About to be separated, they are forced to make a terrifying choice.
Daniel and Mary sued for freedom and won. But the widow of their former slaveholder challenged the Bells’ freedom in court. Threatened with re-enslavement, and the sale of their children, they led the largest escape attempt in US history.
The Bell Affair is a uniquely produced animated drama that tells the lesser-known stories of slaves who sued for their freedom prior to the Civil War.
“The delicate artistry of lead VFX artist and supervising producer Michael Burton (’07) brings to life the artistic expression rotoscoped in broad swaths of remarkable beauty. Burton’s skilled live animation adds a visceral quality to The Bell Affair that makes the emotions of our characters dynamic as we witness them navigate through the uncertainty of their day-to-day lives.” – Nebraska Alumni Association.
“The searing story of the enslaved Bell family’s fight for freedom.” – WYPR. All Things Considered.
“Bell organized the largest attempted slave escape in history with 77 people, including four of Bell’s children, on a schooner called “The Pearl.” Unfortunately, they would be captured with most of them eventually sold to slave owners in Vicksburg, Mississippi.” – The Washington Informer.
Honorable Mention – 2022 Silk Road Film Awards Cannes
Official Selection – 2022 Prince George’s Film Festival
Official Selection – 2022 Golden State Film Festival
Features:
Anthony Wilcox as Daniel Bell
Myeisha Essex as Mary Bell
Deborah Madick as Susan Armistead
Arista Jackson as Ann Bell
Darla Davenport as Lucy Bell
2021 / Drama / English / 82 minutes / A film by Kwakiutl Dreher.
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A southern-born, black gay man goes back home to reconnect with black gay men he has performed on stage for a decade.
“Making Sweet Tea” chronicles the journey of southern-born, black gay researcher and performer E. Patrick Johnson as he travels home to North Carolina to come to terms with his past, and to Georgia, New Orleans, and Washington, D.C. to reconnect with several black gay men he interviewed for his book, Sweet Tea. Johnson transformed that book into several staged plays over the course of a decade, and the film combines footage from his past performances of the men with documentary moments from their lives a decade after the book’s publication.
The film also focuses on Johnson’s life in the south while showing how the men have changed since – and been changed by – their depictions in his book and plays.
The film covers the subtle complexities of Johnson’s relationships with these men, with his family, and with his hometown in North Carolina. The film also restages Johnson’s performances of the men’s narrative in their homes, in their churches, and on their jobs, sometimes with them directing him or even participating in the scene.
Blurring the line between art and life, the film offers a rare glimpse into the lives of people rarely given a platform to speak and demonstrates how research, artistry, and life converge.
A festival favotite with numerous wins including:
Winner: Best Documentary, Out On Film Atlanta LGBTQ Film Festival
Winner: AARP Silver Image Award, Chicago LGBTQ International Film Festival
Winner: Best LGBTQ Film, San Diego Black Film Festival
Winner: Audience Choice Award, Kansas City FilmFest International
Winner: Judges’ Choice Documentary Film, Longleaf North Carolina Museum of History
Documentary / 2020 / 89 Minutes / Color / English / A film by John L. Jackson Jr.
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In one of the last traditional tribes in the South Pacific, a young girl falls in love with her chief ‘s grandson. But when war with enemies escalates, she is unknowingly betrothed as part of a peace deal. The young lovers run away, but are pursued by warriors of both tribes.
With their lives on the line, the star-crossed lovers must choose between their hearts and the peaceful future of the tribe.
“Thrilling performances as stunning as the setting.” – Washington Post
“One of the best…you will be surprised.” – Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
“An epic romance. Highly Recommended.” – S. Lyons, The Sound View
Nominated for 5 AACTA Awards (Australian version of the Oscars): Best Picture, Best Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, Best Sound
Winner, AACTA award for Best Original Score
Winner, Audience Award, Best Cinematography, Venice Int’l Film Festival
Winner, Best Director, Australian Director’s Guild
Winner, Best Music, Film Critics Circle of Australia
Winner, Audience Award, Best Picture, Venice Int’l Film Festival
2017 Academy Award Nominee, Best Foreign Language Film
First Australian film ever to be nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar
Drama / 2015 / 104 minutes / Color / Nauvhal w/ English subtitles / A film by Bentley Dean and Martin Butler
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PTSD and Suicide in the military have reached crisis levels.11 out of 20 veterans of the global war onterrorism have PTSD.
