WATCH TRAILER

Running with My Girls

Directed by Rebekah Henderson

US | 2021 | 97 minutes | Color | DVD | English | Order No. W221291 |

Tired of watching local government ignore their communities’ interests, five diverse female activists decide to run for municipal office in Denver — one of the fastest gentrifying cities in the U.S.

Host a screening
Watch on Kanopy

SYNOPSIS

Tired of watching local government ignore their communities’ interests, five diverse female activists decide to run for municipal office in Denver — one of the fastest gentrifying cities in the country. It begins when Shontel Lewis wins a transit board seat, inspiring four women who worked on her campaign – Dr. Lisa Calderón, Candi CdeBaca, Shayla Richard, and Veronica Barela – to make the unusual decision to run as a cohort. They quickly realize that in politics, large sums of money can convince voters to overlook scandals, empty promises, and shallow relationships with the community.  

With only a fraction of the funds of their incumbent opponents, the women tirelessly knock doors, make calls, and rely on each other to power their grassroots campaigns. Using an intimate and unfiltered style to tell each candidate’s story, filmmaker Rebekah Henderson honestly portrays the challenges faced by political outsiders, particularly women of color, while also revealing their tenacious commitment to justice and democracy. Ultimately, RUNNING WITH MY GIRLS is a lesson about an engaged community outrunning the deep pockets of the political establishment and a demonstration that building a new kind of political power is not just aspirational but possible. 

PRESS

"An intimate and unfiltered look at the challenges faced by political outsiders."

Denver Film Festival

"Could not recommend it more highly."

Dr. Dan Clark College of Aurora

“Should be a mandatory viewing for everyone before any election anywhere."

Front Porch NE

"An intimate and moving lesson that all politics is local, but that the twin Hydra of capitalism and white supremacy is always redefining what and who, is local…it’s both heartbreaking and hopeful."

Will Berson Oscar-nominated Screenwriter for JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH

"Puts a spotlight on the young women of color rising to the occasion in local politics documenting their trials and tribulations. A must watch in the canon of what happens when women run."

Author, Nasty Women: Feminism, Resistance, and Revolution in Trump’s America

"Sets a picture of larger issues that cities across the country are dealing with."

Colorado Public Radio

"Showcases their triumphs, struggles and what it means that more activists from underrepresented groups are getting involved in the government."

Highlands Rach Herald

"Funny, laced with hope, and ultimately a reminder that progress can often be a glacial progress, but every forward step counts. It’ll make you laugh, choke you up and most importantly, inspire you to take action."

Jeffco Transcript

"Local politics becomes universal when Henderson shows how neighborhood activism has the raw power to shake the status quo on the rocky road of achieving equality."

Nobu Adelman director SHORT ROUND UP (documentary)

SCREENING HIGHLIGHTS AND AWARDS

  • Denver Film Festival
  • Center for Black Culture and Research Film Festival
  • Reel Pride Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
  • Alexandria Film Festival
  • African Diaspora Film Festival
  • Women Transforming Cities, Vancouver
  • Meaningful Movies, Seattle

ABOUT FILMMAKER(S)

Rebekah Henderson

Rebekah E. Henderson is a writer, podcaster, and independent documentary film producer based in Denver, Colorado. She has directed and produced two short documentaries, WHAT MAKES A MOTHER and ALL MIXED UP: OUR CHANGING RACIAL IDENTITIES. Known for being an open, honest communicator around issues of race, identity, politics, and social justice, Henderson hosts the podcast Off Color in its various mediums and organizes More Than One Box, an annual event that is designed to provide a space for multiracial and multiethnic people, featuring films, panelists and vendors from Colorado and beyond. RUNNING WITH MY GIRLS is her first feature length documentary.  (3/22)

Electronic Press Kit

Credits: 

Director: Rebekah Henderson 

Producers: Rebekah Henderson, Sara McKellogg Lane, Kerry Michelle O’Brien 

Cinematographers: Rebekah Henderson, Vince Chandler, Brandon Carter, Trish Tolentino 

Editor: Lilah Park 

Post Production: Kerry Michelle O’Brien 

Cast: Lisa Calderón Candi CdeBaca Veronica Barela Shayla Richard Shontel Lewis 

Composer: Kyle Jones 

Graphic Designer: Chez Strong 


YOU MIGHT ALSO BE INTERESTED IN

Barbara Lee: Speaking Truth to Power

An intimate and inspiring  portrait of  Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), a champion of civil rights and the lone vote in opposition of the broad authorization of military force following the September 11th  attacks. 
Learn more

