Public Invited to American Winter Documentary Screening at Bose HQ Tonight

For countless middle-class families who have experienced job loss or an unexpected financial setback, the "American Dream" has become an American nightmare. 

Working families, seemingly on a path toward economic security, have discovered how quickly they can slip from the middle class into poverty.

Emmy®-winning filmmakers Joe and Harry Gantz feature struggling families who called into the 211 social services hotline in search of help during the winter of 2012 in the powerful documentary film American Winter, which debuted on HBO last month.

Tonight is the East Coast premiere of the documentary film at BOSE HQ (100 The Mountain Rd.) in Framingham. The public is invited. 

Hosted by the United Way of Tri-County during National Public Health Week, the special screening is tonight, April 9 from 6 to 8:30 p.m. The screening is free but there is a suggested donation of $10.

The film presents an intimate snapshot of the state of the nation’s economy as it is playing out in the lives of many American families, and reveals the human consequences of rising economic insecurity, budget cuts to the social safety net, and the fracturing of the American Dream. 

Editor's note: Attached to this report is a video trailer of the documentary.

Following the film their will be a Q&A  with Harry Gantz, who will also be the featured speaker at the United Way of Tri-County’s Annual Community Recognition Event Thursday morning. 

The latest U.S. census data shows that 48.5 million Americans are living in  poverty, the largest number in the 53-year history of published poverty estimates. This includes 16.1 million children.

Even as the economy slowly recovers from the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, an increasing number of American families are finding themselves caught in a daily struggle to meet their basic needs. At the same time, the social safety net that was intended to help those in crisis has been impacted by budget cuts, creating a perfect storm of greater need and fewer resources available to assist vulnerable families. 

Framed through the very personal stories of eight families, the documentary film  reveals the devastating fallout of the mortgage meltdown, unemployment, the health care crisis and a shrinking social safety net.
Woven into the film are interviews with local economic experts, policy analysts, religious leaders and social workers, all of whom give context to 
the families’ stories. 

American Winter highlights the work of “211info” in Portland, Oregon which 
mirrors MASS 2-1-1, the Massachusetts-wide information and referral hotline that connects callers with community resources and social services.

The eight families profiled in the film were among thousands calling 211 during the winter months.

As one operator explained, “I can't count the number of people I've spoken with who start their conversation with ‘I never believed I would be in this situation.’ They say, ‘I have always worked.’” But now they are unable to find work, or they cannot find jobs that pay enough to provide for their families’ basic needs.

The experiences of the families in American Winter are a vivid illustration 
of what has been happening to families all across America, including working families losing their homes, people who remain jobless or underemployed, children going hungry, families getting their heat shut off in the dead of winter and people with health issues overwhelmed by medical costs.

This film was produced with support from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation whose mission is to transform lives and strengthen communities by fostering innovation, creating knowledge and promoting social progress.