Dogtown Redemption

Four recyclers in Oakland struggle to survive in a neighborhood already decimated by unemployment, addiction, and violence.

Dogtown redemption 01
Series
Independent Lens
Premiere Date
May 16, 2016
Length
60 minutes
Producer/Co-Director

Amir Soltani

Amir Soltani is an Iranian-American human rights activist who has worked in journalism, philanthropy and business. He is the author of Zahra’s Paradise, a New York Times bestselling graphic novel on Iran’s 2009 protests. Amir studied history at Tufts and Harvard. Dogtown Redemption is his first documentary film.

Co-Director

Chihiro Wimbush

Chihiro Wimbush is a hapa filmmaker based in Oakland, California. Most recently he served as editor of the award-winning Changing Season: On the Masumoto Family Farm. With his wife Meena Srinivasan, he creates mindful media and education content via their nonprofit organization, A Lens Inside. Between chasing shopping carts and other stories, Chihiro… Show more writes and tries to lure his musical muse out of hiding. Show less

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The Film

For a number of residents in Dogtown, one of Oakland’s poorest neighborhoods, income from collecting and recycling others’ trash is a primary source of income. To other residents, however, recycling only adds to the dirt and noise in the community. Dogtown Redemption explores the complex dynamics of race, class, and systemic poverty as it tells the story of four recyclers who struggle to survive in a neighborhood already decimated by unemployment, addiction, and violence.

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