A Reckoning in Boston

Premiered January 17, 2022

Directed by

James Rutenbeck

A white filmmaker collaborates with Clemente Course students of color to reckon with Boston's racial history.

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About the Documentary

What happens when you discover that your assumptions are flawed?

A white filmmaker starts his academic inquiry by documenting low-income, adult students of color at the Clemente Course in Boston. Over time, he comes to terms with his own complicity in racism. Alongside the students, a unique filmmaking collaboration forms to explore the area’s history of racism and gentrification.

The Filmmakers

James Rutenbeck (Director/Co-producer) is a two-time recipient of the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Journalism award. Notable films include Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?, Class of ’27, and Scenes from a Parish. His work has appeared on America Reframed, American Experience, Independent Lens, The Atlantic, and NYT Op-Docs.

Kafi Dixon (Co-Producer) founded Boston’s first cooperative for women and first worker-owned urban farm food co-op, Common Good Co-op. Kafi produced A Reckoning in Boston In response to the socioeconomic experiences of lower-resourced and impoverished communities, and the intimacy of community violence experienced by women in Boston.

Carl Chandler (Co-Producer) is a debut filmmaker and 3rd generation Bostonian. Carl credits his heritage—rich with Black, western European, and Indigenous ancestry—for his atypical perspective of the “American Dream”. At Clemente Course, he developed a creative collaboration with James Rutenbeck and discovered a new direction for his life.

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