The Politics of People: A Docuseries by Briana Burroughs ‘17

We are excited to share with you a docuseries created by our previous DH Student Executive Committee Co-Coordinator, Briana Burroughs ‘17. “The Politics of People” is a five part political docuseries about four voters and two local elected officials in New Haven. Her docuseries was featured at the 2017 New Haven Documentary Film Festival at their first ever videotheque!

Briana ‘17 has been a Dwight Hall Urban Fellow, Institutional Service Coordinator of Dwight Hall’s Student Executive Committee, part of our FOCUS pre-orientation program, and shaped our Outreach Fellows program into its current form. These highlights don’t begin to explain all that she has contributed and accomplished during her time at Yale. She thanks us in her credits, but we would like to thank her for her passion and dedication to creating social change. 

Produced, directed and edited by:
Briana Burroughs

Featuring:
Elected Officials-
Alder Jeanette Morrison
State Senator Gary Holder-Winfield

Voters-
Kim Hart
Nadine Horton
Elias Mastakouris (Dwight Hall FOCUS Leader!)
Stephanie Upson

Executive Producer:
Charles Musser

Associate Producers:
Cynthia Farrar
William Glasspiegel
Wayne Zhang

Cinematography:
Briana Burroughs

Additional cinematography by:
Caroline Hart
Aaron Garrison
Julia Rosenheim
Wayne Zhang

Creative Consultant:
Caroline Hart

Music:
“Afraid of You” by Shyam

Special thanks to:
Ricky D’s Rib Shack
Dwight Hall at Yale, Center for Public Service and Social Justice
Yale University Undergraduate Program in American Studies
Yale University Digital Media Center for the Arts
Gene Dattel and Licia Hahn
Yale Documentary Film Workshop 2016-17

Link: 

The Politics of People on YouTube

About the Author

Lydia Burleson

Lydia Burleson served as the Communications and Alumni Engagement Associate for Dwight Hall at Yale, Center for Public Service and Social Justice from June 2021-June 2022. A first-generation low-income student from rural Texas, Lydia graduated from Yale cum laude in 2021 with a degree in English and a nonfiction creative writing concentration. During her college years, Lydia increased awareness of marginalized voices with the public writing she did for The Yale Daily News and the Yale Admissions office. Her Dwight Hall experiences included free college advising with student-led member groups REACH and Matriculate. Dwight Hall empowered Lydia to uplift other disadvantaged students and to increase access to education for people who might not have otherwise received these resources. She is currently completing an English PhD at Stanford University with a Knight-Hennessy Fellowship.