Meet the Radical Monarchs, a group of young girls of color at the front lines of social justice.
ROLE: Director of Photography
DIRECTOR: Linda Goldstein Knowlton
PRODUCER: Katie Flint
WORLD PREMIERE: SXSW 2019
FESTIVAL AWARDS:
Special Jury Prize, IFF Boston
Audience Award, Best Documentary,
Inside Out Toronto
Audience Award, Best Feature,
Inside Out Ottawa
Films4Families Jury Award, Seattle IFF
Audience Award Best Documentary,
Seattle IFF
Set in Oakland, a city with a deep history of social justice movements, WE ARE THE RADICAL MONARCHS documents the Radical Monarchs—an alternative to the Scout movement for girls of color, aged 8-13, whose members earn badges for completing units on social justice. The group was started by two fierce, queer women of color, Anayvette Martinez and Marilyn Hollinquest, whose work is anchored in the belief that adolescent girls of color need dedicated spaces and that the foundation for this innovative work must also be rooted in fierce inter-dependent sisterhood, self-love, and hope.
The film follows the first troop of Radical Monarchs for over three years and documents the co-founders' struggle to grow the organization after an explosion of interest in the troop’s mission to create and inspire a new generation of social justice activists.