Occupy Wall Street: An American Dream

In the Great Recession (2007-2009), Wall Street crashed the economy but got rewarded with billions of dollars in government bailouts, while millions of Americans—unemployed, homeless, desperate—had nowhere to go for help. When a small group of people responded by setting up camp in a New York City park, their protest ignited one of the great democratic movements in U.S. history.

A personal narrative with footage from travels to 42 occupations in 27 states, Occupy Wall Street: An American Dream (dir. Michelle Fawcett, 2025, 51 min.) reveals the unseen diversity and development of the movement over the course of its first year. Laid-off factory workers in the Rust Belt, Indigenous activists in the Southwest fighting another kind of occupation, recent graduates saddled with debt and no jobs, and homeless veterans of America's forever wars kicked to the curb, the occupiers transformed their despair into hope by forging a new American Dream together on street corners, parks, and public plazas from coast to coast. Along the way, they flipped the script from austerity to inequality, from reform to revolution, and from fear to power, heralding a new era in American politics.

The film contextualizes Occupy Wall Street in historical perspective and captures the joy and challenges, humor and love of a movement that Professor Frances Fox Piven, co-author of Poor People’s Movements, called, “one of a series of movements that has episodically changed history.”

Occupy Wall Street: An American Dream premiered on Wednesday, September 17, 2025, the 14th anniversary of the movement, at The People's Forum in New York City. Additional screenings will be held in Brooklyn, DC, Baltimore, Ithaca, and Youngstown this fall, followed by Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Portland in early 2026. For more information or to host a screening, please contact us occupyusatoday[at]gmail.com.

Short Films on the Occupy Wall Street movement

The Occupy USA Today media project (2011-2013) traveled to 42 cities in 27 states to interview hundreds of occupiers. This geographic breadth allowed us to identify similar themes and struggles across Occupy encampments, some of which we captured in the short films below.

A Tale of Two Occupations: The Homeless and the Occupy Movement

Free food at the Occupy encampments attracted scores of homeless. While some became active participants, others brought problems too great for the occupiers to handle. Does serving those in need serve—or detract—from the movement?

Occupying Paradise

Considered by many as paradise, Hawaii may seem to be an unlikely site for the Occupy Movement. But the islands’ dependence on tourism and a troubled history of occupation make the goal of creating a better world for all a challenge for local occupiers.

The Seeds of a New Society: Economic Localism and Self-Reliance in the Occupy Movement

Despite the claims of mainstream media, occupiers across the country do have solutions for the economic crisis. One is building local economies and promoting self-reliance, within the encampments as well as the broader community.

Fear and Occupying in Red America

“I support the Occupy Movement, but I’m afraid to lose my job” is a common refrain in Wyoming and Idaho. Yet occupations have taken root, and some are even thriving, giving hope to many for progressive social change in the reddest of the red states.