About
Film Synopsis
Devastated by the arrival of crack cocaine in the 1980s, Washington, DC became known as our nation’s “Murder Capital.” Growing up at the epicenter of this violence—in southeast DC—67 rising seventh graders were promised college scholarships by area businessman Stewart Bainum through the I Have a Dream program, a national movement to provide kids in underserved communities the opportunity to attend college. Southeast 67 focuses on the students’ struggles to reconcile the dream of college with the competing reality of daily survival in a community rife with violence, poverty and addiction. Their journey through junior high and high school from 1988 to 1994 was fraught with staggering challenges, far beyond the program’s initial educational scope. But the kids, along with two dedicated and compassionate educators, band together in ways that change all of their lives, profoundly.
Blowing up the simplistic bootstrap narrative of success, this feature-length documentary combines raw, never-before-seen archival film footage and photographs, with present-day footage and intimate interviews with the students themselves, twenty years later. Now in their late thirties, the “Dreamers” share a level of insight that would not have been possible from their younger selves, many of whom concealed the complicated and painful circumstances that held them back. They reflect on the hope of pursuing an improbable dream—and, for too many, the anguish of letting that opportunity slip away. But whether they made it to college or not, their stories reveal the enduring impact of the promise, and the program, on all of their lives.
In Southeast 67, you will meet some of the Dreamers and the two extraordinary educators—Steve Bumbaugh and Phyllis Rumbarger—whose tenacity, dedication and love for the kids is, ultimately, transformative. Spanning two decades, their collective story illuminates the complex challenges facing kids in communities of poverty, violence and inferior schools, and offers a nuanced understanding of what it means to truly “succeed.”
Director’s Note
I’m frequently asked how this story came to light so many years later.
It started quite simply. 2014 marked the 20th anniversary of the Dreamers’ high school graduation. The Bainum family, who continues to focus their philanthropic efforts on educational programs for underserved kids, wanted to check in with the Dreamers: to see how they were doing, and to hear from them about both the successes and the failures of the program. They hired a photojournalist, KK Ottesen, to collect oral histories from twelve Dreamers. They asked me to bring a few of those stories to life. The intent was solely to learn what worked well and what didn’t—in order to apply those lessons in their continued work with kids today. We had no idea what we would discover.
I can pinpoint the exact moment I knew how incredible this story would be. It was before the first frame was shot; before I had read a single word of KK’s interviews. It was at a dinner to launch the project: an evening for the Dreamers to reconnect with each other and Steve Bumbaugh and Phyllis Rumbarger—and (far less importantly) be introduced to me. From the moment the Dreamers stepped in the door, it was clear that what that dinner really was, was a joyful, loud, loving family reunion. I watched in awe, and I immediately knew that if I were lucky enough to be entrusted with their experiences, I and many others would be changed in countless ways.
That first project budget was just enough to cover me and a DSLR camera. KK’s interviews with the Dreamers (you’ll find these oral histories on the The Dreamers page) provided the basis of my initial research. I selected several Dreamers—an incredibly tough decision—and for the next year, they graciously and honestly shared both their memories and their current lives. Their stories were moving, raw, inspiring. They went deeper than I dared hope. They had a clarity of vision that was astounding, borne from years of careful reflection.
Early in production, I was thrilled to learn that former Washington Post photographer Nancy Andrews had followed the Dreamers for a feature story back in 1991, and then equally devastated to discover the Post no longer had the photos in their archives. I soon learned that Nancy, like all great photographers, had kept many photos in her personal collection and these are the beautiful black and white images you see in the film. I edited a half-hour program, entitled Dream, and we knew that the story could not end there. So the idea for a feature film was born. I put away my DSLR camera and assembled a wonderful production team. The Dreamers agreed to yet another year of production.
One of our biggest challenges was how to make the DC—specifically southeast—of the late 1980’s and 90’s come alive. News footage was sparse and poor quality. Anacostia was rarely filmed: homicides and crime were so prevalent, that if they were deemed newsworthy at all, it was frequently just an on-air mention. While the Dreamers’ stories and descriptions were vivid, we knew that seeing the neighborhood would provide a level of understanding that words—no matter how powerful—never could. Back in 1991—the peak year for homicides in the District—British filmmaker Peter Forbes had spent several months in Washington, filming a proposed documentary on the social disparities that existed at the time, and Steve Bumbaugh had fortuitously become his pseudo-guide. But finding Peter was proving frustratingly difficult. Steve and Peter had lost touch years earlier. We searched for the better part of a year. I spoke to many Peter Forbes, only to be repeatedly let down. And then one day, a phone call from KK Ottesen: she’d located him in England.
I held my breath before our first conversation, knowing that the footage could easily no longer exist. Turns out, his proposed documentary had never been made. He held out only a glimmer of hope, saying that if it was still in existence, it was in storage in a basement in Portugal. Two months later, he went to Portugal. A dusty box was uncovered….and a month later, it showed up at my door. All of the footage in Southeast 67from that time period—with a few brief exceptions—came from that box. Until now, it has never been seen. We are deeply grateful to Peter, his co-producer Claudia Nye and cameraman Javier Baliña for their thoroughness and often fearlessness in documenting the community.
We live in a time when educational success is often measured by standardized test scores, but the issues these kids face are complex and nuanced—and the approach to working with them both in and out of school needs to be just as nuanced. We all know there are no tidy answers. And if nothing else, the Dreamers’ story proves that not all success is quantifiable. My greatest hope is that this film will be a powerful addition to the debate on education reform and what is needed to make a difference in the lives of kids growing up under these circumstances. As the eloquent Steve Bumbaugh said in his interview, “Learning what I’ve learned from this one little program in Southeast, there are real implications for how we in this country can support children who, through no fault of their own, are being raised in difficult situations. All of these outcomes cannot be coincidental. They just can’t be. They’re so radically different, unfortunately, from the kids who were not in the program.”