Upcoming Long-Form Projects from documentaries, screenplays, and docu-series.
Letters to Eleanore
Kieth. Olivia. Fabrizio. Diana.
A few of the many names of those who have lost the ability to move and live like normal children. Some are not able to see the beauty of the skies or listen to music and the voices of those who care for them. Many of them are stuck in their beds, and words are not able to come out of their mouths.
Despite the joy of living, cerebral palsy and other complications have made their lives and the lives of their families a bittersweet struggle. Where do they stand in society? And how are they and their loved ones make sense of their situation?
Letters to Eleanore is a documentary about the stories of these children and their families, beautifully weaved together by the tale of Eleanore, a little girl from Missoula, Montana, who started a movement . . . with wheelchairs. The film gives a glimpse of the lives of these children who live in the United States, in contrast to the ones in Canto Grande, on the outskirts of Lima, Peru.
The Story
We begin in Litchfield, Minnesota, at the home of Olivia. Her feeding tube sticks out. She is 10 years old, blind, nonverbal, and has an occasional seizure disorder. Lisa, her single mom has been tending to her all day. They just came back recently from the NICU due to an infection. Despite all, the tenderness between this mother and daughter is unbreakable.
Then in a quiet and almost poetic tilt from the pink skies, the sun sets through the desert and the mountains in San Juan de Lurigancho. Through the window, a beautiful girl named Kieth is lying on a mat; she also has cerebral palsy. The poverty and the heaviness of her family situation are apparent, but there is normalcy to the way the household interacts. Life after the pandemic has not been easy, but they still find moments of joy with each other.
In different parts of the United States, we follow a group of volunteers led by the mother of Eleanore, Tamara, an occupational therapist and an expert on seating and mobility, as they prepare for the clinic in Peru. In Canto Grande, they will meet with these children to retrofit these chairs to their needs in March 2023. Tamara and Sammie, one of the nonprofit’s board members, are organizing a shipment of wheelchairs for Yancana Huasy, a partner organization in Peru that takes care of these disenfranchised families and children in Lima and the surrounding cities. Among the volunteers is Anna Marie, who drove all the way from Wyoming to Sioux Falls to donate her late daughter’s wheelchair so that a child who has the same situation as her daughter, Samantha, can use it. It is a heartbreaking moment caught on camera.
Our lens pans to a group of occupational therapy students. They are also preparing for their trip. One of the students, Gina, is restless. She has dealt with many children with disabilities before but this is her first time working in Peru.
In between these scenes, we look back into the lives of Olivia and Kieth, and we ask the hard questions. What do these families endure through their interaction with the world, and how can these children with disabilities thrive at present? How is it different in the US as compared to Peru, especially with a strained welfare system in both countries?
Many of these volunteers have the same story, brought together by the inspiration of a girl named Eleanore and her wheelchairs. She was also one of these children before she passed away. And throughout the film, her story is told through the letters of every character in this documentary. From the love letters of her mother to the thank you note of the parents of wheelchair recipients, and the diary entries of volunteers who wanted to witness these little miracles, Eleanore lives on.
Suffering, Optional.
A documentary about pain and the human experience.
Based on the latest medical research, this insightful feature-length documentary unravels the different levels of pain in the human experience, from the physical to the psychological. It dives into the gut-wrenching stories of this bio-psycho-social phenomenon with varying perspectives of Triathletes, cancer patients, and trauma survivors to the body-piercing participants of the Thaipusam festival in Malaysia. Into this rabbit hole, the film aims to prove that despite the inevitability of pain, suffering is optional.
Currently in Production.
Tentative Release Date 2024
Garlic, a love story
Set in an Italian grandmother’s kitchen, a farm in West Virginia, and in a research hospital, Garlic is a documentary about the herb that seeps into the lives of different communities. It is also a love story that intersects with health, sustainability, and family, all bonded through the chemical called Allicin.
Currently in Production.
The White Feast
Screenplay. 112 Pages. Original Story.
Accompanying her best friend on a lavish family retreat in the Philippines, graduate student, Rhe, unravels the secret ingredients of the Michelin-star feast of revenge.
Official Selection in the 23rd Beverly Hills Film Festival, 2023
Presented at the 76th University Film and Video Association Conference, 2021.
"Screwing Up 'I Love Yous'
Screenplay. 119 Pages. Original Story.
Before Brother Christopher became a monk, he was a three-time world surfing champion. And with his vow of chastity, he unintentionally falls for Kristen, a surfer who revives his passion for the waves as he unravels the meaning of Love.
As he decides on which path to take, he questions:
"If love is divine,
"If love is divine,
what happens if we screw up ‘I Love Yous’?"
Not your typical romantic comedy
based on a true story.
Ati
Screenplay. 123 Pages. Original Story
A streetwise black New Yorker joins her husband as he returns to the Philippine Islands, where she meets a tenacious girl from an indigenous tribe called Ati.
Along the way, she comes face to face with social and economic issues touching on race, poverty, family, and community.
BRO (2014)
104 minutes. Documentary.
A Different Kind of Bro Code.
An intimate exploration of the lives of a group of men in the Catholic Church called, "Religious Brothers" or Monks, who live the vows of Chastity, Poverty, and Obedience.
Devoted to God through their ministry and prayer, they strive to make a difference in the world by being present and available to the people and communities they serve. Some would say that they are the best-kept secret in the Catholic Church, but what does it really mean to be a 'BROTHER'?
The filmmakers traveled around the United States, Ghana, Brazil, Bangladesh, and India to tell their stories. With the challenges of clericalism, the abuse scandals, and the evolving secular culture, the film investigates these challenges, and the impetuses in the counter-cultural lifestyle they choose to live.
Brothers have been considered as a minority or as second-class citizens throughout the history of the Catholic Church. With their diminishing numbers, due to their aging communities and the lack of vocations, they are a dying breed.
With the research from the National Religious Vocations Conference (NRVC) and (CARA) the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, the film focuses on brothers in the U.S. where Brothers are diminishing in numbers, and in Ghana, Brazil, Bangladesh, and India where the brothers are thriving.
How are they distinct from the Catholic priests? Why did they decide to become a BROTHER, and why do they continue to be one despite their diminishing numbers? What empowers them as they live their vows in a secular world?
In honor of all the BROTHERS, who made a difference in the lives of so many.
How are they distinct from the Catholic priests? Why did they decide to become a BROTHER, and why do they continue to be one despite their diminishing numbers? What empowers them as they live their vows in a secular world?
In honor of all the BROTHERS, who made a difference in the lives of so many.