Sarah Halpern

On America’s 250th anniversary, with attacks on libraries, archives, universities, and commemorative landmarks, the story of a nation’s history hangs in the balance. MONUMENT asks how looking and listening to one’s personal environment can help us understand our foundations. MONUMENT is centered on the history of Rhode Island, weaving statues, plaques, and place names together with the routine movements of everyday life.

MONUMENT is centered on the history of Rhode Island, weaving statues, plaques, and place names together with the routine movements of everyday life. Readings from history books, monologues from a fictional tour guide, and personal home movies are paired with interviews relating to the Colonial Era, the Slave Trade, the American Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, Indigenous Cultures, the Abolitionist Movement, Organized Crime, Urban Planning, Capitalism, Baseball, Ancient Geology, and Apple Pie. Over time stories overlap and voices converge to create a dynamic, multi-layered notion of what it means to be living in America today. Ultimately the film itself becomes a monument, challenging the objectification of history with the animism of community and storytelling.