About
The Film and Community Engagement Campaign
Films That Spark Change
Repairing the World: Stories from The Tree of Life is a film produced by Not In Our Town.
NIOT is a movement to stop hate, address bullying and build safe, inclusive communities for all. Our unique approach combines documentary storytelling with engagement, online and on-the-ground, to help local leaders build vibrant, diverse cities and towns. Launched by a PBS film campaign in 1995, Not In Our Town serves a network of hundreds of NIOT groups, schools and communities across the country who are working to create connection, bridge differences, foster inclusion and inspire action.
Repairing the World: Stories from The Tree of Life - Pittsburgh, PA
The film not only connects emotionally with audiences and share often-unheard stories of hope and activism but is expressly designed as part of an engagement strategy and organizing campaign for on-the-ground change. NIOT is exploring the conversations taking place in schools, the support from sports teams like the Steelers and Penguins, the reflections of law enforcement leaders, the role of the newspaper in covering hate, and how the mayor and civic leaders are working to bring people together. The film follows Jewish, African American, immigrant and a broad cross section of Pittsburgh residents as they continue to develop relationships that can ensure a safe and welcoming city for all who have faced the harm and threat of violence.
Learn more:
Film Extras
The release of Repairing the World: Stories from The Tree of Life coincides with the 25th anniversary of the Not In Our Town movement to stop hate in local communities. Launched by a PBS film campaign in 1995, Not In Our Town serves a network of hundreds of NIOT groups, schools and communities across the country who are working to create connection, bridge differences, foster inclusion and inspire action.
See full Film Credits.
Not In Our Town (NIOT) is a program for people and communities working together to stop hate, address school bullying and build safe, inclusive environments for all.
Not In Our School (NIOS) campaigns are an ongoing commitment to empower students to create safe and inclusive environments free of bullying, harassment and all forms of intolerance.
A Not On Our Campus (NOOC) campaign addresses safety and inclusion on college campuses, including issues of racism, anti-Semitism, LGBTQ bias, and hazing.
ENGAGEMENT CAMPAIGN SUPPORTERS:
MAJOR FILM FUNDERS:
ADDITIONAL FUNDING PROVIDED BY:
In the News
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What's on TV This Week - NY Times
Just over five years ago, 11 people were slain at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh after a gunman entered shouting antisemitic slurs. This documentary covers the days and months that followed as the filmmaker Patricia O’Neill spoke to survivors, their families and members of the community. (October 23, 2023)
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Current - Not in Our Town film highlights power of Pittsburgh’s response to 2018 shooting
“The narrative is really about what communities can do,” O’Neill said. “There are endless possibilities to do stories about the danger of hate, about perpetrators, about what we’re facing, about the threat to democracy. … What is rare and what we try to focus on is, what can people do about it and where are examples of that?” (October 20, 2023)
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Inside Philanthropy
A new documentary, “Repairing the World: Stories from the Tree of Life,” details how a diverse community in Pittsburgh mobilized to stop hate following the killing of 11 worshipers at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018, the deadliest Antisemitic attack in U.S. history, according to the Anti-Defamation League. (March 8, 2023)
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'The John Rothmann Show' - KGO San Francisco
Repairing the World won the audience award at the 2022 San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. Prior to the screening, poducer Patrice O’Neill and NIOT member Jeff Greendorfer joined KGO 810 San Francisco's John Rothmann to talk about the film and what communities can learn from the response to hate in Pittsburgh. (July 27, 2022)
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The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle
‘Repairing the World’ is an inspiring look at Pittsburgh synagogue shooting’s aftermath. Ultimately, “Repairing the World” is a film about the power of relationships — those formed after and as a result of the massacre, and those forged beforehand. (April 26, 2022)
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The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
This year’s hybrid online and in-person festival also includes the world premiere of the documentary “Repairing the World: Stories from the Tree of Life,” which shows Pittsburghers standing together against hate following the 2018 mass shooting at Squirrel Hill’s Tree of Life synagogue. (April 28, 2022)
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CBS Pittsburgh - KDKA
A documentary highlighting the lives intertwined following the tragic sMay 6, 2022)hooting at the Tree of Life synagogue has made its world premiere at a local film festival. The film's director, Patrice O'Neill says it's a story of hope, inspiration, and courage of Pittsburgh standing together against anti-Semitism. (May 6, 2022)
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'The Confluence' - 90.5 WESA-FM
“We're trying to show a portrait of a community that had experienced incredible trauma, the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history,” says Patrice O’Neill, the film’s director. “Very quickly, we realized that Pittsburgh was opening a story about what a community can do in the aftermath of an attack. And that's what we followed for the past for the next three years.” (May 5, 2022, Interview starts at the 14:27 mark)
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Trib Live
She said she hopes what people take away from her film is that out of the Tree of Life shootings there is an opening to build new relationships. “So many things have happened that have enabled people to connect with each other — the film provides another opening for that — and that we don’t go back to our corners and try to fight separately. That we find new ways to address this rise in hate that we see across the country. We have so much more to learn from Pittsburgh.” (May 5, 2022)
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Pittsburgh City Paper
Film Pittsburgh Executive Director Kathryn Spitz Cohan says she’s honored O’Neill strongly felt that the film needed to premiere in Pittsburgh at JFilm. “The film is a tribute to all who banded together after that horrific day to show the world that love is stronger than hate,” she says. “It is remarkable and a loving memory to the 11 lives we lost that day and the many others who have lost their lives to hate. It is also a call to action. What can you do to make your city a more just place for all people?” (April 27, 2022)
