Claiming Open Spaces

Claiming Open Spaces explores African-American culture as it clashes with the design of the modern American city. The film includes a comprehensive section on New Orleans — the vital place of historical significance that this city holds, and its role in continuing African American tradition and culture. The film is both a critical… Show more examination of the design and histories of American urban open space, as well as a celebration of leisure, recreation, and resistance. Show less

Premiere Date
December 1, 1996
Length
90 minutes
Funding Initiative
Open Call
Producer

Austin Allen

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The Film

The city parks of Columbus, New Orleans, Detroit, Oakland, and Montgomery, and the African-Americans who frequent them, are the subjects of this urban documentary. Public spaces, and the ways in which we use them, sometimes conflict with official city planning.

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