An Unsettling Force

America’s poor organize to confront a moral crisis of survival.
by
Dara Kell
2025
47 mins

An Unsettling Force follows poor and low-wealth people across the United States as they organize to confront a moral crisis of survival. Anchored by the work of Revs. William J. Barber II and Liz Theoharis, the film documents a renewed, multiracial, interfaith Poor People’s Campaign that insists poverty is not inevitable, but structured—and therefore changeable. Through intimate access to grassroots organizing, direct action, and collective learning, the film reveals how people most impacted by injustice build power together, not by waiting on politicians, but by pushing relentlessly for dignity, care, and a more just society.

Synopsis

An Unsettling Force is a feature documentary about poor and low-wealth people organizing to confront a moral crisis of survival in the United States. Grounded in the work of Revs. William J. Barber II and Liz Theoharis, the film follows a renewed, multiracial, interfaith Poor People’s Campaign as it brings together communities across race, region, and faith to challenge poverty, racism, ecological devastation, and militarism as interlocking injustices. Through intimate access to mass meetings, direct actions, and strategy sessions, the film reveals how people most impacted by injustice build collective power—learning from history, adapting to changing conditions, and refusing silence in the face of systemic harm.

With vivid cinematography and deeply personal testimony, An Unsettling Force centers the courage, discipline, and creativity of grassroots organizing in turbulent times. From rural encampments and small-town churches to state capitols and the streets of Washington, D.C., the film shows how moral clarity and sustained action—rather than faith in political institutions alone—become tools for survival and change. At once a contemporary portrait of movement-building and a challenge to the nation’s conscience, An Unsettling Force invites audiences to reckon with poverty as a moral crisis and to consider what it means to build a more just and dignified society together.

Director Commentary

An Unsettling Force grew out of nearly two decades of relationship-based work with organizers connected to the Poor People’s Campaign. Those long-term collaborations shaped the film’s consent-driven, co-creative approach: accountability rough cut screenings were ongoing, and community review was built into every stage of production. From the outset, the goal was not to document a movement from the outside, but to make a film with people organizing under conditions of urgency.

My intention was for Revs. William J. Barber II and Liz Theoharis to appear throughout the film not as singular protagonists, but as connective figures within a broader, multiracial, interfaith movement led by poor and low-wealth people. The film reflects a theory of change that resists overreliance on political institutions alone, and instead foregrounds how moral clarity, collective learning, and sustained pressure become tools for survival and power. Sermons function as strategy sessions; testimonies operate as living archives of leadership and agency of the poor; organizing meetings become sites where theology, policy, and lived experience converge.

As a filmmaker from South Africa who came of age in the early days of our democracy, I recognize the discipline and imagination required to build movements capable of lasting impact. History offers lessons, but movements survive by adapting—staying nimble, cultivating leadership at every level, and organizing courage into structure. "Learn as we Lead" is a mantra I was though by this movement. This film was shaped by that understanding. Formally and ethically, I sought to make a work that is emotionally grounded and structurally transparent: one that reveals how movements are built, not just what they feel like in moments of mobilization.

I hope An Unsettling Force serves classrooms, communities, and institutions as a practical tool for dialogue—inviting debate about ethics, leadership, and what it takes to organize moral courage into durable change. At a time when poverty is too often treated as inevitable, this film insists it is a moral crisis—and that people most impacted are already building the force required to confront it.

Features and Languages

Film Features

  • Closed Captioning

Film/Audio Languages

  • English
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