Longfellow Hall

Join us for the Boston Premiere of Hollow Tree, hosted by History Design Studio and co-sponsored by the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The screening will be followed by a conversation with Director Kira Akerman, Producer Monique Walton, and the 3 protagonists. Moderated by Walter Johnson with an Introduction by Vincent Brown. This event is the first in the Swamp Capitalism Event Series convened by History Design Studio Fellow Robin McDowell. We extend special thanks to the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Dean Bridget Long for their generous support. Free and open to the public. Advance tickets highly recommended. About the Film: Hollow Tree follows three teenagers coming of age in their sinking homeland of Louisiana. For the first time, they notice the Mississippi River’s engineering, stumps of cypress trees, and billowing smokestacks. Their different perspectives — as Indigenous, white, and Angolan young women — shape their story of the climate crisis. The 73-minute award-winning documentary, directed by Kira Akerman and produced by Monique Walton and Chachi Hauser, invites three young women, who did not previously know each other, to learn with the director, filmmaking team, and their respective communities. Mekenzie Fanguy (Houma, Louisiana) was born on coastal bayous and is a member of the United Houma Nation; Annabelle Pavy (Lafayette, Louisiana) is from a mostly white community, where climate change is largely viewed as a myth; and Tanielma Da Costa (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) immigrated from Angola, Africa when she was 6. They travel to different sites along the Mississippi River, where they engage in dialogue with engineers, activists, and Indigenous leaders. As these young women notice their surroundings, they begin to imagine Louisiana's past — its history of slavery, Indigenous dispossession, and colonization — and, by extension, Louisiana's future. The one that they will experience and help to shape.