The Body Politic: A Sanctuary Cinema and NMPBS Screening & Panel

Film Description: The Body Politic

by Gabriel Francis Paz Goodenough and Dawne Langford and John Benam

The Body Politic is a harbinger of hope in a country plagued by gun violence. In Baltimore, Brandon Scott, an idealistic young leader with an ambitious plan to stop chronic violence, is elected mayor. Throughout his first year in office, we follow him as he fights powerful political forces to save lives in Baltimore and reveal a pathway toward healing for the nation. A Co-Production with ITVS. A Co-Presentation with BPM (Black Public Media).

Agenda

• 5:30PM: Doors
• 6:00PM: Film Screening
• 7:00PM: Panel + Discussion

About NMPBS (co-sponsor)

For 15 years, the NMPBS Education & Outreach department has hosted community film screenings and panels that center New Mexican communities, elevate PBS content, and promote relevant and meaningful community conversation.

About Sanctuary Cinema 

Founded in 2025 by shiloh burton and Luis Peña-Alvarez, Sanctuary Cinema (SC) is a New Mexico–based nonfiction film and community dialogue project dedicated to creating brave spaces for belonging, reflection, and transformative justice through documentary film. Anchored in narrative sovereignty, SC screens stories told by those most impacted, honoring lived experience as essential knowledge and rejecting passive spectatorship by fostering audience engagement, collective storytelling, and civic action. 

The free, monthly series activates accessible public venues across Albuquerque, pairing POV/PBS films with facilitated panels, local filmmakers, cultural workers, nonprofit partners, and audience participation. By bridging artistic, civic, and community worlds, Sanctuary Cinema builds trust, strengthens relationships, and provides pathways for meaningful local engagement, using documentary film as a catalyst for collective care, collaboration, and community-led change.

About FUSION

FUSION, home to the FUSION Theatre Company, is a center for arts and culture in Downtown Albuquerque. Our multi-venue, 35,000 square foot campus hosts live music, dance, comedy, theater, and myriad of special events. With three stages and both indoor and outdoor event spaces, FUSION is New Mexico’s home for creative and cultural exploration. 

An anchor of the Downtown Albuquerque Arts & Cultural District, the FUSION campus includes The Cell, 708, and The Meadow.

Building on our dedication to community partnership, in 2016 FUSION began an economic development project that provides co-operative office, meeting, culinary, rehearsal, and performance spaces. As a partner organization for the Urban Enhancement Trust Fund Programs’ Resiliency Residency program, FUSION serves as fiscal sponsor and host for 18 resident artists. FUSION also serves as fiscal sponsor to a variety of fledgling community organizations, sharing resources to nurture the growth of healthy arts and culture in Albuquerque.