Still from Moonlight (2016)
Screenings UCLA Film & TV Archive

Razing Liberty Square / Moonlight

This program is presented by the UCLA Film & Television Archive. Part of the UCLA Film & Television Archive screening series (Dis)placement: Fluctuations of Home.

In-person: Q&A in-between films with “Moonlight” co-writer Tarell Alvin McCraney and “Razing Liberty Square” director Katja Esson.

Razing Liberty Square (2023)

As rising seas threaten Miami’s coast, developers turn inland to Liberty Square — a historically Black neighborhood and the South’s first segregated public housing — sitting 12 feet above sea level. Set where Moonlight was filmed, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Katja Esson’s “exposé of cynical impulses and failed promises” (Chicago Tribune) captures the six-year fight of residents battling displacement under a $300 million city “revitalization” plan. The film offers a timely warning and tribute to those refusing to bend to climate gentrification. 

DCP, color, 83 min. Director: Katja Esson.

Moonlight (2016)

Set in Miami’s Liberty City, Moonlight was adapted from Tarell Alvin McCraney’s play about growing up Black and gay in a neighborhood marked by hardship and care. Also raised in Liberty City, filmmaker Barry Jenkins’ Oscar-winning film captures Chiron’s quiet, aching journey to selfhood across three chapters. Moonlight honors Miami’s textures and contradictions — its emotional power inseparable from Liberty City’s geography — and now stands as a vital record of this historic community now reshaped by climate gentrification and displacement. DCP, color, 111 min. 

Director: Barry Jenkins. Screenwriters: Tarell Alvin McCraney, Barry Jenkins. With: Mahershala Ali, Trevante Rhodes, André Holland, Janelle Monáe, Naomie Harris.

The UCLA Film & Television Archive is a division of UCLA Library, and presents its public programs in the Billy Wilder Theater at the Hammer, among other venues. For more information about the Archive, visit cinema.ucla.edu.
 

ATTENDING THIS PROGRAM?

Ticketing: Admission to Archive screenings at the Hammer is free. Your seat will be assigned to you when you pick up your ticket at the box office. Seats are assigned on a first come, first served basis. Box office opens one hour before the event. Questions should be directed to the Archive at programming@cinema.ucla.edu or 310-206-8013.
Member Benefit: Subject to availability, Hammer Members can choose their preferred seats. Members receive priority ticketing until 15 minutes before the program. Learn more about membership.
Parking: Valet parking is available on Lindbrook Drive for $15 cash only. Self-parking is available under the museum. Rates are $8 for the first three hours with museum validation, and $3 for each additional 20 minutes, with a $22 daily maximum. There is an $8 flat rate after 5 p.m. on weekdays, and all day on weekends.

Read our food, bag check, and photo policies.
Read our COVID-19 safety guidelines.

♿ Accessibility information