The Antidote
[00:00.41] Kindness is the word that inspired Emmy award-winning filmmakers Kahane Cooperman and John Hoffman to make "The Antidote".
[00:08.65] The documentary focuses on how American communities across the country are coming together in times of need.
[00:15.55] My name is O'connell. I'm Dr O'connell. What do you need? Anything? I need mental health.
[00:20.87] Dr James O'connell, founder of Boston healthcare for the homeless, goes out in the streets to treat homeless people.
[00:27.51] In Amarillo, Texas, Russell Lowery-Hart, President of Amarillo College, helps underprivileged students manage their personal lives, thrive academically and escape generational poverty.
[00:42.11] At Peter Johansen High School in Modesto California, Sherry Mcintyre teaches a class about religious tolerance and the diversity of faith in America.
[00:52.21] We need to protect the rights of the smallest minority, because in doing that we're protecting our own rights.
[00:58.85] We can't get too comfortable; we have to stand up for each other. The stories go on and on.
[01:04.43] We came up with six questions that completely informed our creative process,
[01:08.94] which are how do we raise our children, how do we teach our children,
[01:14.25] how do we take care of the sick and the dying, how do we live and work together, how do we welcome the stranger and how do we lead.
[01:25.41] Hoffman says the film was made as a counterpoint to the growing political and social divisions in America.
[01:31.79] Those stories are all examples of working to write these systemic bonds that we call fundamental on kindnesses.
[01:40.02] It's you know fundamentally unkind to not have a safe place to sleep; fundamentally unkind to not have access to health care.
[01:47.19] Racism is fundamentally unkind, homophobia is fundamentally unkind, sexism is fundamentally unkind.
[01:55.16] Cooperman says that although the film was made just before the country was ensnarled in the grip of the pandemic, it is relevant today.
[02:02.86] More relevant perhaps than when we even started. Certainly with COVID, it was about communities coming together.
[02:11.36] Such as how communities in Anchorage Alaska are welcoming African refugees, or how elderly communities in Portland Oregon are caring for children in foster care.
[02:20.93] The filmmakers hope the documentary inspires people to reach out to one another and to feed the force of good rather than found the flames of hatred and divisiveness.
