HAMDEN — A pair of filmmakers has been walking the halls of Government Center in recent days, working on a documentary about everyone’s favorite subject: local politics.
Roxana Walker-Canton, the documentary’s director and producer and a film professor at the University of Florida, was a longtime Hamden resident until she moved last summer. Like her subjects, she also was involved in politics, holding seats on the Board of Education and Democratic Town Committee.
Called “One Town at a Time,” the hour-length film will focus on how a group of Democrats brought about a sea change in town government, ousting a more moderate wing of their own party. Walker-Canton hopes to demonstrate how “what’s going on here can be a model for other American towns that want to transform…to be a town that’s focused on equity, justice and transparency,” she said.
Hamden’s political shift is perhaps best symbolized by Mayor Lauren Garrett taking office in September after contentious primary and general elections.
She replaced Mayor Curt Balzano Leng, who had served since 2015 and was the successor to former Mayor Scott Jackson. Jackson, in turn, served as chief administrative officer to his predecessor, Mayor Craig Henrici.
Not only did Garrett disrupt the mayoral succession, but candidates who ran on her change-based slate took comfortable majorities on the Legislative Council and Board of Education.
As Walker-Canton sees it, that coalition is looking to change Hamden in the right ways, working toward Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s ideal of the “beloved community,” which is about “having a community that’s focused on justice” and where “everyone has an equal chance to the pursuit of happiness,” she said.
The film also will explore how Democrats ushered in what may be the most diverse group of officials in town history, one Walker-Canton said better represents the town as a whole.
Walker-Canton, whose film company is called Akosua Productions, is working alongside Howard University film professor Tina Morton, the project’s videographer, to interview local officials and their children. Hamden DTC member Tracy Bowens is the documentary’s associate producter, Walker-Canton said.
In addition to interviewing members of Garrett’s coalition, Walker-Canton hopes to include discussions with residents who have a different perspective on the matter, perhaps having run on a competing slate.
With at least two more trips to Hamden lined up, Walker-Canton also will speak with business owners, youth, longtime residents and religious leaders, she said.
She and Morton kicked off filming this weekend, visiting Garrett in her home. There, Walker-Canton interviewed the mayor and her three children.
For Garrett, it was amusing to see how her kids behaved on camera — especially her youngest, Bobby, who was “exceedingly proper for 9 years old,” Garrett said.
“Bobby was asked what kind of issues came up (while door-knocking) and he said, ‘Taxes. We have to lower the taxes.’ And he said it very seriously,” she said. “We were all laughing.”
The mayor feels the documentary will offer insight into what it is like to campaign locally.
“It’s important to show how much work is involved in running for office and building a team and then implementing your goals once you win. It’s certainly not a 9-to-5 job. It’s very consuming,” she said.
“It’s not work that can be done alone or in silos. It has to be collaborative and it has to be a large team, and what we, I think, have done pretty well is utilizing so many different skill sets so that everybody is bringing something to the table.”
Sean Grace, Garrett’s chief of staff, also went on camera over the weekend.
When Walker-Canton approached the town about the project and the idea of the “beloved community,” Grace said, it “just really seemed perfect.”
“It’s interesting when you’re in the middle of a struggle to kind of take a step back and see it from a wider perspective…what we did here collectively was pretty extraordinary,” Grace said. “It took a lot of grit from a lot of people for what felt like a very long time.”
Walker-Canton hopes to finish the project by the end of the year, she said.
meghan.friedmann@hearstmediact.com
