A co-executive producer gasps. She recorded the original interview, and watched most of this raw film over and over again. She has cataloged hundreds of news clippings, photographs, and pieces of memorabilia. She is one of a handful of people in Northwest Louisiana who can perhaps lay credible claim to the legacy of ACT-UP Shreveport, and, while she, her co-executive producing partner, and the editor of the forthcoming documentary Small Town Rage: Fighting Back in the Deep South review a rough cut of the first 5 minutes . . . her breath catches and her eyes water. This story is still as powerful now as it was on the first telling.

Raydra Hall and David W. Hylan are the progenitors of Small Town Rage, a documentary capturing the lives and struggles of ACT-UP Shreveport. ACT-UP was a loose affiliation of local chapters of activists, agitators, and allies working to secure resources and attention to the AIDS crisis of the 80s and early 90s. Thanks to the advances of medicine and public policy in the last 20 years, the epidemic’s early days are all but forgotten, except by the precious few local residents who survived not just the the disease, but government inaction and political backlash. Unsurprisingly, Shreveport-Bossier circa 1990 presented different, provincial challenges and factors than a New York or a San Francisco, or even a Houston. These stories, along with those of the friends and families of those who have passed on, are being gathered and shaped into a lasting reminder of the heart-wrenching failure and the superlative strength of the human spirit.

The project began as a college assignment, but the scope quickly grew from one interview to dozens. Raydra and David enlisted Fairfield Studios to wrestle it under control. They assembled a team of media and film professionals, executed a successful Kickstarter campaign, and brought on several high profile organizations as benefactors, including The Philadelphia Center and Broadway Cares. Nearly five years after the first footage was recorded, Small Town Rage will be ready for a local premier in late fall.

To watch the trailer, find out more about Small Town Rage: Fighting Back in the Deep South, and stay informed on the 2016 premier date and location, visit their website (www.smalltownrage.com) and follow them on Facebook. To make a (still needed) financial contribution to the project, visit their Donorbox page.

https://vimeo.com/154541949