Impact Materials

Renowned ecologist Nalini Nadkarni studies "what grows back” after a disturbance in the rainforest canopy. After surviving a life-threatening fall from a tree, she must turn her research question onto herself to explore the effects of disturbance and recovery throughout her own life. 2023 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival - World Premiere, Winner Best Short; 2023 Hot Docs - International Premiere; 2023 Sheffield International Documentary

A timely depiction of a newsroom in crisis, While We Watched follows Ravish Kumar for two years as he battles a barrage of fake news, falling ratings and the resulting cutbacks while struggling to maintain fact-based analyses. Will his show survive or become a swan song of reason - drowning out in sensationalism, misinformation, and ratings-driven editorial decisions? Co-presented with The Center for Asian American Media (CAAM).

As Construction Environmental Officer for St. Helena's troubled airport project, Annina van Neel learns about an unmarked mass burial ground of an estimated 9,000 formerly enslaved Africans. Haunted by this historical injustice, she and African American preservationist Peggy King Jorde fight for their proper memorialization, exposing the UK's colonial past and present.

Two Korean American children of liquor store owners reconcile their own dreams with those of their immigrant parents. They confront the complex legacies of LA's racial landscape, including the 1991 murder of Latasha Harlins and the 1992 uprisings sparked by the police beating of Rodney King, while engaged in current struggles for social and economic justice. Co-presented with The Center for Asian American Media (CAAM).

Detroiters experienced an enhanced form of water destruction from massive flooding that destroyed homes, belongings and lives in the summer of 2021. The water rose in streets, alleys, yards and, most devastatingly, in people’s homes, where it submerged possessions and memories, and surfaced emotions many were not prepared to confront. 2022 Blackstar Film Festival; Freep Film Festival; Gary International Film Festival; Chicago International Film Festival; RiverRun International Festival; Mountainfilm Festival; Media City Film Festival. Broadcast as part of POV Shorts: Water Work.