Storming Caesars Palace

A film by Hazel Gurland-Pooler

STORMING CAESARS PALACE chronicles the life of Ruby Duncan, an activist who fights the welfare system and becomes a White House advisor. A real-life superhero, she takes on both the Nevada political establishment and organized crime in a valiant and resolute act of civil disobedience.

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SYNOPSIS

STORMING CAESARS PALACE chronicles the extraordinary life of Ruby Duncan, an activist who fights the welfare system and becomes a White House advisor. Ruby, along with Mary Wesley, Alversa Beals, and low-income mothers across the country form the National Welfare Rights Organization to fight for an adequate income, dignity, and justice. Together, they introduce a Guaranteed Income campaign in 1969 which, with feminist Gloria Steinem at their side, becomes part of the Democratic platform in 1972.

A real-life superhero, Ruby takes on both the Nevada political establishment and organized crime in a valiant and resolute act of civil disobedience. Based on a groundbreaking book and using lost archival material, STORMING CAESARS PALACE celebrates the visionary leadership of Ruby Duncan, whose courage, tenacity, and dreams could not be quashed against all odds. While the film focuses on a historical story, its message is current and relevant as it asks viewers to consider that a guaranteed universal income is a human rights issue.

STORMING CAESARS PALACE which received substantial funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Ford Foundation, ITVS, and Black Public Media is available to book for screenings.

PRESS

The powerful film centers the women at the forefront of an important feminist anti-poverty movement.

Kristal Sotomayor Documentary.org

This film uplifts the story of Las Vegas activist Ruby Duncan and a band of ordinary mothers who launched one of the most extraordinary, yet forgotten, feminist, anti-poverty movements in U.S. history providing a blueprint today for an equitable future.

Blackstar Film Festival

"Chronicles the extraordinary story of Ruby Duncan who went from a boisterous protestor to a strategic organizer to a White House advisor."

Philadelphia Sunday

"A fascinating, under appreciated piece of history."

Santa Fe Reporter

SCREENING HIGHLIGHTS AND AWARDS

Shine Award, Black Star Film Festival

ABOUT FILMMAKER(S)

Hazel Gurland-Pooler

Born in Bogotá, Colombia, Hazel is a NYC-based director/producer who shares the stories of women from underrepresented communities fighting to overcome intersectional injustice historically and today. Storming Caesars Palace, Hazel's first feature-length documentary, premiered as the Opening Night film at the BlackStar Film Festival in 2022 winning the coveted Shine Award, and continues to tour the festival circuit and have community screening events. The film broadcast nationally on PBS’s Independent Lens series on March 20, 2023 to over 1.325M viewers and was in the top 3 streamed IL episodes that season.

Previously, Hazel directed 10 episodes of PBS’s primetime celebrity genealogy series, Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Hazel also created and produced a 5-part, short docu-series called, My Everyday Hustle, for PBS.org and PBS WorldChannel. She produced Roots: A History Revealed simulcast on A&E/History/Lifetime, which was nominated for a NAACP Image Award and screened at the Bushwick Film Festival in 2016. Hazel co-produced the 6-hour PBS series The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., which was honored with an Emmy, a Peabody, a duPont-Columbia, and a NAACP Image award. (1/25)

Director/Producer: Hazel Gurland-Pooler

Editor: Sunita Prasad

Consulting Producer: Jamila Wignot

Consulting Producer: Yoruba Richen

Subject Areas

Activism African American American History Equity Politics Human Rights

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