Shades Inside the Blueline
Shades Inside the Blueline is a documentary which examines attitudes about race in New York’s Adirondack region, and the historic and current cultural impact wrought by these attitudes. The Adirondack park is a sprawling, rural region populated with largely homogeneous communities that are not often forced to examine their beliefs and perspectives around race. The film shares personal stories from BIPOC interviewees explaining the racism they've experienced in the Adirondacks, and posits plans to help the region ultimately become more inclusive.
News
Lake Placid Film Festival
“Shades Inside the Blueline, a documentary that explores attitudes about race over time in the North Country, has the potential to foster dialogue about this timely and sensitive issue. Created by Michael Hansen and showcased at the Lake Placid Film Festival, the well-attended film was enthusiastically received. No less impressive was the post-screen discussion lasted over 45 minutes, with nearly all seeing the film remaining in their seats. The discussion ended only to make space for the next movie to be screened.” - Lake Placid News, October 27, 2022
North Country Public Radio
New documentary examines attitudes about race in the Adirondacks
Mike Hansen grew up in Buffalo and spent almost a decade living in New York City before moving to the North Country. When he moved here, one of the things he noticed was how few people of color he saw.
"I just sort of tucked that in the back of my brain," he said, "and was like, 'I wonder how that influences this area; I wonder how that influences the attitude of the white people that live here. Like, what does living in a homogeneous community — how does that shape that community’s culture?'”
Request a Screening
Please use the form below if your organization or business is interested in hosting a screening of Shades Inside the Blueline.
“ A powerful film that dug deep, revealing several layers of some of the issues that are under-discussed.”