DON’T WE NEED TO HEAL OUR WARRIORS?
WINNER: Best in Show at the 2024 Impact Doc Awards
Winner of the New York Women in Film and Television Award for Excellence in Documentary Directing.
Nominated for Best Documentary Showcase at the Soho International Film Festival 2023.
Final Fight goes deeper than any documentary to date in revealing the root causes of this tragic epidemic by profiling a diverse group of veterans struggling with either combat or sexual assault-related Post Traumatic Stress, a major cause of suicide.
As the devastating war in Afghanistan and Iraq continued on, U.S. military brass who struggled to fight the longest-running war in United States history, largely ignored not only the connection between traumatic brain injuries and suicide but also uncontrolled sexual assault among the rank and file. Leading experts in the field of PTS therapy and brain science offer hope and answers to the struggling veterans profiled in the series but also to the family and friends who love them.
Produced in 2023, director Frances Causey wrote “While I was researching Final Fight, it became painstakingly clear that the US Military had few – if any – answers to the ongoing, historic epidemic of PTSD-related suicide among its veterans. THIS FILM IS THAT ANSWER.”
Largely unknown to most Americans, over the last 20 years, the United States has lost almost five times as many active service members and veterans to suicide than were lost in theentirety of the Global War on Terrorism combat operations.
“A perfectly balanced expose that combines compassion, understanding, and a compelling call to action while celebrating the resilience and humanity of its subjects. Tightly crafted, emotionally moving and exceptional in every way.” – Impact Docs
“An incredibly powerful documentary, and an extremely necessary one. Recommended.”– S. Lyons, The Sound View.
Final Fight offers insight into the issue, but more importantly points to a path of forward hope.
2023 / Documentary / 90 minutes / English / A film by Frances Causey
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In Home / Personal Use Copies of the DVD are available at
GRAMMY Award winning virtuoso meets the biggest health challenge of her life (Breast Cancer), and proceeds with comedy and wit, and comes out singing.
Marcy Marxer is a GRAMMY® winning singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist who takes us on her expedition through Breast Cancer and neuropathy caused by Chemotherapy, tempered by her wacky sense of humor and ability to make the personal universal. Her musical and life partner, Cathy Fink is Marcy’s advocate in the doctors’ offices, her number one fan and bandleader in the show with Stacy McMichael on bass and Janet Cramer on drums. Cathy also plays the mammogram technician, Cindy at the Wig Shop and Marcy’s mother.
WINNER BEST HEALTH FILM: Cannes World Film Festival
WINNER, BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: Chicago Cinema Awards, Stanley Film Awards, Sweet Democracy Film Awards, London Movie Awards, 8 & Halfilm Awards, IndieFEST Film Awards, Docs Without Borders, WRPN Women’s International Film Festival, World Cinema Awards.
EXCELLENCE AWARD in LGBT & ART HOUSE FILM, ACTRESS, MESSAGE DELIVERY: Depth of Field International Film Festival
The heartwarming musical comedy takes us through Marcy’s many stages of diagnosis and discovery with hope, grace and unique style. From comparing her cancer journey to being dragged through a car wash while playing the musical washboard, to dealing with everyone’s “Unsolicited Advice” to showing the ridiculous “My Chemo Bag” given to her at the hospital, Marcy sticks to the truth while finding humor in many moments. Why is there a lint roller in that bag? Cindy at the Wig Shop put Marcy at ease in the transition to baldness, and also at times told more truth than the doctors who soft-pedaled potential side effects to treatment.
“Laughter and tears I didn’t know I needed.” – Lillian Werbin, CEO Elderly Instruments, Daughter of Breast Cancer
The ten songs span multiple styles of music showcasing Marcy’s talents on the ukulele, mandolin and electric guitar through swing, punk, rock, jazz, Gospel and old-time country.
