“Who does this American experiment benefit?,” asks an interviewee in GBH’s new documentary, Promises of the Revolution. It’s a question the entire four-part series of short films, made in collaboration with Mass Humanities, interrogates in one way or another. From Marblehead to Mashpee, from the Revolutionary Era to present day, this GBH Local Lens production cuts to the heart of who we are, where we’ve been, and what is to be done in the continued pursuit of a more perfect union.
The project began in 2025 when Mass Humanities, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, launched a grant program titled “Promises of the Revolution,” which aimed to support projects looking at the American Revolution and its guarantees — fulfilled and unfulfilled — in anticipation of the nation’s 250th anniversary. “We were seeking to add to the historical canon and provide a diverse offering of perspectives on the Revolution,” says Mass Humanities Program Officer and independent filmmaker Raeshma Razvi, “from historical narratives to their ripple effects, to how communities respond to those themes now.”
Having recently partnered with GBH’s Local Lens team, including GBH Programmer and Producer Emily Abi-Kheirs, to broadcast Mass Humanities’ documentary about Black life in Western Massachusetts (Legacies: Stories of Black History in the 413), Razvi saw Promises of the Revolution as an intriguing opportunity for further collaboration.
“[Emily Abi-Kheirs and I] really got each other from the beginning,” says Razvi. “We had the shared idea: how do we support both the independent film ecosystem in Massachusetts, bridge it with the work we’re doing organizationally, and amplify it? That’s been a goal for us at Mass Humanities [since federal funds were cut in 2025]: making partnerships to figure out how — when all of us in public storytelling have fewer resources — we can work together to expand our capabilities and reach.”
With additional support from Massachusetts 250, as well as Eastern Bank Foundation, Razvi and her team could help bring these stories to life. Statewide, Mass Humanities funded 34 projects. Then, Razvi and her team selected four projects that exemplified the range of the grant’s themes and, crucially, could be completed on-time. Having to go “from nothing to finished series,” says Razvi, in the space of six months (January to June), Mass Humanities hired two independent filmmakers to direct two of the films, and enlisted their own Communications Manager (Wes DeShano) to make the other two.
From there, GBH’s Senior Politics Editor Azita Ghahramani reviewed the outlines and provided editorial feedback for the filmmakers. Once they came back to GBH and Mass Humanities with their footage, the organizations collaborated to hone the films from rough cuts, through post-production and packaging, to final cuts.
“Stitching the four short films together,” says Razvi, “I thought about running from the coast of Marblehead to the city of Boston, to Indigenous lands on the Cape — the diversity of landscapes, of populations, of historical figures and young people.”
The result is at once sprawling and concise: four short-form pieces, all covering disparate topics, but in conversation with one other. Think less well-trod history like Paul Revere’s Ride and the Battle of Bunker Hill, more stories confronting the realities of enslaved people in Massachusetts; recognitions of the Indigenous Wampanoag people of Mashpee — their history and present day community; archives unearthing narratives going back centuries of LGBTQ+ people in New England; and finally, profiles of Boston teenagers writing for a long-running magazine committed to amplifying marginalized voices.
We are adding to the historical canon and expanding viewpoints. Personally, I feel that expansion makes people better. Where there’s more empathy, consideration, and curiosity, there’s more connection. Conflicts and disputes may come with that, but storytelling allows for those things to come through in ways that are generative for society, culture, and the Commonwealth.Raeshma Razvi, Mass Humanities Program Manager and Independent Filmmaker
A through-line in all of them are people and communities who “insist on existence in the face of erasure, inspiring the next person and the next person,” says Razvi. “Also, the films share that community element — there’s not one person doing the work. Sure, there are leaders, but these are largely volunteer organizations that understand all true good work comes from community.”
With about six minutes of runtime at their disposal, the filmmakers had little time to distill complicated ideas and subjects into complete, compelling pieces. “I applaud the filmmakers for taking these complex subjects and not flattening them, but leaving us with profound questions,” says Razvi. “We hope that the short-form makes people explore these subjects further — go to Marblehead Museum, learn about Indigenous history in Massachusetts, read Teens in Print, support the volunteers at Queer History Boston who are recovering and sharing these stories.”
The documentary embodies an engaged public humanities at work, says Razvi, raising questions around who’s included and who’s not, what histories bring us together, and where we’re ultimately going. “The promises of the American Revolution are both fulfilled and yet to come. It is an ongoing project — for freedom, for recognition, for rights. That’s also a great thing about America: it’s unfinished.”
Debra Adams Simmons, GBH’s Editor-in-Chief of Special Editorial Projects, echoes these ideas, saying: “So much of the American experience was shaped by the people and places of Massachusetts, and we are thrilled to partner with Mass Humanities and Massachusetts 250 to amplify those lesser-known stories. Our Promises of the Revolution community screenings are a perfect example of how GBH provides platforms and community spaces for important storytelling that has long been excluded from public memory.”
Asked about her hopes for the documentary, Razvi stresses the importance of people engaging with their history. “It’s not just for humanities faculty in academic buildings; it’s a live process, being done everywhere around you. You can join that effort, you can support it, and if nothing else, you can be an audience to it.”
”The promises of the American Revolution are both fulfilled and yet to come. It is an ongoing project — for freedom, for recognition, for rights. That’s also a great thing about America: it’s unfinished.”
Watch Promises of the Revolution on YouTube or PBS, and other programming from GBH’s Local Lens series. Watch the recording of our discussion panel with Raeshma Razvi and the filmmakers.
