Stonebreakers chronicles the heated conflicts that emerged around public monuments and the politics of memorialization both in the wake of the death of George Floyd, and in the context of the 2020 presidential campaign. As statues of Christopher Columbus, Confederate generals, and Founding Fathers fall from their pedestals, the nation’s triumphalist myths are called into question. By exploring the shifting landscapes of American monumentality, Stonebreakers interrogates the link between history and political action in a nation that must confront its past now more urgently than ever.

In this event, filmmaker Valerio Ciriaci and producer/cinematographer Isaak Liptzin will join moderator Stephanie Malia Hom (French & Italian, UCSB) for a post-screening discussion of Stonebreakers.