On July 15th, Next City will be screening Freshwater an experimental video short written and directed by the artist dream hampton. A meditation on Detroit–Freshwater unveils the fluid nature of memory in familial and geographical legacies. In this exhibition, hampton explores the duality of water as a force of both harmony and devastation.

Freshwater is a narrated tale of remembrance, flooding basements, and maintaining connections in the wake of climate catastrophe.

Freshwater Q & A with dream hampton and Next City's Equitable Cities Reporting Fellow for Anti-Displacement Strategies Eliana Perozo

Director: dream hampton is an award-winning filmmaker and writer from Detroit. For three decades her essays and cultural criticism helped shape a generation. Her most recent works include the award-winning short film “Freshwater” (NYT OpDocs/PBS, 2023) and “Ladies First” (Netflix, 2023). Selected works include “Treasure“ (Frameline, 2015), “Finding Justice” (BET, 2019), “It’s A Hard Truth Ain’t It” (HBO, 2019), and the Emmy-nominated "Surviving R. Kelly" (Netflix, 2019), which broke ratings records and earned her a Peabody Award. In 2019, hampton was named one of TIME 100's most influential people in the world.

Moderator: Eliana Perozo is an engagement reporter and political educator based in New York City. She’s covered social services, education, New York’s migrant crisis, criminal justice, public health and more. Before transitioning into engagement journalism, Eliana spent nearly 10 years working in movement spaces as an organizer and policy expert. She is an Ida B. Wells Scholar from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and holds an M.A. in engagement journalism. Her work has been featured on This American Life.