Documentary Films
Farming For Sovereignty (in production)
Farming for Sovereignty is a feature-length documentary film that follows a struggling island farmer as he strives to bring back ancient traditions of sustainability as the effects of climate change are actively disrupting modern life in American Samoa. The film follows Ed “Kuki” Avegalio from the village of Pavaiai on the island of Tutuila in American Samoa. The disabled combat veteran leads the hydroponic farming movement on the island to help his people become food sovereign for the first time since World War II. During Kuki’s journey he must overcome damaging cyclones and tropical storms, a result of climate change, in one of the most affected areas in the world. Further, he must fight for funding from a local government that is trying to manage the territory with limited resources. For Kuki, his mission is to see American Samoa achieve food sovereignty and have the islands be in control of their own destiny.
With support from Pacific Islanders in Communications
Willing and Able… By Any Means Necessary
(in pre-production)
In the last year, gun ownership rose 58.2% amongst Black Americans. In several states, like the state of North Carolina, Black Americans are the fastest growing group of gun owners, fast exceeding those of their white counterparts.
Willing and Able… By Any Means Necessary is a feature-length documentary film that investigates the reasons as to why gun ownership is on the rise in the United States and how the right to bear arms has both benefited and terrorized Black communities for centuries.
#FreeYazmín (2016)
Forced to experience the limits of sanctuary protection in California, Yazmin is torn from her three young boys and forced to spend over a year in immigrant detention. A resident of California since the age of four and a survivor of domestic abuse, she struggles to find hope in the face of mounting anti-immigrant fervor.
#FreeYazmín! tells the timely story of a young, undocumented mother who is arrested and detained by ICE for over a year as a result of mounting pressure from conservative groups and the White House calling for stricter policies regarding undocumented peoples. As her home state of California, is caught in a “war-of-words” with the federal government, Yasmin Elias is forced to recognize the limits of “sanctuary” and finds little protection in San Francisco’s Bay Area, where she has lived since the age of four. After spending over a year in immigrant detention, her family along with a young group of lawyers, students and activists fight tirelessly for her freedom.
Out of Sight, Out of Mind (2015)
California inmate Anthony Robinson Jr. risks it all to help document the expensive and traumatic practice of shipping state prisoners to out-of-state private prisons. Using a contraband cell phone, Anthony offers first-person insights into his experience from inside the walls of a private prison located in the heart of the Mississippi Delta.
Selected Screenings: Carmel International Film Festival, Denver Film Festival, Capital City Black Film Festival, and the San Jose International Shorts Film Festival.