For over 50 years, Betty Reid Soskin held a secret. Deep in her closet, she'd hidden a box of reel-to-reel tapes with dozens of stunning original songs that narrate her personal journey through the 1960s & 1970s.

Her music is a haunting flashback to her family’s experiences confronting Jim Crow segregation in California. As the first African-Americans to integrate in an all-white suburb of San Francisco, her son survived being stoned by white children, and her family endured daily bigotry that left permanent scars. 

Feeling underprepared to confront the haunting emotions held by this music, Betty left it untouched for decades. 

But in her nineties, with time feeling finite, she opened the box and dove back into her songs. This sparked an autobiographical journey to re-explore the personal experiences behind her songs. 

The film follows Betty’s journey from the first time she listens to her old tapes, through her collaborations with younger musicians, and culminates with her singing of one of her songs to a crowd of thousands backed by a full symphony orchestra and choir. 

 

But only after confronting the deep personal traumas that had kept her from her music for so long.

In collaboration with the next generation of Bay Area Musicians, Betty’s songs converge past & present through their exploration of race, identity, and what it means to be American. 

"I first met Betty in 2016, and we became close friends through countless conversations without the camera rolling. This relationship has guided the film at every juncture, so that Betty’s voice and take on her life are authentically hers, rather than my interpretation of her story. Back in 2016, Betty hadn't listened to most of her music in decades, but she did have a homemade CD of a few songs she had dubbed from her reel-to-reel tapes years ago. Nobody had taken much notice of her music, including her. As she said, her songs would have gone to the trash heap when she passed away, but when she played a song for me, I was totally blown away. That moment changed both of our lives forever. She entrusted me with her music and her story and that's a responsibility that I take very seriously and promise to uphold. Over the past decade, I have helped connect Betty with musicians of many generations from across the Bay Area, and I have always made it a priority to listen to Betty and her family on how I can craft a story that's authentic to their lived experience. Betty, her children, her cousins, and her granddaughter have all given me input on how this story should be told. I hope you'll help me deliver on this promise & fulfill this family's dream." - Bryan Gibel

Betty turned 103 on September 22, 2024. Her icon and mentor was her great-grandmother Leontine, who was born into slavery and passed away when she was 102. Betty's final wish is to see this film and her unreleased music out in the world before she dies. It's what continues to give her meaning now that she has retired from the National Park Service. But given her advanced age, the clock is ticking. That is why time is of the essence for this project.

SIGN MY NAME TO FREEDOM is currently deep in the edit phase, weaving together themes of Betty’s story with our award-winning editor Kevin Jones and editorial team. While 95% of the real-life footage of Betty, her family members, and the Bay Area musicians that she worked with has already been filmed, we need your help to bring Betty's backstory to life through dramatic re-enactments, archival footage and the magic of editing! 

We are incredibly grateful for the significant funding we have raised up until now, through a mix of grants and private donations from organizations like The Berkeley Film Foundation, Rosie the Riveter Trust, California Humanities, Bay Area Video Coalition, Ms. Foundation for Women, & the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, and private individuals like yourself.  

We need your help to get the film 100% finished, onto Betty's home screen, and out into the world! Funds raised will go toward:

• The first dramatic re-enactments for key moments in Betty’s life that were never documented with photos or film; actors, sets and hiring crew. 

• Restoring and remastering Betty’s music so we can release an album of her unreleased songs along with our documentary. 

• Paying a fair wage to a post-production team of working professionals.

Thank you for making this film possible — we are grateful for any amount you can contribute! Your support makes you more than just a donor, it makes you a partner helping Betty realize her dream to see her story on screen and her lost music into the world.

YOUR DONATION IS TAX-DEDUCTIBLE!

Sign My Name To Freedom is a fiscally-sponsored project of the International Documentary Association (IDA), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Contributions in support of Sign My Name To Freedom are payable to IDA and are tax-deductible, less the value of any goods or services received, as allowed by law. The value of goods and services offered is noted under each donation level. If you would like to deduct the entire donation, decline the incentive at checkout.

