FILMOGRAPHY
Documentaries & Narratives by LAJFilm
(DOCUMENTARIES)
SEVEN SQUARE MILES 2020. 72 min.
When a small New Jersey city realizes it cannot solve the epidemic of gun violence by arresting their way out of the problem – they try another strategy. With funding from the Attorney General’s office, the city pilots a program to support those who are at risk for reentering the criminal justice system. They call it Trenton Violence Reduction Strategy. With the help of a formerly incarcerated activist and a team of city residents –a young women police detective creates a program whose goal is to support and mentor rather than punish those who are at risk for recidivism. Over the course of a year, we witness the struggle to keep this small but vital program alive as they confront the enormity of the task at hand. The film looks at the limitations of the criminal justice system in tackling issues driven by poverty and race and explores the possibilities of compassionate humane policing.
What People Are Saying:
“…a prescient film today as the nation reckons with the meaning of calls to defund the police and the search for alternatives to the systemic racial inequities of the carceral system… a remarkable film.”
Renee Tajima-Pena Oscar Nominee/Director Who Killed Vincent Chin
“Seven Square Miles powerfully reveals conditions of poverty and limited opportunity that give rise to community tensions that draw in police. (It) comes at a precise moment of heightened relevance and impact by showing what human compassionate community based policing looks like”
Jay Craven Filmmaker /Director Sarah Lawrence College Filmmaking & Moving Image Arts Program
“The film possesses a remarkable intimacy with its subjects.”
Charlies Musser
Filmmaker/Professor Yale Film & Media Studies Program
“…we can’t arrest our way out of this problem” Alexis Durlacher Trenton NJ Police Detective
JUST ANOTHER WAR 2009. Beta SP, 30 min
Producer/Director/Editor
Just Another War takes a look at the Iraq war from three different women’s perspective: an Iraq war vet, a mother whose son is in Iraq and the filmmaker herself. Each woman reflects on the impact the war has had on their lives. Ultimately, this documentary examines the cost of war to the individual and the society.
Screenings: Montreal Human Rights Film Festival 2009, Athens Film Festival 2009
FREEDOM ROAD 2004. Beta S. 35 min
Producer/Director/Editor
Imprisoned women reflect on their life choices and the forces which shaped their destiny in this documentary. Distributed by Women Make Movies, the premiere distribution house for non-feature length films by women.
MY WOLVERINE 1999 16mm, 12min
Producer/Director/Editor
Integrating footage of an animated comic book character with the personal stories of six women My Wolverine explores rage, fear, and fantasies of revenge.
Screenings: Women in the Director’s Chair, Atlanta Film Festival, Mill Valley Film Festival 5@5 Award
STRANDS 1996 Super 8, 12min
Producer/Director/Editor
A short film about the constructed nature of identity and the role media plays in impacting definitions of self and society. The film asks “What are the effects of mass-produced images on the personal psyche? Through who’s perspective do we view our world?” Using a first person narrative Strands makes connections between hair, self-esteem, and the. impact of media culture.
Selected Screenings: African in the Picture – Amsterdam, The Netherlands, New Orleans Film and Video Festival, Atlanta Film and Video Festival
(NARRATIVES)
SUEDE Mini DV, 8min
Director/Editor
A short narrative that examines the space between a character’s actions and her desires.
HOMECOMING 16mm, 15min
Co-Producer/Writer
A young woman confronts her working class background after returning home from an elite university.
Awards
Professional Honors
EMMY NOMINATION 2021
Mid Atlantic Regional Chapter for Web Series TCNJ Docu-story
LEEWAY TRANSFORMATION AWARD 2012
Leeway Foundation
Awarded for extensive contribution to art and social change.
MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL* Jury Award
Special Recognition, 5@5 Short Film Program, 1998
“My Wolverine”
NATIONAL BLACK PROGRAMMING CONSORTIUM (NBPC)*, 1998
Best Experimental Film, “My Wolverine”
NATIONAL BLACK PROGRAMMING CONSORTIUM (NBPC)*, 1998
Certificate of Special Merit, Best Independent in Competition Category,
“My Wolverine”
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