Fluctuations of Home: Short Films From L.A. to D.C.

This program is presented by the UCLA Film & Television Archive. Part of the UCLA Film & Television Archive screening series (Dis)placement: Fluctuations of Home.

Brick by Brick is an unflinching documentary portrait of late-’70s Washington, D.C., where Black residents face displacement amid rising gentrification. Juxtaposing the iconography of national monuments with scenes of homelessness blocks away, the film highlights the Seaton Street project, a powerful example of tenant resistance. Nearly 40 years later, Shirikiana Aina’s debut remains a prescient testament to global struggles against displacement — and a reminder of who pays the price for so-called progress in the Chocolate City.

DCP, color, 37 min. Director: Shirikiana Aina.

On New Year’s Day, a man tries to help a woman pay her rent and learns a lesson in connecting with others in a community. Ayuko Babu, founding director of the Pan African Film Festival of Los Angeles, assumes the lead role in a pleasingly empathic reading. 35mm, 13 min. 

Director/Screenwriter: Charles Burnett. With: Ayuko Babu, Florence Bracy, Kenny Merritt.

This collaborative film project between Diego Robles, the LA Co-Media film collective and residents of the Wyvernwood Garden apartment complex in Boyle Heights introduces the Wyvernwood community and their shared struggle against displacement. Filmmaker and educator Diego Robles was invited to collaborate on film education initiatives at Wyvernwood during the early days of the recession — a time when residents were mobilizing against the looming threat of demolition. Through this partnership, Robles guided and participated in the creation of short films that honor the vibrant and unique community Wyvernwood residents are determined to protect. DCP, 7 min., in English and Spanish with English subtitles. 

Directors: Diego Robles, Abraham Osuna of Los Angeles Collective Media (LA Co-Media), Wyvernwood residents Roberto Mujíca and Gumaro Oviedo, the Los Angeles Conservancy. Producer: Karina Muñiz.

Erasto Arena documented the images seen in Nuestros Videos Culturales para la Preservación de Wyvernwood at a community gathering and procession. The footage was edited by Diego Robles with input from Arena, who wanted to convey the feeling of everything moving fast and slow at the same time. For the residents of Wyvernwood, life does move at a rapid pace as they balance full-time jobs, raising children, organizing community events and resisting eviction and demolition. 

DCP, 4 min. Directors: Erasto Arena de Tejaluca Puebla, Comité de la Esperanza, Diego Robles of Los Angeles Collective Media (LA Co-Media).

As a poet and organizer, Lupita Limón Corrales’ voice speaks clearly and loudly on the issues she and her Los Angeles community face. Lupita’s first film, The Need for Roots speaks on these issues too, but without her usual spoken word. Here Lupita’s words are visual, overlaid on footage captured from her window and the surrounding streets. Lupita’s images portray both beauty and destruction as she reflects on the changes in her Victor Heights neighborhood and why home is worth defending. 

DCP, 3 min. Director/Screenwriter: Lupita Limón Corrales.