When the Black Lives Matter and other social justice uprisings hit Chicago last year, the creators at Soft Cage Films were ready. The nonprofit film production company has been documenting social change, combating oppressive systems, and amplifying underrepresented voices of color in film through experimental techniques, artistic collaboration, and engaging storylines since its founding in 2012.
Building off that collective energy, Soft Cage ramped up full speed, launching two new film initiatives that created needed virtual spaces to challenge oppressive systems, like gender and racial discrimination, police brutality, and health-care access for people of color, which could not have been more fitting in a year where everything got turned upside down. The exposure of the roots of systemic racism in a new light presented Soft Cage the opportunity to work to untangle them in public.
“Connecting these conversations with the audience who needs to see them is a lot of the work we are doing now, but even judging the conversations for myself—there is a huge need to be vulnerable about some of these topics,” she says.
“Convergence is taking a deeper dive into some of these issues while also hiring artists such as dancers and poets and to put these artists in conversation with issues like systematic racism, immigration,” Holcombe says. “They may not seem on the surface to lend themselves to expression through dance so it’s a fun experiment for people to create from home and engage.”
The company’s work indicates that they are on the road to fulfilling this goal, which also seeks to challenge the typical film industry model and pay artists upfront what they are worth. Holcombe says this notion can be surprising for filmmakers but that kind of nurturing is important to create impactful work.
