co-producer and director of photography
I Learn America
Feature documentary
At the International High School at Lafayette, a Brooklyn public school dedicated to newly arrived immigrants from all over the world, five teenagers strive to master English, adapt to families they haven’t seen in years, and create a future of their own while coming of age in a new land.
Through these five vibrant young people, their stories and struggles, and their willingness to open their lives and share them with us, we “learn America.”
Premiered at 2013 AFIDocs, and was Official Selection at DOCNYC, NextWave, Starz Denver, Nantucket FF, Thessaloniki Doc Festival, St. Louis IFF. Nationally broadcast on Al-Jazeera America; selected to the U.S. State Department's American Film Showcase, and a partner of the New York City Dept of Education, which distributes the film and viewing guide to teachers and students across the entire NYC school system.
Beginning in 2009, I co-conceived the film alongside directors Jean-Michel Dissard and Gitte Peng - researching schools, meeting students, and preparing development materials for preproduction, fundraising, and project infrastructure. For the 2 years of primary filming, I was both co-producer and director of photography, working intimately both where the cameras were rolling and in the setup of the edit and postproduction. With Jean-Michel Dissard, I also shaped the impact and engagement strategy, conceiving of a ‘library’ model of students’ stories of migration - a universal human experience. This eventually became the ongoing ILA Human Library.
