Conscience Point
Directed by Treva Wurmfeld
Produced by Julianna Brannum (Comanche)
CONSCIENCE POINT unearths a deep clash of values between the Shinnecock Indian Nation and their elite Hamptons neighbors, who have made sacred land their playground.
US | 2019 | 75 minutes | Color | English | Order No. W191249 |
SYNOPSIS
Beneath the mystique of The Hamptons, among one of the wealthiest zip codes in the U.S., lies the history of the area's original inhabitants. The Shinnecock Indian Nation were edged off their land over the course of hundreds of years, pushed onto an impoverished reservation, and condemned to watch their sacred burial grounds plowed to make way for mega-mansions and marquee attractions like the exclusive Shinnecock Hills Golf Club--five-time host of the U.S. Open.
CONSCIENCE POINT tracks this fractured history alongside the path of one woman determined to make a stand: Shinnecock activist Rebecca “Becky” Hill-Genia who, together with other tribal members and allies, has waged a relentless, years-long battle to protect the land and her tribe’s cultural heritage from the ravages of development and displacement. Now both the Shinnecock Nation and town residents face a new challenge; the onslaught of elite newcomers who threaten the very place they intend to cherish.
PRESS
"A worthwhile place to start discussing some of the darker aspects of American history."
"A masterpiece of a documentary"
SCREENING HIGHLIGHTS AND AWARDS
- Victor Rabinowitz and Joanne Grant Award for Social Justice, Hamptons International Film Festival
- Doc NYC
- Red Nation International Film Festival
ABOUT FILMMAKER(S)
Treva Wurmfeld
Treva Wurmfeld is an award winning filmmaker. Her feature debut, Shepard & Dark, made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2012 and won top awards at the Woodstock Int. Film Festival, the Cleveland Int. Film Festival and the Florida Film Festival. That year, Wurmfeld was included in Filmmakers 25 new faces of Independent Film. Shepard & Dark was an official selection at the Cannes Film Festival and Wurmfeld was nominated for the Camera d'Or prize. Shepard & Dark is distributed by Oscilloscope Films and her book Tangents: From the Making of Shepard & Dark was released in 2023.
Her second feature documentary, Conscience Point, premiered at the Hampton’s International Film Festival in 2019 where it picked up the Rabinowitz & Grant award for Social Justice. The film was supported by ITVS and received the Pare Lorentz grant from the IDA. It was broadcast on PBS’ Independent Lens Fall 2019. A podcast version of the story was commissioned by a BBC & Sundance Institute collaboration in 2018. Wurmfeld received her MFA from Hunter College, in 2006. She is based in Los Angeles and is a dual citizen of the US and UK. (7/22)
RELATED LINKS
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Filmmaker’s Website
Learn more about the film
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Facebook
Check out the film's Facebook
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Instagram
Follow the film on Instagram
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Dan’s Papers
Article about the film and more information about the Shinnecock Indian Nation
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Treva Wurmfeld
More information about Treva Wurmfeld, the film's director.
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PBS Independent Lens
In opulent Hamptons, Filmmaker asks whose land is it anyway?
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Los Angeles Times
Director Treva Wurmfeld Q&A on the land rights of the Shinnecock tribe in ‘Conscience Point’
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ITVS Conscience Point Site
Where the Shinncock tribe once buried relatives, Hamptons mansions pepper the landscape, pitting pricey property against priceless heritage.
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Sag Harbor Express
“Conscience Point” Brings Shinnecock Nation And Its People Into Focus
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East Hampton Star
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share through email PBS Will Show 'Conscience Point,' Spotlighting Shinnecock Battle
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Ovarian Psycos
Riding at night through streets deemed dangerous in Eastside Los Angeles, the Ovarian Psycos use their bicycles to confront the violence in their lives. At the helm of the crew is founder Xela de la X, a single mother and poet M.C. dedicated to recruiting an unapologetic, misfit crew of women of color. The film intimately chronicles Xela as she struggles to strike a balance between her activism and nine year old daughter Yoli; street artist Andi who is estranged from her family and journeys to become a leader within the crew; and bright eyed recruit Evie, who despite poverty, and the concerns of her protective Salvadoran mother, discovers a newfound confidence.
The film Ovarian Psycos rides along with the Ova’s, exploring the impact of the group’s activism, born of feminist ideals, Indigenous understanding and an urban/hood mentality, on neighborhood women and communities as they confront injustice, racism, and violence, and take back their streets one ride at a time.
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Four Wives – One Man
From Nahid Persson, the filmmaker of the award-winning Prostitution Behind the Veil, comes an intimate portrait of a polygamist family in a rural Iranian village. Persson reveals the intricacies of the relationships between the four wives, their husband, their astoundingly free-spoken mother-in-law and their numerous children. Sometimes humorous and often heartbreaking, this film follows the daily lives of the wives whose situation has turned them into both bitter rivals and co-conspirators against their abusive husband.
Persson’s camera unobtrusively and beautifully captures the range of the family’s interactions – from peaceful, pastoral scenes of a family picnic, to the temporary chaos caused by a broken faucet in the kitchen, to a furtive, whispered conversation between two wives about the latest beating. The women’s work – making bread, weaving carpets, milking and herding the sheep – provide the background to their frank conversations. Avoiding sensationalism and sentimentality, this film provides unique insights into the practice of polygamy and its effect on the women involved.
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