| Academy
Award Nominee Legacy
Legacy is, in a sense, the story of a charismatic character we never meet, Terrell Collins, a 14-year-old boy living in Chicago’s Henry Horner Homes, one of America’s most notorious public housing projects. Despite the fact that his mother was a crack addict working the streets since she was 12, Terrell became an honor student with a scholarship to a private high school. On the day filming was to begin on a documentary about “ghetto success stories,” a classmate fatally shot Terrell and the documentary was inevitably transformed into Terrell’s Legacy, the inspiring story of the unexpected aftermath of his tragic death. The families surprising transitions are chronicled through the eyes of Nickcole, Terrell’s cousin, who eventually becomes the first family member to graduate from high school and go on to college. Alaissa, Nickcole’s mother, after losing job after job, finally finds and keeps secure and gratifying employment. Wanda, Alaissa’s sister and Terrell’s mother, breaks free of the seemingly hopeless addiction that ran her life for two decades. And Dorothy, the family matriarch, finally achieves her dream of home ownership. The extraordinary rapport developed between these women and filmmaker Tod Lending allows us to discover the key to their success story: the integration of social, psychological and even spiritual healing, school and community support structures, and the involvement of all family members in the process. Legacy offers a rare primary source for students of Sociology, Social Work, Social Problems, Social Psychology, Women’s Studies, Urban Studies and African American Studies and an invaluable training tool for Family Services, Counseling, Drug Treatment and Clinical Psychology programs. View Filmmaker Magazine for a feature on Legacy |
2001 Oscar Nominee for Best Documentary 2002 National Emmy Nominee for Best Documentary "Legacy
is a powerful documentary that captures the effects of living in high-risk
social environments. It also reveals, perhaps as well as any other film
or written document, the incredible struggles of an inner-city ghetto
family to achieve success against overwhelming odds." "Legacy
is a marvelous piece of work. It captures the dynamics of human resilience
with rare beauty and honesty. It generates insight and compassion in
anyone ready to see it with open heart and mind. Legacy
provides a rare window into the complex psychological, social and spiritual
trauma that comes with violent death, and demonstrates the healing possibilities
of love." Director: Tod S.
Lending
Video Purchase: $195 |
The
politically charged term “welfare family” takes on a human face in Legacy,
a remarkable new documentary on the struggle of three generations of
African American women to free themselves from welfare and poverty.
In the tradition of Hoop Dreams, Legacy offers an intimate,
unflinching but ultimately inspirational portrait of an inner-city family
passing through dramatic changes over a five-year period. This longitudinal
study makes visible the vital inter-connections between such hot button
issues as urban violence, racism, substance abuse, unemployment, female-headed
families, childcare, low self-esteem and public housing. 