Being michelle
Feature Length Documentary
BEING MICHELLE follows the astounding journey of a deaf and disabled woman who survived incarceration under unimaginable circumstances by a system that refused to accommodate her needs as a deaf person with autism. Michelle’s trajectory changed when she met Kim Law, a blind volunteer life coach who teaches classes to people in prison. Today, outside of prison, Kim and Michelle are doing the difficult work of unraveling Michelle’s history, of telling the story of Michelle’s traumatic childhood and her adverse experiences in the criminal justice system. With the support of Kim, Michelle realizes her own voice and strength. Throughout the film Michelle’s artwork provides her own depiction of the trauma she survived as well as a means to her recovery. Ultimately, BEING MICHELLE is a story of redemption. It is about the bonds between women committed to thriving in a broken system, who are forging a path to healing that can only come through facing the truth and communicating it, together.
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics 2012 report, persons with disabilities are 2.5 times more likely to experience violent victimization than others and more than 6% of inmates in State and Federal Prison reported having a disability. The American Civil Liberties Union report, Caged In: The Devastating Harms of Solitary Confinement on Prisoners with Physical Disabilities, explains that prisoners with disabilities are often denied the services they are entitled to under the law and experience horrifying incidents of neglect and abuse in prison, including the common practice of being held in solitary confinement. BEING MICHELLE is an intimate portrait of Michelle’s experience within this system which must be changed.
Being Michelle won the Audience Award at Florida Film Festival 2022!!
Thank you Florida Film Festival and all the audience members who helped vote #BeingMichelle in! We are so honored!
Stay tuned by visiting our website to sign up for updates! For more information on the production and team, please go to: www.beingmichelle.com
TRAILER COMING SOON!
BEING MICHELLE is a fiscally sponsored project of Thriving Roots Initiative (TRI), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Contributions on behalf of BEING MICHELLE are payable to (TRI) and are tax deductible. www.thrivingrootsinitiative.org
Seize the Day Trailer
Feature Length Documentary
Orange Kite Productions and Thriving Roots Initiative are pleased to announce we are currently in the final stages of production with a powerful documentary. SEIZE THE DAY follows the journey of Terah Williams, a 23-year old woman who fights for a normal life, despite a medical condition causing ongoing seizures, and the systemic racism she faces. Kindly see our website www.seizethedayfilm.com which provides background on the film and our production team.
We are grateful to be working with Dr. Oliver Brooks, President of the National Medical Association, who is acting as advisor on this important film. This personal portrait and emotionally driven story brings attention to the inequities of health care for people of color, and the questions surrounding CBD oil and its medicinal use. Our film’s subject is catapulted into a desperate search for answers in a failed health care system. As a Black woman living in a state where medical marijuana use is prohibited, Terah struggles within a society that criminalizes the poor and underinsured. The documentary also exposes the challenges which drive many to seek medical answers on their own. By actively using social media, and aggressively presenting at venues relative to mental health services, we envision this film’s impact as an advocacy tool for agencies to better address the needs of marginalized groups. We also feel strongly that Terah’s story will empower others from marginalized groups to continue to seek out and demand the health care and support they deserve.
Funding is currently being sought to move this project into its final stages of production. We invite you to view the trailer at www.seizethedayfilm.com and consider becoming a sponsor for this film.
For more information, please reach out to us at: contact@seizethedayfilm.com
SEIZE THE DAY is a fiscally sponsored project of Thriving Roots Initiative (TRI), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Contributions on behalf of SEIZE THE DAY are payable to (TRI) and are tax deductible. www.thrivingrootsinitiative.org
HER SONG
Feature Length Documentary
In the tradition of groundbreaking films like The Act of Killing and He Named Me Malala comes a devastating, human story of powerful resilience in the face of India’s systemic injustice and exploitation. HER SONG, by Indian-born director, Atin Mehra and co-director, Mae Thornton Mehra captures the intimate story of a family surviving at the very bottom of the caste system within one of the world’s rising global powers. As twelve year old Bulbul’s family faces the decision to send their youngest daughter into the longstanding community tradition of prostitution, Bulbul wavers between childhood hope and the brutal reality of her marginalized caste, in which girls are prized for their economic worth. Bearing the weight of a family in crisis, an HIV-positive sister and an historically exploited community, she stands at a crossroad where globalization ignites centuries of caste-based discrimination to a boiling point. Interweaving intimate verite footage with artful historical narrative, the directing husband and wife team explore an astonishing oral history of the Banchara Tribe, whose rich background was erased and re- written during colonial-era India. It is through this telling that Bulbul is empowered to grapple with a society seeking to reduce her to a commodity.
HER SONG tells the Banchara story, and accurately places caste-based prostitution within a larger historical context. It addresses issues of caste discrimination, human rights, poverty, trafficking and child sex slavery, all affected by modern India’s globalization. Through on-ground alliances, we aim to catalyze pragmatic, community-based solutions to inspire fundamental change at both local and international levels. Our goals: to ultimately ensure access to justice, healthcare, education and alternative work opportunities for the Banchara and other communities sharing a similar fate.
HER SONG is currently raising funds to complete final stages of production and post-production. Please view our website for more information on the film: www.hersongthefilm.com
HER SONG is a fiscally sponsored project of Thriving Roots Initiative (TRI), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Contributions on behalf of HER SONG are payable to (TRI) and are tax deductible. www.thrivingrootsinitiative.org
