MARDI & THE WHITES

2022 MOFF Official Selection

About This Project

Filmmaker:

Paula Champagne

Total Running Time:

0:11:27

Filming Location:

New Hampshire

Filmmaker Origin:

Massachusetts

Synopsis:

Mardi has a rich relationship with nature that has evolved and deepened throughout her life. In the last 20 years she’s dedicated much of her time to exploring the landscape in the White Mountains (unfortunately coined “The Whites” by New Englanders) on Abenaki land. In that time Mardi summited all forty-eight 4,000 footers multiple times, often as the only Black person on the mountain. She has experienced great joy from communing with this landscape, but the overwhelmingly white hiking community that is so seeped in white supremacy and colonialism complicates her experiences. Recently, she has focused on creating more opportunities for Black folks to join her in appreciating this magnificent wilderness. Enjoying this land with her community has been a liberating balm that has strengthened her sense of identity as an outdoorswoman.“Mardi & the whites” is a peek into Mardi’s relationship with the White Mountains, the great outdoors, and the community that surrounds them; Above all, it’s a celebration of Black liberation in the wild.