The Picture Taker

Big Time

2024

Civil Rights Movement activist, TSSAA Hall of Fame Basketball Coach, swim coach, teacher, musical director, father, grandfather, and friend to many, Coach Sylvester Ford Sr. was known by many as “Big Time.” The nickname was given to him as a kid for his height, but “Big Time” showed time and time again why his nickname was about way more than his looks– it’s also because of how he showed up big for his community. Hometown Feature Audience Award winner at Indie Memphis 2024, Big Time chronicles the life of legendary Memphis basketball coach, Sylvester Ford Sr., while inspiring us all to live “big time” lives along the way.

The Niagara Movement: The Early Battle for Civil Rights

2023

An examination of the heated debate and conflict between W.E.B DuBois and William Monroe Trotter with Booker T. Washington on how to best uplift the race and secure equality for their community, which led to the Niagara Movement, a short-lived movement that laid the cornerstone of the civil rights movement.

Malcolm X

1992 · ★ 7.6

A tribute to the controversial black activist and leader of the struggle for black liberation. He hit bottom during his imprisonment in the '50s, he became a Black Muslim and then a leader in the Nation of Islam. His assassination in 1965 left a legacy of self-determination and racial pride.

Lua Morales - The Documentary

2021 · ★ 10

Documentary about the creative process of photographer Lua Morales, produced by the studio Bad Chinchilla.

Black Power: A British Story of Resistance

2021 · ★ 6

An examination of the Black Power movement in the late 1960s in the UK, surveying both the individuals and the cultural forces that defined the era. At the heart of the documentary is a series of astonishing interviews with past activists, many of whom are speaking for the first time about what it was really like to be involved in the British Black Power movement, bringing to life one of the key cultural revolutions in the history of the nation.

A Distant Shore: African Americans on D-Day

2007

The role of African American soldiers during the World War II Allied invasion of Normandy.

HOME: A Mother of 3000

A leader of a non-profit organization redefines the education system by using the arts as a vehicle to uplift youth with essential life skills through performance and artistic discovery. Empowering the next generation, Pilita Simpson, CEO and Founder of Positively Arts, draws from her personal upbringing and past experiences as a Disney live performer to exemplify a lasting change for the youth in order to rival the education system through positivity. Built upon her Harvard degree in Arts in Education, her holistic approach emphasizes vital life lessons on mental health, empathy, and empowerment, enriching young minds with essential tools for a brighter future. With their newfound skills, the kids of Positively Arts embark on the production of their very first musical.

While You Were Sleeping – The Documentary

2021

"When I first started to photograph in dark and unfamiliar places all over Singapore in 2003, I had no idea that those images I made would come to define me as a photographer. Born out of a curiosity of the unknown, as well as a young photographer’s restlessness, While You Were Sleeping grew to say as much about our country as it did of me. Eighteen years, two books and two exhibitions later, Singapore is now a very different place. Many of the locations I visited in the early 2000s, once alien, are now completely transformed." – Darren Soh, photographer

Grizzly Man

2005 · ★ 7.5

Follows the story of "Grizzly Man" Timothy Treadwell and what the thirteen summers in a National Park in Alaska were like in his attempt to protect the grizzly bears. The film is full of unique images and a look into the spirit of a man who sacrificed himself for nature.

Basquiat

1996 · ★ 6.6

The brief life of Jean Michel Basquiat, a world renowned New York street artist struggling with fame, drugs and his identity.

The Killing Fields

1984 · ★ 7.5

New York Times reporter Sydney Schanberg is on assignment covering the Cambodian Civil War, with the help of local interpreter Dith Pran and American photojournalist Al Rockoff. When the U.S. Army pulls out amid escalating violence, Schanberg makes exit arrangements for Pran and his family. Pran, however, tells Schanberg he intends to stay in Cambodia to help cover the unfolding story — a decision he may regret as the Khmer Rouge rebels move in.

Black Mass

2015 · ★ 6.5

The true story of Whitey Bulger, the brother of a state senator and the most infamous violent criminal in the history of South Boston, who became an FBI informant to take down a Mafia family invading his turf.