To capture the barrier-breaking 2018 election, first-time director Wendy Levine Sachs ’93 co-directed and produced Surge, a feature documentary film that follows three female candidates who fought to flip their districts from red to blue in the last midterm election. “We followed a diverse group of candidates who reflected the surge that was happening in 2018 and the record numbers of women who were running for the very first time,” says Sachs, a former Capitol Hill press secretary, Emmy Award–winning TV news producer, author and media strategist. Surge was released on Showtime and Amazon just before the presidential election. Sachs hopes the film will inspire young women to embrace the power of grassroots activism. “The film is not just about women running for office but about the women who got behind the women running for office. Surge shows us what representative democracy looks like and how it’s up to us to make sure that 2018 was not a moment but a true movement,” Sachs says.
How Do People Make Change?
Beyond the pandemic, social unrest defined 2020. It started on the very first day of the year in Hong Kong, where protesters filled the streets in opposition to China’s proposed extradition law. Throughout the year — across the U.S. and around the world —protesters filled the streets to call for racial justice, challenge Big Tech, oppose COVID-19 lockdowns and fight for democracy. But to consider protests the whole story would be missing the point.
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