Description

Our Side tells the story of a community-led theater production in Atlantic City — a stage adaptation of Growing up in the Other Atlantic City: Wash’s and the Northside by Atlantic City native Turiya S.A. Raheem. From bustling streets to broken promises, from discrimination to resiliency, the film follows local residents staging a play about the historically Black community of Atlantic City through the lens of Raheem’s own family odyssey. Coming together to perform their community history shapes residents’ hearts and minds and helps them imagine a better future for their community. Theatrical footage and oral history interviews illustrate the vibrant Atlantic City of yesteryears, bringing to life the pride and struggle that made the Northside a self-sustaining community and epicenter of Black culture. As we follow the daily lives of cast members, we learn about their struggles to give their city a better future and honor its past in the wake of the 2014 casino closures, the current city budget crises, brain drain, and gentrification.