Documentary Film Screening: Shades Inside the Blueline

Upper Jay Art Center is proud to be partnering with Keene Diversity Advisory Committee (KDAC) to offer this screening of Shades Inside the Blueline, a documentary film by local filmmaker Michael Hansen. 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.

ABOUT THE ARTIST Michael Hansen is an Adirondack-based producer and video editor who works primarily on human focused, non-fiction stories. His work has been recognized regionally with Boston/New England Emmy awards in 2019 and 2022. He was the editor of Arts in Exile, and On Home Ground, two feature length documentaries that have aired on over 100 PBS stations across the country, and which won a Best Documentary regional Emmy award and New York State Broadcasters Award, respectively. His latest feature-length documentary, Shades Inside The Blueline, examines perspectives about race in the Adirondacks. Michael is a graduate of Alfred University’s nationally acclaimed Fine Arts program.