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 often prefers to look the other way.

My role: Editor
Directed by Danfung Dennis
Nominated for an Academy Award, Emmy Award, Spirit Award, Gotham Award, British Independent Film Award, and Cinema Eye Honors (in 4 categories). Awarded Sundance Film Festival 'Grand Jury Prize' and 'Best Cinematography', Grierson Award and Du Pont Award. {trailer}

The Pearl

When you've spent your entire life, maybe many decades, presenting to the world an identity that makes you feel safe but doesn't match the way you know yourself deep inside, what is it like to finally let what's inside come out? A story about four transgender women finding their way. www.thepearlfilm.com

My role: Editor
Directed by Jessica Dimmock & Christopher La Marca
True/False, HotDocs, Camden, Frameline, Thessaloniki, MoMA, DocNYC, Outfest, Ashland, Grand Jury Prize at Dallas International, Cinema Eye Honors nomination
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Harvest Season

Many of the people most essential to the prestige of the wine industry yet are rarely recognized for their contributions. Meet multigenerational Latinos, temporary laborers, and permanent residents intimately connected to the production of premium wines in the Napa and Sonoma regions of Northern California - in the midst of one of the most dramatic grape harvests in recent memory.

My role: Editor
Directed by Bernardo Ruiz
Broadcast on PBS. James Beard Foundation Award Nominee.
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Drawing the Tiger

A subsistence farming family in Nepal gets a rare opportunity to break their cycle of poverty when their daughter wins a special scholarship to attend school in the city. After she doesn't return home, the family must grapple with their power to change their fate.

My role: Editor
Directed by Amy Benson, Scott Squire, and Ramyata Limbu
Festivals: HotDocs, Camden, Margaret Mead, Woodstock, Kathmandu International Mountain FF, Rubin Museum of Art, Best Feature at Northwest Film Forum, Best Documentary at CAAM Fest, UNICEF Award at Film South Asia, and others {peek}

Kiss the Paper

Poetic documentary contemplating tactility, obsolescence, and the revival of the centuries-old craft of letterpress printing. What does nostalgia for letterpress reveal to us about a quiet cultural transformation? A letterpress printer for over 50 years, Alan Runfeldt invites us into his print shop to discover some answers.

My role: Producer, Director, Camera, Editor
Festivals: Slamdance, Silverdocs, Full Frame, Maryland FF, Doc NYC, Big Sky, Rocky Mountain Women's, Citizen Jane, Sebastopol, Red Rock, Collinsville, DOXA, Sidewalk {teaser}

Iraq in Fragments

A complex picture of a post-war Iraq. Through stunning, lyrical cinematography, explore the lives of everyday Iraqis and a country pulled in different directions by war, politics, and ethnic division. 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.

My role: Editor
Directed by James Longley
Nominated for an Academy Award.
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An Education in Equality

Over 13 years, filmmakers Joe Brewster and Michele Stephenson chronicle their African-American son's educational journey at Dalton, one of the most prestigious private schools in the country. In the process, they illustrate America's struggle to come of age on issues of race, class and opportunity.

My role: Editor
Directed by Michele Stephenson & Joe Brewster
Commissioned by New York Times Op-Docs {peek}

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.

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

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.

My role: Additional Camera
Directed by Annie Silverstein and co-created with Nick Clark, Cody Cayou, Travis Tom, and Tracy Rector
Broadcast nationally on PBS.
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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.

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!

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, 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.

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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