Separately or conjoined, drug addiction, poverty and violence are a part of life in many communities.
The documentary “Legacy” tells the story of how a family deals with all three challenging social problems that plague America and other countries.
“[‘Legacy’] is about welfare, public housing, a single mom raising kids and grandparents raising kids, addiction, and community violence,” said Tod Lending about his film on Thurs., Nov. 20, before showing clips of “Legacy.” Lending also showed clips from his other film,”Omar and Pete.”
Lending stated that what makes a documentary work “is the relationship.” Lending applies what he refers to as “longitudinal film making,” which means that he’s not limited to only film making, but that he’s a “friend, social worker, and a therapist.” In terms of an approach to film making, Lending stated that “longitudinal film making breaks tradition,” but “relationships can make the story.”
Lending explained that “wearing different hats was a challenge to making the film,” but he described a situation where his “longitudinal” approach was beneficial. For example, Lending described how he was able to gain access to a drug treatment program for one of the family members in the documentary after she was initially denied. Additionally, Lending described how he enabled the return of a dress to a clothing store for a “Legacy” participant, after the return of the item was denied for what clearly appeared to be racist and discriminatory reasons.
Lending discussed another documentary titled “Omar and Pete,” a film about newly released prisoners who participate in a social service program designed to help newly released inmates. The service, called the Maryland Re-entry program, provides, housing, mental healthcare and additional support to former inmates.
During the question and answer portion of the discussion, Maria Chaves, with the Adult and Women Student Programs at NEIU, inquired about Lending’s choices of people and subjects to focus on for documentaries. Lending stated that he “looks for people that he can connect with,” and he “looks for stories that present hope.” Hope is important to Lending because he stated “the first person I feel accountable to is the subject. Second is the community.” Lending mentioned how “Legacy” was approved by the church group ITC because “Legacy” “presented hope.”
An audience member asked Lending what he could do to help and Lending responded: “Join a community organization.”
Lending next mentioned “poverty of spirit” and a “lack of drive,” among some poor people. In response, Chaves explained that “drive” will be inadequate to remedy the suffering of a segment of poor people due to the complexity of the problem. Another question was raised about the apparent faster success of immigrants in America compared to poor blacks.
In response to the question, Antoinette McConnell, Assistant Dean of Students, mentioned the “fragmentation in the black community” and that “it wasn’t always like this.” She stated that she “remembers a time” when blacks “were more helpful” to each other.
Another audience member mentioned the reality of the poor quality of education in poor communities as a contributor and cause for poverty.
Lending mentioned the two major “turning points” in his life. The first was viewing his friend drown. That event taught Lending the “fragile, sacredness of life,” and to “pursue what you are interested in.” The death of his friend displayed for Lending how a family copes with the death of a loved one, a subject that he revisits in “Legacy.”
The second “turning point” was when he worked on a farm when he was 16 years old. Lending stated that he was impressed with the hard work of the farmer, who worked from “sun up to sun down.” However, Lending mentioned that the farmer was racist. Lending mentioned that the farmer told him, “the only good n—- is a dead n—-.”