Fannie Lou Hamer's America

FANNIE LOU HAMER’S AMERICA, winner of Best TV Feature Documentary or miniseries at the IDA Awards, is a portrait of Mississippi sharecropper-turned-human-rights-activist, Fannie Lou Hamer, one of the Civil Rights Movement’s greatest leaders.
Learn more

Paulette

PAULETTE follows the historic campaign of Paulette Jordan, the first Native American candidate – as well as the first woman -- to win the Idaho Primary for Governor.
Learn more

Chisholm '72 - Unbought and Unbossed

This compelling documentary takes an in-depth look at the 1972 presidential campaign of Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to Congress and the first to seek nomination for the highest office in the land.
Learn more

Heather Booth: Changing the World

Renowned organizer and activist Heather Booth began her remarkable career at the height of the Civil Rights movement. Through her life and work, this inspiring film explores many of the pivotal moments in progressive movements that altered our history over the last fifty years, from her involvement with Fannie Lou Hamer and the Freedom Summer Project, to her founding of the JANE Underground in 1964, to her personal relationships with respected leaders such as Julian Bond and Senator Elizabeth Warren. Featuring interviews from close friends, clients, political colleagues and current Midwest Academy students, HEATHER BOOTH: CHANGING THE WORLD explores Heather’s legacy in progressive politics and organizing. At a time when many are wondering how to make their voices heard, when civil and women's rights are under attack, Lilly Rivlin’s acclaimed documentary is an empowering look at how social change happens.
Learn more

Patsy Mink: Ahead of the Majority

In 1965, Patsy Takemoto Mink became the first woman of color in the United States Congress. Seven years later, she ran for the US presidency and was the driving force behind Title IX, the landmark legislation that transformed women’s opportunities in higher education and athletics.
Learn more

Without a Whisper

WITHOUT A WHISPER - KONNON:KWE is the untold story of the profound influence of Indigenous women on the beginning of the women’s rights movement in the United States.
Learn more

Councilwoman

COUNCILWOMAN follows the first term of Rhode Island Councilwoman Carmen Castillo as she balances her day job as a hotel housekeeper with the demands of public office.
Learn more

LaDonna Harris: Indian 101

LADONNA HARRIS: INDIAN 101 from Comanche filmmaker Julianna Brannum, chronicles the life of Comanche activist and national civil rights leader LaDonna Harris and the role that she has played in Native and mainstream America history since the 1960s. In this new verite style documentary, Brannum, the great niece of Harris, celebrates her life and the personal struggles that led her to become a voice for Native people and her contemporary work to strengthen and rebuild indigenous communities and train emerging Native leaders around the world. Harris’s activism began in Oklahoma, fighting segregation and assisting grassroots Native and women’s groups. In Washington LaDonna introduced landmark programs and legislation returning territory to tribes, improving education and healthcare for Native Americans, ending job discrimination against women, and targeting other pressing issues of the time. For over three decades, “Indian 101,” her course for legislators, combatted ignorance about America’s most marginalized population. Using interviews, archival footage and photographs, this film justly celebrates one of the most important women leaders in Native American and U.S. history.
Learn more

Standing on My Sisters' Shoulders

In 1965, when three women walked into the US House of Representatives in Washington D.C., they had come a very long way. Neither lawyers nor politicians, they were ordinary women from Mississippi,and descendants of African slaves. They had come to their country’s capital seeking civil rights, the first black women to be allowed in the senate chambers in nearly 100 years. A missing chapter in our nation’s record of the Civil Rights movement, this powerful documentary reveals the movement in Mississippi in the 1950’s and 60’s from the point of view of the courageous women who lived it – and emerged as its grassroots leaders. Their living testimony offers a window into a unique moment when the founders’ promise of freedom and justice passed from rhetoric to reality for all Americans. Through moving interviews and powerful archival footage, STANDING ON MY SISTERS' SHOULDERS weaves a story of commitment, passion and perseverance and tells the story of the women fought for change in Mississippi and altered the course of American history forever.
Learn more
Shopping Cart