Meet Erin Bernhardt | Filmmaker, Yogi, Mama

We had the good fortune of connecting with Erin Bernhardt and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Erin, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
I am Southern. That’s a complex word and an even more complex identity to have. It’s full of hospitality but also hatred. It’s beautiful for some while being terrorizing to others. It spurred me to write this letter:

On Saturday August 12, 2017 the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville made racism personal to me. The following Monday I walked into work at Points of Light, went straight to my boss’s office and told her I had to quit. I felt a deep conviction to make a film about the opposite of hate. Prior to that hot August weekend I thought I knew a lot about white supremacy and racism. I was raised by a bleeding-heart hippy mom who taught me about our hometown hero, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., before she taught me about any of our nation’s presidents. I was schooled on race as a 5-year-old when a neighbor’s niece was trying so hard to make my hair as curly as hers that she got her hairbrush stuck in my hair so badly that we had to cut it out. Her uncle, a well known Atlanta Braves player, explained to me why we had different hair and then I overheard him patiently explaining to my mom that her struggle as a Jewish woman didn’t even compare to his as a black man. She could go anywhere without anyone being prejudiced against her. He could not change the color of his skin and was often perceived as a threat, even as a recognizable and beloved local celebrity.

At the same time, until college I went to schools that were almost entirely 100% white. I spent my summers learning to sail at a camp that taught me so much about social justice and grace, yet I don’t remember any fellow campers being people of color. While at UVA, which is much more diverse than my earlier educational institutions at 58% white, I am painfully ashamed to say that I only had a handful of non-white friends. Here I was studying the Civil Rights Movement with the utmost privilege of one of the world’s greatest teachers on the matter, Julian Bond, and he was one of the only black people I shared a meal with those four years. It was through studying the origins of black protest songs that I began my academic passion for Africa which later led to my joining the Peace Corps and for the first time in my life becoming the minority in every sense of the word.

I moved to Madagascar with the perceived invincibility of many 21-year-old white Americans with only one fear: Muslims. Clearly and thankfully, I’ve learned a lot since my 21-year-old self held her own religious prejudice. But none of that learning simply or magically happened. It took my stepping into uncomfortable experiences with an open mind and heart to get where I am (and I still have a very long way to go). One big step that I’ve seen and heard several black leaders I look up to call out is for us to take a look at our wedding albums and see how surrounded we are by others of similar privilege. I did just that when our album came back 6+ years ago and the following week I applied for LEAD Atlanta because I realized that I craved meaningful relationships with people from different backgrounds and skin colors than my own.

My LEAD class continues to be one of the most amazing resources for the personal and community work I’m committed to on these very issues. Today, I’m helping make a film that addresses the exact same fear I faced 13 years ago. I’m incredibly grateful for the learning and listening I was able to do between 2007 when I was terrified of potential terrorists (which is laughable since the Muslims I lived alongside taught me more about love and peace than any Judeo-Christian lesson growing up) and 2017 when I set out to make a film featuring some of the most resilient, ingenuitive, and kind human beings on Earth – many of them Muslims. However, not enough changed in me and I clearly had not learned enough (I have now realized this is lifelong work in listening, learning, and changing mindset and behavior) and it took my precious college town being hit by bigotry and violence for me to actually do something about the hate surrounding us.

Three years into making this movie and one might think I was finally “woke.” Yes, I’ve learned a lot more. I’ve had my personal biases and inner thoughts and my heartbeat challenged like never before by the brilliant people I’ve chosen to surround myself with in this filmmaking process. And yet, I was still shocked by what happened to Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd. What a ridiculous sign of privilege and slumber to be shocked by the terror that killed them in the midst of making a film meant to draw our attention not only to these problems but also to hopeful solutions. I owe you all a massive apology. You white friends and family who I preach to about human rights, I was not practicing what I preach. You black friends who I ask so many questions without realizing the added burden my unknowing puts on you. You incredible community of refugees and immigrants that I’ve been beyond blessed to get to know through this project who I assumed were simply thankful America welcomed you. I’m so sorry I did not do the work or take the time or listen more. One of the most awesome experiences filmmaking has provided me was the chance to visit the Equal Justice Initiative’s National Memorial for Peace and Justice and The Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration in Montgomery on a retreat for southern filmmakers with the International Documentary Association.

My fellow filmmakers lambasted me for making IMBA MEANS SING rather than finding and funding an African filmmaker to make that movie. They also graciously recognized how far I’d come since making that film by how we’ve shaped CLARKSTON differently. White filmmakers have been challenged by our counterparts of color to tell white stories. And while CLARKSTON is not only about white people (which would be counterintuitive since the beauty of Clarkston is its diversity and in being the most ethnically diverse square mile in America), it does explore whiteness in a way that is very much needed right now. At its core, CLARKSTON is about two people, and their communities, who serve as examples of something each and every one of us can do right now to personally play a role in ending the systematic racism that has plagued our country since its founding. If every person who watches CLARKSTON follows Chris and Heval’s example, we will change our country from the inside, individually – through systematic scale. Back to my irrational fear of Muslim terrorists being in the rural rainforest village I lived within in Madagascar. What black Americans have been faced with since the moment we stole, shackled, and enslaved them is the true terror. Anti-racism needs to become our lifestyle. What sacrifices do we need to make so black people don’t have to continue living in terror? I’m all ears and ready to act upon them.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Filmmaking was the hardest work I’d ever done until I had a child. Being a good mom is full of even more blood, sweat, tears, sacrifice, creativity, exhaustion! And balancing both seems like an almost impossible dream to achieve.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Big Softie for vegan soft serve ice cream Outdoor yoga at any of our amazing parks COVID-safe patio dining at Beetlecat or Anis Iced tea from San Fran Coffee Co Toddler shopping online with pick-up at Baby Braithwaite Art exploring on the BeltLine

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My shoutout goes to everyone I mentioned in my little racial reckoning letter. I am so grateful for each of y’all helping chisel me into a more thoughtful and compassionate human being. Also, to our whole crew, cast, and supporters of CLARKSTON. Thank you!

Website: www.clarkstonfilm.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erinbernhardt4
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erinlevin/

Image Credits
Tomesha Faxio, https://www.meshaphotography.com/