The Business of Creativity

Going into my interview with Laurel Greenfield, I thought the majority of our conversation would be about her inspiration for painting food and why she chose to pursue painting as a career. We spoke about that but ended up having a much bigger conversation about pursuing a creative career. We talked a lot about finding the balance between having a business plan and taking a leap of faith into the unknown, something anyone pursuing a creative field on their own can relate to.

1001 Cuts

The daughters of Title IX discover that pervasive gender-based stereotypes and discrimination persist within the high stakes professional world of surgery - a workplace designed for and and still controlled by men. Since 2003, half of medical students in the US have been women. Women remain in the minority in most surgical fields but their proportion is increasing. Leadership and culture in surgery remain disproportionately and persistently male despite ample evidence that women are just as good (and possibly better) at delivering care. Systemic barriers to success for women surgeons must be confronted and addressed for the surgical workforce to stay healthy and for patients to stay safe. We’ve interviewed dozens of surgeons who are women about their experiences, hopes, dreams and careers. This is a group of extraordinarily dedicated physicians who work every day to improve the health and lives of others despite untold challenges.

The Test

A Ghanaian maintenance technician at a Virginia retirement community dreams of becoming an American citizen to provide a better life for his family. With their future at stake, he enlists the help of two elderly residents to prepare for the biggest test of his life: the US Citizenship exam.

The Numbers Start with the River

The Numbers Start with the River is a 1971 American short documentary film about small-town life in Iowa. Produced by Donald Wrye for the United States Information Agency, it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short.

Say My Name

People from different ethnic backgrounds with "difficult" names by Western standards share their experience with moving through the world with an identity that challenges others to simply just say their name. A short social docu-film by Mariam Meliksetyan, “Say My Name” is a meditation on identity, otherness, assimilation, community, and ancestral roots.

Heroes

A satire on celebrity with a cacophony of gossip merchants, publicists, and “a host of stars.”

Dans le vent

Short subject on how fashion is created-- not by the great couturiers, but on the street.

Do You Love Me Like I Love You (Part 10: The Boatman's Call)

A short film to accompany the reissue of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds album The Boatman's Call (originally released in 1997). The result is a determinedly human portrait of the unique body of work produced by the band over the last 25 years, told through those who have lived and loved the music, including close collaborators.

Crafting the Tragedy of Macbeth

This behind the scenes documentary split across five chapters focuses on the many aspects of the filmmaking journey and includes interviews with lead actor and actress Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand. As well as various crew members.

Black Thoughts

A man that is a stranger, is an incredibly easy man to hate. However, walking in a stranger’s shoes, even for a short while, can transform a perceived adversary into an ally. Power is found in coming to know our neighbor’s hearts. For in the darkness of ignorance, enemies are made and wars are waged, but in the light of understanding, family extends beyond blood lines and legacies of hatred crumble.

Frontier Documentary

An NHS nurse of twenty years reflects on a challenging and strenuous career as time dwindles to her retirement.

Got You

A Day in the Life of a Consumer

The film shows one day from waking up in the morning all the way to waking up again the next morning. The everyday situations that many commercials are made of, the little dramas that they create and solve through the product or service they sell, are stitched together into one day. This is a film about the everyday in (German, or Western-European) society because the commercials are part of the everyday of most people (everyone who watches television) and they depict an ideal image of society. The film abundantly uses repetition as an editing technique, in visual ways as described above, but also because commercials can be read in different ways. For instance, Brat baking foil shows up at the evening dinner sequence, when an ovendish is put on the table, and again later on in the sequence about going out to a classic concert, because the clip has classic music.

Capturing the Friedmans

An Oscar nominated documentary about a middle-class American family who is torn apart when the father Arnold and son Jesse are accused of sexually abusing numerous children. Director Jarecki interviews people from different sides of this tragic story and raises the question of whether they were rightfully tried when they claim they were innocent and there was never any evidence against them.

Once upon a time returning to my hometown

Extra, behind scenes from Hideaki Anno's film Ritual (also known as Shiki-Jitsu).

The King Without a Crown

This short explores the possibility that Louis XVII, son of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, escaped death during the French Revolution and was raised by Indians in America.