OASIS
2023 · 6m · Documentary
The stress, pressure, and fast pace that we experience daily make us overlook our well-being. We live immersed in a constant fleetingness that wreaks havoc on our way of life. Oasis is a critique of the overwhelming mass society that consumes us and emphasizes the need to stop, to find calm: an oasis in the midst of the desert.
More Like This
Khaled El Sheikh: Between the Thorns of Art and Politics
2023
The Bahraini singer "Khaled Al Shaikh" is synonymous with musical innovation, earning him numerous awards. This film follows his creative journey from his early days as a student at Kuwait University. We trace Khaled Al Shaikh's path from Kuwait University, where he initially studied economics and political science, to the music institute in Egypt. After leaving university to pursue music, we follow his years of fame and struggles.
More info →
Mother of the World
2011
Six million tons, suspended by the slightest gesture. Mother of the World presents a series of brief vignettes of Cairo just prior to the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. These fragmented scenes choreograph class structure and foreign influence into an intimate, poetic view of a nation about to change.
More info →
Giri Chit
2009
GIRI CHIT tells a tale of the subtle trace of irreconcilable worlds. A worker driving a mobile sweeper in hypnotic circles across an already immaculate surface. The high drama of cosplay aficionados clamoring to be seen. A cast of thousands toiling hundreds of feet above the street. Giri translates as ‘duty’ in Japanese, but the concept is in fact far more complicated. Giri is a sort of interpersonal political capital that informs careers, family relations, and much more. Its presence and flow is palpable in Japan, where this film was shot. A “giri chit” then may be a hypothetical voucher for this intangible flow (with a tip of the cap to Thomas Pynchon’s “Vineland”). Selected Screenings and Awards: DaVinci Film Festival (Best Experimental Film), Chicago Underground Film Festival, Athens International Film and Video Festival, Dallas Videofest, ICDOCS Film Festival, NewFilmmakers at Anthology Film Archives, Oxford Film Festival, Director’s Lounge Berlin
More info →
A Million Smiles: The Story of Baseball Without Borders
2024
"A Million Smiles" is a documentary film showcasing the Baseball Without Borders Foundation based in San Francisco, CA for nearly 30 years. Baseball Without Borders Foundation brings joy to children throughout the world through a love of America’s favorite pastime, baseball. They provide new and used baseball and softball equipment to children of all ages and they donate all equipment free of charge. Donations have been made to children in 52 countries since 1995. Baseball Without Borders has no paid staff. 100% of donated funds help to promote friendship, recipients' native cultures and connection with the less fortunate of our world. This is the first film in Baseball Without Borders history. This film focuses on bringing awareness to the culture and children of Yucatán while giving viewers a sense of the impact that Baseball Without Borders has been creating for more than 27 years as it carries out its mission to weave joy through the world by offering the gift of baseball.
More info →
Insistir
2023
A documentary about the sea and memory. Its movement is its form. Its strength.
More info →
After the Glacier
2024
Jhonny Quintero, the only survivor of the catastrophe in Mérida, Venezuela, in 2000, relives his tragic accident in which a group of high mountain hikers were buried by a block of ice and snow. This event led to a rescue operation that lasted 16 days, known as Operation Humboldt. During this time, an arduous search was conducted to locate the missing and rescue the survivors under extreme conditions.
More info →
Tuna on Tour
2019
The world’s biggest fish market is to make room for a highway during the Olympic Games 2020 in Tokyo. After more than 80 years in daily business, the relocation of over 14,000 dealers is a turning point. Especially for old-established dealers this step is not easy. Within four days, all dealers, souvenir and shoe shops, restaurants and service providers such as knife sharpeners are to be relocated to the new location on an artificial island. The closure of Tsukiji is a step towards modern digital real-time trading and we are the only foreign reporter with exclusive access to accompany this adventurous relocation.
More info →
Fear of Heights
2025
In 1983, film student Rich Murray was handed $20,000 in a brown paper bag by a mobster. The money was for directing his first music video for a virtually unknown Philly rocker named Alan Mann. Mann's song "Christmas on the Block" became a Philly radio staple and Murray's music video, against the odds, became the first indie video to play on MTV. This experience, tainted by Mann's tragic passing, remained with Murray through the years. With "Fear of Heights," Murray travels back to that time to answer some nagging questions and to illuminate the dark, mysterious life and music of Alan Mann.
More info →
SOME KIND OF ANIMAL: A Post Animal Documentary
2020
"In November of 2019, I was sent to Chicago to interview psych-rock band 'Post Animal' on their much-anticipated sophomore album 'Forward Motion Godyssey.' Rather unfamiliar with their persona, I wasn't sure what to expect... What I got was the most absurd experience of my professional life." - Sam Straley
More info →
Ford at Pearl
2021
A look at the recently discovered fascinating behind the scenes footage shot by the legendary Hollywood director John Ford at Pearl Harbor in 1942 while filming his popular World War II documentaries December 7th and The Battle of Midway.
More info →