WGBH Production Grant for "Bi-Racial Hair"

Over the next month, I'll be working on another short film through a production grant I won from WGBH - Boston's PBS station. The film will be comprised of reenactments and interviews based on 13-year old Zora Howard's poem of the same name. It will air on the WGBH Lab and if selected, on WGBH as part of its Black History Month programming.

You can view the pitch here and the poem below.

LinkTV's "One Nation: Muslims in America" contest

Today my short film, "Tahani" went live on the LinkTV's One Nation Film contest. It is a 5-minute portrait of Tahani as a Palestinian-American spoken word artist and her experiences with the non-profit, Urban Word NYC. The contest is pretty cool - there are six categories of films committed to exploring the Muslim experience in America. The five top scoring films get judged by a panel of "celebrity judges" (including Marianne Pearl, Danny Glover, etc.). And the bonus - there's cash prizes associated with the top scorers. I told Tahani if we won it, I would split it with her - she gets to pay her tuition at Columbia and I get funds for my new film!

Besides the potential prize that awaits, it was inspiring for me to cut this film. I have been involved in some level with Urban Word since 2003 and Tahani was the very first poet I met. I've spent quite a bit of time with her and her family who I absolutely love and adore. I have learned in a very intimate way about the struggles Muslims - and particularly Palestinians - have while living here.

If you have time to vote, please feel free (you do have to register beforehand.) Click the LinkTV logo in the top left corner.

New Film Project - Youth in Conflict/Crises

Just got word that I was chosen for a film project creating portraits and an advoacy video on youth in conflict settings and/or natural disasters. Since its youth driven, I'll be bringing an incredible young poet with me to help draw out personal stories through poetry and creative storytelling as well as introducing a new media element for the distribution. We'll start shooting in Feb and then March in the following locations:

• Liberia
• Colombia
• Lebanon
• New Orleans

Will post more information soon.