Richmond, Virginia has long reflected the deepest contradictions in American history. Built on the displacement of Indigenous peoples and the enslavement of Black people, Richmond became the Capital of the Confederacy and erected monuments to its oppressors that stood for over a century.

But something is stirring here. A revolution from the heart of Richmond's communities brought down those monuments, and a renaissance of culture and community-building has emerged across its neighborhoods. Yet beneath that momentum, hard questions remain. Is this transformation reaching the people it claims to serve? Are the roots of systemic inequality being addressed, or only the symbols of them?

Reconstructing Richmond is a documentary about the direction of this city and the crossroads its leaders face amidst national turmoil. It follows practitioners doing the work of regenerative development from the ground up, and asks what it takes to close the distance between the visions and realities of social change.

The Unfinished Work of Reconstruction

When the Civil War ended, residents watched from a hillside as the retreating Confederate army set fire to their own capital. What followed was a brief but transformative era known as Reconstruction. The 13th Amendment ended slavery; the 14th made constitutional rights enforceable for every American; and the 15th protected voting rights of males regardless of race. The federal government also established the Freedmen's Bureau to build the social foundations of formerly enslaved people through investments in education, healthcare, and fair labor. Those structural precedents became the foundation for the civil rights protections and public institutions that shape American life today.

But when Reconstruction ended, the forces of white supremacy reclaimed their power through Jim Crow laws and erected monuments to Confederate leaders that would stand for over 130 years. Forced by segregation into the neighborhood of Jackson Ward, Richmond's Black community built one of the great centers of Black entrepreneurship and culture in America.

That vitality was not allowed to last, as federal policies including redlining deliberately starved the neighborhood of capital and investment. Then in the 1950s and 60s, highway construction carved through the heart of Jackson Ward and over the burial grounds of enslaved Africans in Shockoe Bottom. The consequences have compounded, with inequality around food, housing, education, and healthcare carrying centuries of marginalization into the present.

Community leaders today are picking up the unfinished work of Reconstruction — restoring the health of the land, tending to the wellbeing of its people, and unifying across faiths and cultures toward lasting change.

Why This Film Matters Now

In 2026, the United States marks its 250th anniversary. At this milestone moment, Americans are asking fundamental questions about our history, our identity, and our future.

Richmond has lived inside those questions longer and more honestly than almost any other American city. What's taking shape here may light pathways for the country to follow.

The People Behind This Film

We are not outsiders documenting Richmond's transformation; we are part of it.

Loria King, our Creative Producer, was raised in Richmond. Her documentary work, including Black America Is... and Current, has spent years amplifying the stories of communities whose histories have been overlooked. She knows this city's past and is actively shaping how its present gets told.

Patrick Mamou, our Director and Producer, has spent years building cultural platforms in Richmond, from the Jazz Poets Society to the Altars Festival, that connect artists, musicians, and community leaders across the city. He produced and co-directed the award-winning documentary Black Fire.

Mike Rabin, our Executive Producer, came to Richmond in 2019 and has built his work here since. As founder of Pollinators for Change, he has spent years connecting leaders across faiths, cultures, and social impact sectors around community transformation.

Our film company, 1865 Media LLC, is named for the year the 13th Amendment was ratified and the Freedmen's Bureau was established. We tell stories rooted in the principles of Reconstruction.

Our Values

Our film witnesses people whose work begins with care for their communities. Those same principles guide how we make this film and how we run our company. We hire local crews, support community participants, and ensure that the capital we raise circulates within the communities we serve. However much success this film achieves, what it leaves behind matters most.

Where Your Support Goes

To reach this point, we have personally invested more than $30,000 to fund 5 filming days, 4 sit-down community interviews, a fundraising sizzle reel, and the full outline and treatment for the documentary. This investment has allowed us to maintain creative independence while keeping the project accountable to its values.

We are asking for $25,000 because Reconstruction begins in the community. This is a modest starting point by design. It reflects the principle that the people closest to these stories should be the first to shape how they are told.

With this foundation in place, we will invite larger donors and foundations to help us tell these stories in full. The costs to complete a feature documentary of this scope typically total $150,000 to $200,000. These include professional editing and post-production, archival footage and photography licensing, music licensing, animated maps and motion graphics, and festival delivery.

Future campaigns will carry us through Altars Festival 2026 this November and into post-production.

Why We're Crowdfunding

Traditional film financing asks filmmakers to answer to investors. This campaign asks something different by inviting you to become part of this work from the beginning. Like the community leaders and organizations this film documents, this campaign is itself an act of reconstruction. We are building something together.

Join Us

Richmond's history helped shape the story of America, and now this city may help shape what comes next. By supporting Reconstructing Richmond, you help document a movement toward repair, reconciliation, and reconstruction, and help carry it to communities across the country.

If Richmond can change, so can America.