The new documentary Route to Connection by Emmy-winning filmmaker Eve Van Dyke premiered in LA, after its debut at the Tribeca Film Festival, and it talks about closing the digital divide in the US.
Through personal stories, the film shares the journey of three people who struggle with digital connectivity in Amarillo, Texas: a high school student, an educator and a small business owner.
The thoughtfully curated evening brought together western-inspired flavors, live country music and a catered dinner from Bar Amá, the celebrated DTLA Tex-Mex restaurant, setting the perfect atmosphere for the premiere and blending in the Texas and LA cultures.
Amarillo is one of the least connected cities in the US – when it comes to internet connection – and the short doc invites us to reflect on the issues that arise from lack of connectivity and the impact it has on communities every day. During the Q&A, the director and other panelists brought up parallels between Amarillo and Compton in Los Angeles, where the communities experience similar issues and learned to overcome the same obstacles, while keeping hope alive.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 13: Dana Ballout, Eve Van Dyke, Aja Brown, and Noel Pallais attend AT&T and ATTN:’s Route to Connection LA Premiere at Smogshoppe on June 13, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jerritt Clark/Getty Images for ATTN & AT&T)
“The reason why this issue is difficult for people to kind of understand is a similar reason why it’s hard to kind of make a film about, is because it’s sort of mundane…losing internet is not the most traumatic thing, but the thing that’s really important to know about it, and the thing that I took away from it, is how it chips away over time at people’s drive and people’s potential,” director Van Dyke said. “Nobody, if this is something that you’re experiencing, you’re not going around like ‘I’m a victim of the digital divide’ you know, we don’t identify that way.”
Made in collaboration with AT&T and Candle Media’s ATTN, the documentary is streaming now at att.com/routetoconnection and at Amazon Fire TV. Through Amazon’s “Stream it Forward” initiative, $1 will be donated to the Boys & Girls Club of America & Maverick Boys and Girls Club of Amarillo for every stream on Fire TV. Through a public-private partnership, AT&T offered internet connection to more than 22-thousand locations in 2022 in Amarillo, roughly half of the city that did not have broadband.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 13: Guests attend AT&T and ATTN:’s Route to Connection LA Premiere at Smogshoppe on June 13, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jerritt Clark/Getty Images for ATTN & AT&T)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 13: Wilson Lemieux, Dana Ballout, Eve Van Dyke, Natalie Stephens, Noel Pallais, Vicky Lewis, and Aja Brown attend AT&T and ATTN:’s Route to Connection LA Premiere at Smogshoppe on June 13, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jerritt Clark/Getty Images for ATTN & AT&T)
Route to Connection full screening link here.
