Experiencing Interruptions?
Password

BRIDGING THE DIVIDE: TOM BRADLEY AND THE POLITICS OF RACE

  • Lyn Goldfarb
    Director
    Tom Bradley's Impossible Dream; The New Los Angeles, PBS; Japan: Memoirs of a Secret Empire series, PBS; The Roman Empire in the First Century series, PBS; People in Motion, "Total War" The Great War series, PBS;"We Have a Plan" The Great Depression series, PBS.
  • Lyn Goldfarb
    Writer
    Tom Bradley's Impossible Dream; Japan: Memoirs of a Secret Empire series, PBS; The Roman Empire in the First Century series, PBS; People in Motion, "Total War" The Great War series, PBS;"We Have a Plan" The Great Depression series, PBS.
  • Alison Sotomayor
    Writer
    Tom Bradley's Impossible Dream
  • Lyn Goldfarb
    Producer
    Tom Bradley's Impossible Dream; The New Los Angeles, PBS; With Babies and Banners: Story of the Women's Emergency Brigade, PBS; Japan: Memoirs of a Secret Empire series, PBS; The Roman Empire in the First Century series, PBS; People in Motion, "Total War" The Great War series, PBS;"We Have a Plan" The Great Depression series, PBS.
  • Alison Sotomayor
    Producer
    Life and Times, KCET-PBS; Tom Bradley's Impossible Dream
  • Alfre Woodard
    Key Cast
    12 Years A Slave;
  • Alison Sotomayor
    Research Director
    The New Los Angeles
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Genres:
    social issue, historical
  • Runtime:
    57 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    June 5, 2015
  • Production Budget:
    700,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    HD
  • Film Color:
    Black & White and Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Los Angeles Film Festival
    Los Angeles
    June 14, 2015
    World Premiere
  • Pan African Film Festival
    Los Angeles
    February 4, 2016
  • San Diego Black Film Festival
    San Diego, California
    January 30, 2016
  • San Francisco Black Film Festival
    San Francisco
    United States
  • March on Washington Film Festival
    Washington D.C.
    United States
  • Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival
    Los Angeles
    United States
  • Golden State Film Festival
    Los Angeles
    United States
    Best Documentary Feature
Director Biography - Lyn Goldfarb

Lyn Goldfarb is the Director; and Producer and Writer with Alison Sotomayor of BRIDGING THE DIVIDE: TOM BRADLEY AND THE POLITICS OF RACE and TOM BRADLEY’S IMPOSSIBLE DREAM. Goldfarb is an Academy Award-nominated and multiple award-winning Director, Producer and Writer specializing in historical and social issue documentaries for PBS and major cable.
Goldfarb’s documentaries and series include: THE NEW LOS ANGELES, DANGER: KIDS AT WORK, CALIFORNIA AND THE AMERICAN DREAM series, JAPAN: MEMOIRS OF A SECRET EMPIRE series, THE ROMAN EMPIRE IN THE FIRST CENTURY series, and episodes of THE GREAT WAR, THE GREAT DEPRESSION and PEOPLE IN MOTION. She is a producer and historian of WITH BABIES AND BANNERS.
Goldfarb also produces short films for museums, exhibitions and non-profits, including the J. Paul Getty Museum and the Guadalajara International Book Festival.
Her awards and festivals include: two Emmy Awards; a George Foster Peabody Award; two du-Pont Columbia Awards; a Golden Mike; a CINE Golden Eagle; three Bronze Tellys; a Blue Ribbon and Emily Grand Prize, American Film Festival; Los Angeles Film Festival; Nosotros American Latino Film Festival; the Pan African Film Festival, Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival; San Francisco Black Film Festival; San Diego Black Film Festival; LaFemme Festival; and the March on Washington Film Festival.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

I grew up in Los Angeles, and it was a very different city then it is today. Throughout the years, I witnessed the transformation of a city, from a white, conservative enclave to one of the most progressive cities in America. And as a documentary filmmaker, I began a journey to understand how we got to where we are today.

Tom Bradley’s story provides a window into an illuminating story of race and politics, the importance of coalitions, and the complexities of social and economic change. And it brings into sharp focus the seemingly never-ending story of police abuse and police reform in minority communities and the challenges, which defined Bradley’s own story, from his twenty-one years in the LAPD, through his ten years in City Council, and twenty years as mayor of Los Angeles.

Documentaries are powerful vehicles to tell untold stories and give voice to people whose stories are left out of the news or our history books. Documentaries reveal the enduring spirit in stories that still have an impact on our world today.

I believe that filmmaking is a collaborative process, and as producers, Alison Sotomayor and I have worked together to craft a film that tells a historical story that is shaped by our very different experiences of growing up in multi cultural Los Angeles, incorporating multiple points of view shaped by our experiences of growing up in challenging times.

BRIDGING THE DIVIDE is the story of multi-ethnic Los Angeles finding its voice and identity in the face of discrimination and political disenfranchisement. And it is the story of the challenges of diversity facing cities and nations, and the decisions we all must make.