Director
This is an elegy to the women whose lives were taken at three Atlanta spas this past spring, targeted by the shooter to relieve his sex addiction. ‘R&R’ is military slang for ‘rest and recuperation’, as using the body of a woman to combat the trauma of battle. War shaped the body of my mother, and her features in mine, continue to incite jokes about sexual violence. The connection between immigration and the countries whose infrastructures, economies and environments were ruined by US presence remains unseen. My family survived by hiding these atrocities from the children they raised in the US, genuinely wanting to protect us from the past. But keeping them hidden lets the violence survive too.
Director
A coral reef molded from human cremains so large it will be seen from outer space, an eco burial site that functions as a 130 acre wildlife preserve, and a mass grave of undocumented immigrants waiting to be recognized: in the US, memorials to the deceased have become as diverse as the lives they represent.
Director
JEEPNEY visualizes the richly diverse cultural and social climate of the Philippines through its most popular form of mass transportation: vividly decorated ex-WWII military jeeps. The film follows jeepney artists, drivers, and passengers, whose stories take place amidst nationwide protest against oil price hikes that pressure drivers to work overseas to earn a living, far from their homes for years at a time. Lavishly shot and cut to the rhythm of the streets, JEEPNEY provides an enticing vehicle through which the rippling effects of globalization can be felt.
