What happens when public servants are forced out of their jobs in government but not service itself? From the Emmy-nominated team behind HEIST, this documentary follows former federal employees running for elected office and transforming frustration into action. Our film tells a critical story about democracy, leadership, and civic engagement.
SYNOPSIS
In 2025, the Trump administration targeted federal agencies by gutting them and illegally firing federal employees. The result: Over 300,000 federal workers have been purged. In 2026, ex-feds are now showing resilience by turning their decades of expertise to running for local, state and federal offices. Our film follows former USAID employees who once managed 100s of millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars and oversaw programs that helped people put their lives back together after wars or natural disasters. Our film follows them as they now run for public offices in Maryland.
ABOUT FILMMAKER(S)
Rebecca Cammisa
Rebecca Cammisa is a two-time OSCAR® nominee and Emmy award-winning filmmaker. Her first feature documentary film SISTER HELEN won the 2002 Sundance Film Festival's Documentary Directing Award. Rebecca directed and produced the 2010 OSCAR®-nominated documentary WHICH WAY HOME which won a News and Documentary Emmy Award, and was nominated for a 2010 Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary. Rebecca’s next film GOD IS THE BIGGER ELVIS received a 2012 OSCAR® nomination for Best Documentary Short Subject. Rebecca was awarded a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, a MacArthur Foundation Film Grant, and won a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for the feature documentary ATOMIC HOMEFRONT.
In 2023, Rebecca directed YOURS IN FREEDOM, BILL BAIRD a feature documentary which chronicles the life and career of reproductive rights pioneer William Baird. The film premiered at the 2023 Doc NYC Film Festival.
In 2025, she directed, produced and filmed HEIST, a documentary short film that is an on-the-streets account of federal workers challenging the Trump Administration while it dismantles federal agencies and purges the federal workforce.
HEIST was just awarded a 2026 New York State Council on the Arts Support for Artists Grant.
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Women Make Movies (WMM), Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit media arts organization registered with the New York Charities Bureau of New York State and accepts charitable donations on behalf of this project. Your donation will be spent by the filmmaker(s) toward the production and completion of this media project. No services or goods are provided by Women Make Movies, the filmmaker(s) or anyone else associated with this project in exchange for your charitable donation.
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