Documentary Films
Character-driven Filmmaking Based in Northeast Tennessee
The Burden of Knowing
A place-based reflection on how to act in this time.
Work Sticks: Art, Impermanence & Childhood in an East Tennessee Town (2018)
Watch on Vimeo
Fiscal Sponsorship with The Southern Documentary Fund.
Centering the belief that the cost of nuclear weapons constitutes a direct theft from people suffering poverty, THE BURDEN OF KNOWING traces a direct relationship between the actions of radical Catholic nun, Sister Megan Rice (1930-2021), and the mission of a Japanese Buddhist monastic order also confronting the existential threat of nuclear weapons through spiritual means in an East Tennessee. Weaving together a place-based vision of the power of interfaith anti-nuclear movements to raise consciousness for political change, this lyrical documentary raises urgent critical questions for our present moment.
A short film that follows the construction of a stick sculpture by internationally renowned artist Patrick Dougherty and the community members of an East Tennessee town. The film explores ephemerality, nature, and play, intertwining real and imagined stories from the sculptor, volunteers who helped build “That Old Time Religion" in Johnson City, Tennessee, and the children who played among its tree branches.
More about the film HERE.
Banjo Romantika: American Bluegrass Music & the Czech Imagination (2015)
The Dressmakers: Constructing & Deconstructing Moroccan Clothes (2013)
Stream online via Documentary Educational Resources
BANJO ROMANTIKA introduces the musicians who play a unique bluegrass hybrid.
Banjo Romantika is distributed by DER & streams on Kanopy. Additional information about the film at www.banjoromantika.com
After screening on PBS in 130 markets across 40 states covering more than 78% of the US, we are thrilled that the film is being distributed by Documentary Educational Resources.
This feature-length documentary, contrasts the slow pace of artisanal clothes-making with the fast pace of the competitive textiles industry in Morocco, inviting a re-examination of the values represented by the clothing that people wear. More about the film.
2013 Documentary Feature Award UFVA
Contact us to view the film.
The Way North: Maghrebi Women in Marseille (2010)
A Moroccan Remains a Moroccan (2011)
From Marseille, come the stories of Fatima Rhazi and North African immigrant women cultivating new lives for themselves and their families in contemporary France. Riots throughout France in 2005 and the presidential election in 2007 are backdrops to the stories of Fatima Rhazi, Morocco’s first female sports photographer, and the women she works to empower. More about the film.
Arab Film Festival, SAN FRANCISCO & BERKELEY, 2008
Austin Film Society Texas Doc Tour, 2008
Cinematheque de Tanger, Morocco, 2008
Fountain Theatre (Mesilla Valley Film Society), October 2009
Women & Fair Trade 7th Annual Festival, November 2010
Distributed by Third World Newsreel
This short film contrasts old and new methods of clothes-making and situates Morocco in its multi-dimensional position among ancient, colonial, post-modern, and global influences.