A feature documentary about iconic National Park Ranger Betty Reid Soskin, her hidden life as a singer/songwriter and a civil rights pioneer in california, and her journey to re-explore her music sixty years later
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4-minute Trailer for the film
The Story
For over 50 years, Betty Reid Soskin held a secret. Deep in her closet, she’d hidden a box of reel-to-reel tapes with dozens of stunning original songs that narrate her personal journey through the 1960s and 1970s. For decades, she’d been too afraid to confront the emotional baggage that went along with her music, so she buried it away.
With no clear sense for what the future would hold, she decided to open the box and dive back into her songs. That sparked an autobiographical journey to re-explore the personal experiences behind her songs.
In her collaboration with the next generation of Bay Area musicians, Betty’s songs converge past and present through their exploration of race, identity, and what it means to be American.
Betty’s music is a haunting flashback to her family’s experiences confronting Jim Crow segregation in California. As the first African-Americans to integrate in an all-white suburb of San Francisco, her son survived being stoned by white children, and her family endured daily bigotry that left permanent scars.
The film follows Betty’s journey from the first time she listens to her old tapes, through her collaborations with younger musicians, and culminates with her singing of one of her songs to a crowd of thousands backed by a full symphony orchestra and choir. but only after confronting the deep personal traumas that had kept her from her music for so long.
Artistic Approach
INTIMATE VERITE FOOTAGE OF BETTY WITH HER FAMILY, AT WORK, & EXPLORING HER MUSIC WITH MUSICIANS FROM AROUND THE BAY AREA.
BETTY’S EXTENSIVE PERSONAL ARCHIVE OF PHOTOS, HOME MOVIES, & UNRELEASED MUSIC.
LIVE MUSIC PERFORMANCES SHOT WITH MULTIPLE CAMERAS.
DRAMATIC PORTRAYALS FILMED WITH ACTORS DEPICTING BETTY’S STORIES THAT BRING THEM TO LIFE ON SCREEN WHILE SHE TALKS ABOUT HER PAST.
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"Many people know Richmond’s Betty Reid Soskin, who retired from her job as a park ranger at the Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park at the ripe age of 100. Many also know her as the mother of four children, a late blooming author who wrote Sign My Name to Freedom in her 90s and the co-owner of Reid’s Records, Berkeley’s iconic Black owned record shop. Few know of Betty as a musician, vocalist and songwriter. Filmmaker and cinematographer Bryan Gibel is on a mission to change that."
– Sharon K Sobatta, The East Bay Express
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“This is a project that reaches back to when she was in her 40s and 50s, about a time she went through when she was writing and singing music. She had an audition at Village Gate in New York and walked away from the opportunity because she didn’t want to leave her four kids behind for another career. So she came back home, put her music away in a box and parented us. Thank goodness six years ago, (Gibel) came into the record store, which eventually inspired my mom to reopen that box.”
– Di’ara Reid, Betty’s daughter
