Check out the trailer for the Home Alive Documentary, directed by UW undergraduates Leah Michaels and Rozz Therrien and produced by Evangeline Spracklin!
Through an indie-rock class offered at the University of Washington in Seattle, two seniors, Leah Michaels and Rozz Therrien, were exposed to a grassroots, self-defense organization called Home Alive. The organization was founded by nine women in response to the brutal rape and murderer of Mia Zapata, lead singer of the influential punk band of the early 90s, The Gits. Home Alive began in 1993 and experienced many changes: from becoming a non-profit to gaining international attention with a CD, and finally relinquishing their non-profit status in 2010.
The documentary is focused around community response to tragedy using the Do It Yourself ethos to try to make a difference. The documentary partially focuses on the difficulties of working as a collective, the limitations of a non-profit status, and the ever-present funding issues. As in any collective and organization there are varying conceptions and outlooks on the directions it will take. Our interviews capture the differing stories over the organization’s 17-year history. In doing so we have discovered the changing idea of what community means as well as what DIY means today. We explore the pivotal role community, specifically the Seattle Art and Music Scene has influenced an organization that developed out of community response. We are using juxtaposing views to creatively attempt to piece together a documentary and show what the life and possible death of an organization means to a community. We hope that you find this story worth telling just as we do!