- Welcome to Independent Lens.
I'm Pete Schwaba,
host of PBS Wisconsin's Director's Cut.
Tonight, we learn
that what happens in Vegas doesn't always stay in Vegas
as we bring you a true power of the people story.
Meet Ruby Duncan...
an absolute force of nature and the leading lady
in tonight's film Storming Caesar's Palace.
Roughly 50 years ago, the US government
passed a plan for universal, publicly funded national childcare
until President Richard Nixon
vetoed it at the last minute,
essentially saying that it would be harmful to families.
Around the same time,
the state of Nevada cut 75% of aid to mothers on welfare.
This did not sit well with the star of tonight's film,
a single mother of six
who was on welfare herself
after losing her job after being injured at work.
Ruby Duncan, a hotel cook turned activist
led a march down the Las Vegas Strip in a fight for dignity,
a voice in our democracy,
and a fair living wage.
Duncan became an advocate for families
and low-income single mothers,
despite being told by legislators
that she was too uneducated and too poor to do anything
about these massive cuts to public assistance.
Featured in a supporting role in the film
is Sondra Phillips-Gilbert,
Ruby Duncan's daughter who saw first-hand
the change her mother helped facilitate
and gives us great insight into her mother's rebellion.
Ruby's spirit is alive and well in her daughter,
who is also an activist, but also an elected official.
Like her mother, Philips-Gilbert has helped bring change
in the form of a recreation center,
a library, and an urban farm
to the people she represents.
Storming Caesar's Palace
is directed by Hazel Gurland-Pooler,
an award winning filmmaker
who has worked on projects for
HBO, FRONTLINE, AMC, ABC News, HISTORY Channel, and A & E.
She hopes her film mobilizes people to action
by bringing Ruby Duncan's story to the big screen.
She wants to let underrepresented people realize
just how much power they have if they come together.
Gurland-Pooler believes film is a really important tool
for organizers and activists--
calling it an entertaining way
to really help people
who want to fight
for what they believe in...
It doesn't hurt that there is some really fun music
and some fascinating archival footage
that gives her big screen debut some stylistic panache.
You've probably heard of the saying,
"Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps."
Ruby Duncan's response to that,
"We didn't have no bootstraps to pull up."
Storming Caesars Palace starts now,
on PBS Wisconsin, your home for independent film.