HOW TO DONATE BY CHECK

If you prefer to donate by check or through your IRA or Donor Advised Fund (DAF), that is possible too! To make a donation from your IRA or DAF, request that your fund administrator issue a check to the International Documentary Association and be sure that they include "Sign My Name to Freedom 4461" in the check's memo so the funds go to the Betty Reid Soskin documentary. Checks should be mailed to, "IDA, Attention: Fiscal Sponsorship, 3600 Wilshire Bivd., Suite 1810, Los Angeles, CA 90010-2622". If you have questions, please email the film team at [email protected].

LEARN MORE

To keep up-to-date with film progress, sign up for our newsletter at: www.signmynametofreedom.com

For more information about the film, the budget or the timeline for post-production, please contact Bryan Gibel at [email protected]

CREATIVE TEAM

Delvon Worthy, Executive Producer

Kevin Jones, Senior Editor

Kevin is an Emmy-award-winning editor whose cut over a dozen feature-length documentaries. His credits include Dave Chappelle Live in Real Life, which had its premiere as the closing night film of the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival. He also edited the Emmy-winning documentary A Lion in the House, which premiered at Sundance before airing nationally on PBS. His credits also include Burn, the audience award winner at the Tribeca Film Festival and New York Times Critic's Pick.

 

 

Elizabeth Ray, Assistant Editor

 

Elizabeth started out with an interest in traditional animation, attending the CSSSA program at CalArts when she was in middle school, as their youngest attendee to that point. She then explored 3D digital animation before settling on film editing. She has a BFA in Motion Pictures & Television from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. Since 2011 she has worked as a freelance filmmaker on various short-form projects and web series, and one feature documentary.

 

 

 

Alyana Reid, Co-Producer | Social Media Manager

 

Alyana is Betty Reid’s granddaughter. She graduated from UC Irvine where she studied Film. She previously worked as a Quality Control Technician at Pixelogic Media where she oversaw file delivery for Film & TV content. Prior to that she worked as a COVID-safety officer on film sets in Southern California.

 

 

Sara Lafleur-Vetter, Producer

Sara Lafleur-Vetter is a documentary filmmaker and a photographer with a passion for telling stories of the underdog and the underbelly of society. She believes in the power of film and photography to better the world. Lafleur is inspired by the #decolonizedocs movement and believes media makers have a duty to flip the script of structural inequality, racism, sexism, and heteronormativity.

Lafleur holds a Master’s in Journalism specializing in Documentary Film from the Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, where she was fortunate to study under the doc giants Jon Else and Orlando Bagwell. At present, Lafleur is working on a feature-length film about several Indigenous activists who were transformed by their experience at Standing Rock. The film has drawn support from IDA, IFP, and Berkeley Film Foundation. Lafleur was also a 2018 BAVC MediaMaker Fellow.

Stephisha Ycoy-Walton, Outreach Producer

Stephisha is a dynamic leader blending expertise in education, finance, and community advocacy. In her work with Sign My Name to Freedom, she drives impactful initiatives rooted in social justice and historical preservation. With over a decade of experience as a licensed investment advisor, she holds multiple state and federal licenses and serves on Oakland's Budget Advisory Commission, aiding families in establishing solid financial habits. A retired professional basketball player with a B.S. in Kinesiology from Cal Poly Pomona, she leverages her diverse background in her work. Stephisha is an openly LGBTQ advocate, married for over a decade, and resides in Oakland, CA. She champions quality education and resources through her roles with Education Justice Academy (EJA) as the Director of Recruitment, Families in Action for Quality Education as a volunteer organizer, and Education for Change Public Schools as a Board Director. Additionally, she empowers individuals through financial literacy workshops and advocates for broader social issues like gun violence prevention and LGBTQ+ rights, embodying hope and empowerment for underserved communities.

 

Maya Curry, Outreach Producer

Maya is a Videographer/Producer based in Oakland, California, with a diverse background in filmmaking, digital communications, journalism and storytelling. Maya has worked on a number of award-winning feature documentaries, including No Straight Lines (2021) as Outreach Coordinator, Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin (2018) as Associate Producer, Regarding Susan Sontag (2014), and Hidden Heart Film (2008) as Crowdfund Coordinator.