Mija (Film Screening)

Type of Event: Film
Location: Wortham Center for the Performing Arts

Doris Muñoz is a young, ambitious music manager whose undocumented family depends on her ability to launch pop stars. When she loses her biggest client, Doris hustles to discover new talent and finds Jacks, another daughter of immigrants for whom "making it" isn't just a dream: it's a necessity.

Book Reading: Terraform: Building A Better World by Propaganda

Type of Event: Book Reading
Location: Worth Center for the Performing Arts

In this debut collection of essays and poetry, musician, speaker, and activist Propaganda inspires us to create a better, more equitable world. "If we get to make the very cultures that shape who we are, then let us remake them in the best way possible.”In this deep, challenging, and thoughtful book, Propaganda looks at the ways in which our world is broken. Using the metaphor of terraforming—creating a livable world out of an inhospitable one—he shows how we can begin to reshape our homes, friendships, communities, and politics. In this debut collection of essays and poetry, musician, speaker, and activist Propaganda inspires us to create a better, more equitable world.

“If we get to make the very cultures that shape who we are, then let us remake them in the best way possible.”
In this deep, challenging, and thoughtful book, Propaganda looks at the ways in which our world is broken. Using the metaphor of terraforming—creating a livable world out of an inhospitable one—he shows how we can begin to reshape our homes, friendships, communities, and politics.

Hood Politics with Prop Podcast Recording with Propaganda and Dr. Natalie Hopkinson

Type of Event: Live Podcast Recording/Fireside Chat

Location: Worth Center for the Performing Arts

The political landscape can be confusing, but it doesn't have to be. If you've survived jr high, lived in an urban city or understand gang life, you can understand geopolitics. Join rapper and author Propaganda and his friends as they use their hood-knowledge to break down the political scene. On this live episode, Prop talks to Dr. Natalie Hopkinson about her campaign to be 100% Disruptive to fight anti-blackness in the arts and public life.

Split At The Root (Film Screening & Live Q&A)

Type of Event: Film and Q&A
Location: Wortham Center for the Performing Arts

Mothers separated from their children at the U.S. border and the grassroots initiative that, against all odds, reunites those families. When a Guatemalan mother seeking asylum was separated from her kids under the Zero Tolerance Policy, a Facebook post by a mom in Queens coalesced into a movement as thousands of like-minded women across the US refused to stand by quietly. Immigrant Families Together was born - a rapid response group committed to doing what the government couldn't - or wouldn't do: reunite parents with their children separated by the Zero Tolerance Policy. Following the screening, please join us for a live Q&A with Immigrant Families Together founders (and subjects of the film) Julie  Schwietert-Collazo and Francisco Collazo.

Fireside Chat with Pulitzer Prize winning author of She Said and investigative reporter for the New York Times, Megan Twohey

Type of Event: Fireside Chat
Location: Worth Center for the Performing Arts

Megan Twohey co-authored the book, She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement.

Join us for a discussion with Megan as she takes us through the development of the investigation of Harvey Weinstein's history of abuse and sexual misconduct and the latest development in the story which includes an adaptation to film.

Gillian Laub Lecture: Southern Rites

**Please note- This event is included in VIP ticket. General Admission will need to purchase additional ticket.

Type of Event: Storytelling

Location: Asheville Art Museum

American photographer Gillian Laub (born New York, 1975) has spent the last two decades investigating political conflicts, exploring family relationships, and challenging assumptions about cultural identity. In Southern Rites, Laub engages her skills as a photographer, filmmaker, and visual activist to examine the realities of racism and raise questions that are simultaneously painful and essential to understanding the American consciousness.

In Southern Rites, Laub engages her skills as a photographer, filmmaker, and visual activist to examine the realities of racism and raise questions that are simultaneously painful and essential to understanding the American consciousness. Southern Rites is a specific story about 21st century young people in the American South, yet it poses a universal question about human experience: can a new generation liberate itself from a harrowing and traumatic past to create a different future?

Storytelling For Impact Presented by Sundance Collab

Type of Event: Panel Discussion
Location: Worth Center for the Performing Arts

What do music, film, books, and visual art all have in common? They are all different forms of storytelling that can be used to inspire and invoke change. Join us for a conversation about what Connect Beyond is all about, using stories to create the world we want to live in, featuring Lonnie Holley, Natalie Hopkinson, Jennifer Fox and more.

Epic Convergence

Type of Event: Live Music & Storytelling
Location: The Orange Peel

At the Epic Convergence, a multi-genre group of dynamically talented musicians, producers, vocalists, and songwriters will convene, then converge to develop unique sounds, styles, and motivations. Ideally, the result of this event will foster the creation of sustainable new avenues for freedom of thought and expression within but without the constraints of the modern music industry. The Connect Beyond Festival is committed -- via events like this -- to discovering active solutions for balancing an industry where artists remain talented and able to contribute yet are needlessly marginalized. Featured artists, James Nasty, Shana Tucker, and CocoEva Soleil LuzGuerrero Alcazar will perform and join in guided conversation with veteran journalist Marcus Dowling.