The Cost of Inheritance held its world premiere at Village East by Angelika on November 12th, 2023 as part of DOC NYC, America’s largest documentary film festival. The one-hour film, which features a collection of personal stories on the topic of reparations for Black Americans, was shown to a sold-out theatre and received an overwhelmingly positive response. 

The screening was followed by a Q&A session with director Yoruba Richen and five of the documentary’s subjects Sarah Eisner, Randy Quarterman, Briayna Cuffie, Lotte Dula, and Joseph Stewart. One of the main topics under question was how to champion work in reparations when faced with opposition from external parties. Several of the film’s participants mentioned that combining personal stories with factual evidence from our country’s history of racism towards enslaved Africans and their descendants made even the most conservative of their community members understand the need for reparations. 

Richen also referenced what was to come now that the film was released. She previewed additional clips on the topic of reparations that were not able to be featured in the film and mentioned that they would be coming to the documentary’s online channels. She also put the call for audience members to participate in their “What do REPARATIONS mean to you?” campaign. Submissions can be made at https://to.worldchannel.org/WhatsApp and responses will be featured as part of the discussions and marketing efforts surrounding the film’s upcoming national release. 

The demand for tickets was so high that an additional screening, taking place on Thursday, November 16th, was added as part of the festival’s in-person lineup and a virtual screening option is also accessible for the duration of the festival on the DOC NYC website. The film will have its public release on PBS on January 8th, 2024, and air again on January 15th on the WORLD Channel. Stay tuned for additional viewing opportunities.