A new documentary on how residents of Oak Creek stood up against hate in the aftermath of the Sikh Temple shooting there will premiere at 7 p.m. March 13 at the Oak Creek Community Center, 8580 S. Howell.
"Waking in Oak Creek" is being produced by the nonprofit group behind the PBS film series "Not in Our Town. It is the latest in more than 100 films that document how individuals and organizations fight hate in their communities.
The film will also be shown in June at the "Not in Our Town" 25th anniversary gathering in Billings, Mont., in June.
"Since 1995, we've documented hundreds of stories across the country in which people stood up against hate and took action to prevent the next hate crime from happening in their town," said producer Charene Zalis of the Oakland-based nonprofit The Working Group. Most of those films are 5- to 10-minute snapshots featured on the "Not in Our Town" website; three have developed into full-length PBS films.
The Working Group has been filming at the Sikh Temple and surrounding Oak Creek off and on since the shooting, which left six worshippers dead and six wounded in August 2012.
"Not in Our Town" grew out of a 1995 film by The Working Group on a series of hate crimes in Billings, Mont. That first film recounted how the local painters union volunteered to repaint the home of a Native American family that was defaced by skinheads; and how 10,000 Billings residents placed paper menorahs — published by the local newspaper — in their windows after a vandal threw a brick through the window of a Jewish family.