Marcy triumphs over adversity while celebrating forty years together with the love of her life and musical partner, Cathy, ending with a perfect duet, “Two Peas In A Pod.”
The American Cancer Society has indicated that by the year 2030, 1 in 2 people in the US will be diagnosed with cancer. Sooner or later all of us will be caregivers, patients, loved ones in someone’s cancer circle.
ALL WIGGED OUT helps us navigate this maze while showcasing the power of hope, the power of love and the power of advocacy.
GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award winner Tom Paxton called All Wigged Out “Hilarious and deeply moving”.
For medical professionals who work with cancer patients, this film is a tool for developing empathy and understanding cancer from the patient’s point of view.
BONUS Material on the DVD version includes
Reel of home movies made during Marcy’s cancer treatment including the onion juice remedy.
Interview with Marcy Marxer.
Musical / 2021 / 58 minutes / color / A film by Tracy Walsh
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Monumental writer in the age of transcendentalism, groundbreaking feminist, critic and parlor conversationalist, Margaret Fuller was the foremost female intellectual of the mid-Victorian Age.
As the first American front-line international war correspondent, she covered the Italian Risorgimento and she herself tilted towards a global utopian revolution.
Margaret Fuller is brought to life through the intimate revelations of award-winning biographers and is animated with a rich period tapestry and an authentic musical score.
The film brings Margaret Fuller out of historical obscurity, exposes her inner life, bridges the gap between her time and ours, and illuminates the gender divisions she challenged in an effort to highlight her achievements.
Margaret Fuller became a member of the elusive Cambridge, Massachusetts intellectuals; the Harvard student’s boy’s club that included Ralph Waldo Emerson, and James Freemen Clark to name just two.
Ralph Waldo Emerson called Fuller “The Greatest Conversationalist that America had”.
Family circumstances had her move to Boston where she became an influential leader and teacher of women’s group.
This film has huge potential in Women’s Studies, History, Sociology, Journalism and Philosophy American Studies and English.
What’s truly fascinating is the growing number of Fuller enthusiasts emerging from affinity groups not usually drawn to the humanities, but who identify with Fuller’s struggles as a woman who overcame economic odds and gender discrimination to create work of true importance.
With her brilliant, socially awkward demeanor, she has a potential following among women who self-reference as nerds, first and second-generation female immigrants who are facing obstacles and limitations in their culture’s patriarchal societies.
Those who use social media and other means to combat inequality may find in Fuller a salty heroine.
2021 / 40 minutes / color and Black & White / English / A film by Jonathan Schwartz
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“I had my red hat. It was like… like something that kept me safe.”– Hanka Neiger Ablin.
Winner for Best Historical Documentary, New York Emmy’s 2022 following its WNET-NY Broadcast Premier (Dec. 2021). They Survived Together is a true story of endurance, unity and hope…
“Horrifying eyewitness accounts of the Holocaust eventually lead to an inspiring story of one family banding together to survive the evils of Nazism. [An] extraordinary story of strength and courage.” – Irv Slifkin, Film Critic
“They Survived Together” is the incredible, true story of the Neiger family as they desperately tried to stay alive… and together… as a family with four small children, escaping certain death at the hands of the Nazis.
When Nazi soldiers forced them from their home in Krakow and into the harsh life of the Ghetto, the elders of the family made a vow… they would somehow escape together and survive as a family.
How the family escapes is extraordinary. Their trek to freedom involved forged documents, help along the way from non-Jews who risked their lives to protect them, and a difficult journey to Hungary where they they ended up imprisoned. Ultimately, the Niegers beat the odds and became the one of the few families to survive the Holocaust intact.
Broadcast Premier via WNET NY (Dec. 2021) resulted in an EMMY Nomination (results coming October 2022)
Winner: Best Documentary Feature – Chicago Indie Film Awards
Winner: Best Directors – Euro Film Festival Geneva
Winner: Best US Documentary – International Golden Age Festival
Winner: Best Documentary Feature – SoCal Film Awards
2021 / 75 minutes / Color and Black & White / English / A film by John Rokosny.
