About the Film

From the creators of the award-winning documentary Poverty, Inc. comes a new film about social and material poverty in the United States. POVERTY TRAP examines how big plans to end poverty broke the promise of America—and what communities are doing to renew it.

From the legacy of urban renewal and the War on Poverty to today’s sprawling social services network, many of the institutions created to fight poverty have instead kept people stuck. As Lee Moore of Jackson, Mississippi says, “It’s hard to make it out.”

Drawing on more than 130 interviews filmed across 16 states, the film traces a sweeping story of failed policy and broken communities, but also redemption—finding purpose after prison, dignity reclaimed after addiction and homelessness, and revival around “a little garden” in South Dallas.

POVERTY TRAP exposes the danger of treating human struggle as a technical problem to be managed from afar. It points toward something different: how help rooted in real relationships can unlock the capacity of people to transform their lives and communities.

Some Photos from Production