It gained national notoriety as the "murder capital of the United States" in 1992. But Michael Levin knew there was more to East Palo Alto than sound bites about crime and violence. A documentary filmmaker, Levin, '90, MA '90, wanted to recount the town's rich history--from the farmers of the 1920s to activists today. His 56-minute film, Dreams of a City: Creating East Palo Alto, spans 70 years and relies on interviews, oral histories and archival footage. Among other tales, it tells how whites left in the 1950s, as the newly built Bayshore Freeway sliced the town in two and dramatically weakened the business district.
As director and co-producer, Levin spent more than three years on theproject, which was funded primarily by several Stanford groups. "People look at this community from the outside and see its problems," Levin says. "But the residents are trying to do something good and are not giving up." City officials appreciate Levin's efforts to show the town's other side. "Michael saw various organizations and cultures working and blending together, which you don't usually hear about," says Rose Jacobs Gibson, a member of the city council who served as mayor, 1994-96. The film has aired on local cable and public TV. Levin now is trying to find a distributor.