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The Syrian refugee crisis is not the fallout of the inevitable violence of war, but an intended outcome of a deliberate strategy by the Assad regime to shift responsibility for his citizens to the rest of the world. Those who have fled the violence are not opportunists seeking handouts and social services in the West, but part of a massive humanitarian crisis that is the tool of a political agenda.
In “We Are Not Princesses”, Antigone, the ancient Greek heroine, ignites the spirits of 4 Syrian women living as refugees in Beirut.
In this world-wide, critically acclaimed feature documentary, Feminine wisdom, passed through the ages, connects the inner lives of a group of women providing them with a sense of belonging. Through intimate verite footage, the film illustrates that which is invisible to the eye: The thoughts, memories and dreams of these mothers, sisters and wives as they grapple daily with past traumas and future uncertainty.
The women featured in “We Are Not Princesses” are living as refugees in Beirut.Four women are highlighted in the film, but others wanted to tell their stories. Their families would not allow them. Creative production animation was used to permit the denied to participate without revealing their identities.
The four featured women are:
Fedwa, 60, is the mother-figure of the group. Despite having lost two sons in two years, she remains determined to hold her family together. Paradoxically, she identifies with Sophocles’ flawed leader, Creon, because of his obstinacy and desire to keep order at all costs.
Heba, 27, Fedwa’s daughter, has, like Antigone, gone through the pain of losing both of her brothers, one of whom she never had the chance to bury as he was shot by a sniper coming out of a Damascus mosque.
Isra’a, 22, believes she is Antigone through and through. She is vocal about how the war has offered an opportunity to liberate Syrian women. She sings a rap of her story of fleeing Yarmouk camp, along with thousands of others, while wearing 4-inch high heels. Isra’a is self-confident and the other women admire her for it.
Mona, 30, when her son was dying was unable to get him to the hospital in time because of shelling. Now in Beirut, Mona is racked with guilt. Mona is the narrator leading the viewer through the film with her poetic reflections on life in the camps and on Antigone. Her reflections speak to the universal truths of the film, such as choice and how to regain a sense of self when all that you’ve known has been ripped away.
The film brings forth a unique structure. Built around the development of a theater workshop and the rehearsals for the performance, the structural foundation of the film, “We Are Not Princesses” is not an observational documentary about the putting on of a play. Instead, the film explores how these newfound tools of expression taught in the workshop play out in the lives of the women outside of the rehearsal and performance space.
The personal experiences and stories of the actresses, as well as their reaction to the play itself, are woven into the structure of the overall experience. Following the four women, we explore the theater space, the domestic space, and the public space of Beirut through an intimate narrative guided by the women’s voices.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS
Bridgette Auger (Co-Director/DP/Producer): Bridgette is an artist and filmmaker strongly committed to using art for social change. She has lived and worked in the Middle East for over 12 years, covering the Arab Spring in Egypt and Libya as well as the refugee crisis as a result of the war in Syria. Bridgette sought out intimate stories to raise complex questions about sensitive issues. Her credits include The Guardian, New York Times, Die Zeit and the short film “This Is Not Me هاد مو أنا: Enduring Syria’s War”. Bridgette holds a degree in Photography and Imaging from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and a Masters degree in Social documentation from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Itab Azzam (Co-Director/DP): Itab is a London-based Syrian filmmaker. She won a BAFTA in 2017 for her work producing the BBC Two series Exodus: Our Journey to Europe, and is also a winner of a British Broadcast award and a Liberty Human Rights award. Itab has extensive television experience including the BBC’s Syrian School; the series East West; and Bizarre Foods: Syria for the Travel Channel. She co-founded Sabbara, a Syrian social enterprise empowering women through economic employment and psychological support, and also co-founded the Open Art Foundation, an arts charity that works with marginalised communities around the world.
2018 / 74 Minutes / Color / 16×9 / Arabic with English Sub-titles / A film by Bridgette Auger and Itab Azzam
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