Hell and Back Again

What does it mean to lead men into war? And how is it possible for those men to return home again? This documentary begins with the US Marines Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment as they launch a major assault against a ghostlike enemy in the the Taliban stronghold of Southern Afghanistan. It continues back in North Carolina, following the everyday rituals of Sergeant Nathan Harris as he recovers from a severe gunshot wound. These two interwoven story threads provide an intimate experience of war and its consequences as a whole generation of Marines and their families search for a sense of purpose in a country that prefers to be indifferent. www.hellandbackagain.com

My role: Editor.
Directed by Danfung Dennis.
Sundance Film Festival 'Grand Jury Prize' and 'Best Cinematography' awards.
Currently in the festival circuit.
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Iraq in Fragments

A complex picture of a post-war Iraq. Through stunning verite camera work, explore the lives of ordinary Iraqis and a country pulled in different directions by politics, religion, and ethnicity. www.iraqinfragments.com

My role: Editor.
Directed by James Longley.
'Best Documentary Editing' at Sundance Film Festival.
Nominated for an Academy Award.
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Sari's Mother

Sari is an 11-year-old boy in rural Iraq who is living with HIV. Amidst the disintegrating infrastructure of the Iraqi government, Sari's mother undertakes a fearless fight to obtain proper health care for her child. www.daylightfactory.com

My role: Editor.
Directed by James Longley.
Nominated for an Academy Award.
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Kiss the Paper

A poetic documentary short that contemplates the revival of the nearly obsolete, centuries-old craft of letterpress printmaking.

As the few remaining letterpress print shops close down day by day, younger generations are eagerly collecting the relics of dusty equipment and nearly-forgotten letterpress lore that are left behind. In an increasingly digital world that prizes instaneity and economies of scale, why preserve a slow, heavy, imperfect, and dying craft? What does this wave of idealism and nostalgia reveal to us about a broader cultural transformation that is underway? A lifelong letterpress printer, Alan Runfeldt, invites us into his print shop to discover some answers.

My role: Producer, Director, Camera, Editor.

Currently in the festival circuit. For info about upcoming screenings, like us on Facebook or send an old-fashioned email if you'd like once-in-a-while udpates:

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March Point

Cody, Nick and Travis wanted to make a gangster movie or rap video. Instead, they were asked to investigate the impact of two oil refineries on their tribal community. Follow their journey as they come to understand themselves and the threat their people face. www.marchpointmovie.com

My role: Additional Camera.
Directed by Annie Silverstein.
Broadcast nationally on PBS/POV.
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Unlisted

Richard Ruston was afflicted with paranoid schizophrenia before his daughter Delaney's birth. After many years of shame, frustration and fear Delaney decided to hide from her father by keeping her phone number and address unlisted. But now, 10 years later, Richard is more stable and on a newer medicine. Given her experiences as a doctor and a mother, Delaney decides to reconnect with her father. What understanding and acceptance of her dad and his illness can she now find? Sharing touching and at times painful detail about the personal toll of mental illness, Unlisted: A Story of Schizophrenia is a soul-searching examination into the nature of responsibility-of parents and children, of physicians and patients, of society and citizens towards those afflicted with severe mental illness. www.unlistedfilm.com

My role: Additional Camera.
Directed by Delaney Ruston.
Broadcast nationally on PBS.

Tips for Talking to Strangers

In a media-saturated world, what happens when neighbors start talking to each other? A short documentary about the national phenomenon of Conversation Cafes and its origin in Seattle.

My role: Producer, Director, Camera, Editor.
Broadcast on PBS.
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City Symphony

Experimental documentry shot around Seattle as a contemporary homage to 'city symphonies' created by early filmmakers.

My role: Producer, Director, Camera, Editor.
Created for the Northwest Film Forum Filmmaker Challenge

Unreserved: The Work of Louie Gong

A portrait of Pacific Northwest artist and activist Louie Gong (Nooksack, Squamish, Chinese, French, Scottish). Gong merges Coast Salish art with a pop culture palette in an effort to represent the complexities of multi-racial cultural identity -- something he refers to as "walking in multiple worlds". UNRESERVED is a story about the youth of today and the unique connection to identity that many find through contemporary images and icons. www.unreservedfilm.com

My role: Sound Mixing.
Directed by Tracy Rector.
Official Selection at Cannes Film Festival 'Short Film Corner'

The Letter (trailer)

A group of Somali immigrants move to a small town in Maine only to be welcomed by a letter from the mayor telling them that there is no room for them and that their friends should stay away. As you can imagine, it gets ugly and it's all shockingly true. www.arabfilm.com

My role: Editor.
Directed by Ziad Hamzeh.
Released in theatres on 35mm.
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Kudus Song

A lyrical dance for camera performed in and around an ancient Indonesian teahouse as dusk falls.

My role: Camera, Editor.
Produced and performed by Katy DeRosier.
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Reel Grrls

By teaching teenage girls how to be critical television watchers and producers of their own media, they develop a voice in an arena where they are heavily targeted as consumers but where their artistic expression is seldom heard or seen. When teenage girls get behind the camera, they discover they have a lot to say! www.reelgrrls.org.

My role: Instructor.

Longhouse Media

The past hundred years of filmmaking have virtually ignored the self-defined identities of Native people. The many damaging stereotypes based on Hollywood images of the American Indian have left Tribes without a voice. Longhouse Media (a.k.a. Native Lens) is a program that helps Native youth in the Pacific Northwest tell their own stories through video. www.longhousemedia.org.

My role: Senior Editor, Instructor.

Stigma Project

A series of 13 short 'trigger' videos about HIV/AIDS stigma and discrimination in Caribbean health care settings. Designed to portray realistic and controversial scenarios; for use in training. The action stops at a critical moment to prompt discussion and debate among viewers. A special project of I-TECH, made in collaboration with the Caribbean HIV/AIDS Regional Training Network, CHART.

My role: Project Lead, Producer.
Used in national public health campaigns in several countries.

Jyothi's Hope

Jyothi is living with HIV. Before anti-retroviral drugs are available in India, one of Jyothi's young children becomes very ill and dies with AIDS. Months later, Jyothi is among the first patients at Tambaram Hospital to receive life-saving anti-retroviral therapy. This short documentary chronicles her transformation.

My role: Editor.
Directed by Tom Furtwangler.

Breaking the Silence

Community-based workshops, a youth-produced video, and a documentary. Breaking the Silence uses media literacy as a tool in HIV-prevention among youth in the Caribbean. www.breakingthesilence.info.

My role: Co-Founder, Lead Media Instructor.
Broadcast internationally in the Caribbean.
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