TELL THEM WE WERE HERE is an inspirational feature-length documentary about eight artists who show us why art is vital to a healthy society and reminds us that we are stronger together.
In TELL THEM WE WERE HERE, we learn, not about the monetary value of artwork, but about why art matters. The film chronicles eight artists living and working in the San Francisco Bay Area, who are guided by a belief that creativity is a tool for societal change. In an age of hyper-capitalism, these artists represent an empowering alternative worldview, one that emphasizes creativity over capital. We see these artists using their work to address the most pressing issues of our time; Environmental Justice, Racial Equity, Prison Reform, Homelessness, Feminism, and Income Inequality. This film offers a reminder to communities around the globe that creativity exists everywhere, and every creation is a gift offered to the future.
Artists featured: Amy Franceschini, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Sadie Barnette, Nigel Poor, Michael Swaine, Jim Goldberg, Tucker Nichols, and Alicia McCarthy.
Official Selections: DOXA, San Francisco Doc Fest, Sebastopol, Newport Beach, Nevada City, On Art Poland, Sonoma, Moments 2021
Awards: Nevada City - Best Documentary Feature & Newport Beach - Audience Award
A Film by Griff & Keelan Williams ©2021
“[Keelan] sees art as more than the exclusive domain of museums, galleries, and collectors, but as an essential component of a healthy society — something that can make communities not just more beautiful, but more functional.”
-SF Chronicle
What People Are Saying
“A clear-eyed portrait of the Bay Area arts scene emerges from a dense fog bank of justified urban concerns”
“A lively, engaging, and inspiring feature”
“A bracing celebration of the Bay’s reputation as—in the words of one witness—“a refuge for weirdos and artists,” a “multi-everything” kind of place, well stocked with socially hyper-aware talent and a flair for the unconventional.”
“A timely reflection on the role of the Bay Area’s historical countercultural movements, as well as the region’s contemporary social and economic challenges, in fostering an art scene less concerned with money and power than with imagination, innovation, community, and care.”
