouse to the negotiating table, the footage not only effectively captures the tension and drama of the moment, but also powerfully underscores that authentic community development and housing rights will be critical issues in the forthcoming years.
How We Stay Free — April 9 – June 27, 2026
