In her new documentary, “Newport: In This Together,” award-winning filmmaker Susan Sipprelle explored how the City by the Sea navigated the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sipprelle, who was born in Newport, was in lockdown with 10 members of her family on Aquidneck Island during the pandemic. “I started my film with this question: How does a community cope with an external threat?” she explained.
I asked Sipprelle to tell us more about her film.
What made Newport the right community to tell this story?
Sipprelle:In November 2020, I went out for a run. When I passed under Hanging Rock in Middletown, a famous spot for thinking and philosophizing, it suddenly struck me that I could document what was happening during a global health pandemic in Newport, a small American city with both national and international name recognition.
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What do you want viewers to take away from the documentary?
Sipprelle: I did not expect to find the deep commitment to each other and to their city that Newporters revealed during the pandemic. At this time in our nation’s history, when we too often concentrate on what separates and divides us, Newporters focused on how to help others and reach out, rather than on withdrawing. They strove to unite when times were tough, and they look to a future when they can draw on their newfound strength and resolve to make their beloved city a better place for all residents. I want viewers to feel the hope that I found in the making of this film when they watch and reflect on it.
Newport’s economy is heavily driven by tourism and hospitality. You do a really nice job capturing both the tumult those industries faced and their survival strategies. What was your biggest takeaway?
Sipprelle: My biggest takeaway was how resourceful and innovative people are when faced with tough times and difficult circumstances. Newporters, as individuals, elected officials, small business owners, nonprofit leaders, healthcare workers, teachers and administrators, responded to the pandemic with flexibility and adaptation. They figured out strategies to make things work. I hope that seeing how they responded, through the lens of the film, makes viewers from all communities understand that they possess some of the qualities of the Greatest Generation when they are faced with the next seemingly insurmountable crisis. They have the strength in themselves and in their community to overcome it.
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The documentary also does a nice job capturing the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder, and looks at how activism took center stage in Newport. Tell us why that’s such an important part of the story.
Sipprelle: Newport is not only the glorious mansions, splendid sailing, magnificent music and amazing history and architecture. It’s a real city with real issues. When my interviewees of color started to talk about how difficult the pandemic was for them, especially when its hardships were coupled with George Floyd’s murder and the social unrest that ensued, I felt I had a real opportunity to present a complex, rather than superficial, portrayal of Newport in my film. Black residents comprise 7.5 percent of the population, and nearly one out of 10 Newporters identify as Latino, which is the fastest growing segment of the city’s population. Newport is embracing its changing demographics, as it has historically.
What’s next for Sue Sipprelle?
Sipprelle: Inspired by the generosity and efforts of the many Newporters I interviewed during the filming, I founded reNEWPORT, a community group, to facilitate greater connection between nonprofit and business leaders, government officials, and engaged citizens. Community leader Ellen Pinnock is my co-chair. reNEWPORT was able to bring together the city, Newport in Bloom, a nonprofit, and private donors to plant bulbs in Newport’s North End, an underserved neighborhood. Right now, 38,000 daffodils are blooming in Miantonomi Park. Next, our group will tackle chronic absenteeism in the lower elementary grades.
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Dan McGowan can be reached at dan.mcgowan@globe.com. Follow him @danmcgowan.