Breaking The Silence

Meet the Mentors & Mentees - Spring 2010

A teenage girl reflects on her childhood confronting haunting moments within her home. Directed by Shaniece Bouldin.

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Mother

Meet the Mentors & Mentees - Fall 2008

A loving tribute to a mother who has struggled in her own life and has remained positive. We see how the filmmaker has learned to always look beneath the surface. 

TRT: 4:45

Mentor: Rebecca Haimowitz

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Stray

Meet the Mentors & Mentees - Fall 2008

A young man examines the stress of being homeless and neglected by his mother.

TRT: 8:50

Mentor: Garret Harkwaik 

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Missing Without You

Meet the Mentors & Mentees - Fall 2008

What is the impact of incarceration on families left behind? A young woman confronts the pain and loss in her family as she travels to Rikers to visit her brother.

TRT: 11:43

Mentor: Deneen Scott-Reynolds

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A Look Through My Eyes

Meet the Mentors & Mentees - Fall 2009

Shalaun and her siblings have been in foster care for most of their lives. Now 16, she tries to make sense of the events that tore her family apart and faces the difficult question of whether to let her father back into her life.

TRT: 9:08

Mentor: Jennifer Dworkin

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Moving Forward

Featured

How does one persevere through loss? This film explores the aftermath of loss and how one young man deals with the death of three close people in his life. The strength and closeness of his family gives him the foundation necessary to persevere and triumph in his own life, despite the void left by the departure of those closest to him.

TRT: 10:12

Mentor: Jon Miller

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The Donkey and the Bicycle

Featured

A father's absence has a profound effect on the family left behind. This is the story of a young woman who finally gets her father to make good on the promise of teaching her how to ride a bike.

TRT: 10:25

Mentor: Stuart Dworeck

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A Message to Marlene

Meet the Mentors & Mentees - Spring 2007

After a family has been separated for a year, a woman buys a house to bring them back together. This film shows how she struggles to juggle her stressful job and family, while dealing with the stress of being a first-time homeowner.

TRT: 6:53

Mentor: Christie Zelling

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Repeating History

Meet the Mentors & Mentees - Fall 2006

Four generations of women in Layla's family share one important detail of their upbringings: growing up with the absence of a father. This film attempts to measure the impact of this experience, and discover how and why this cycle has repeated itself.

TRT: 9:25

Mentor: Rebecca Haimowitz

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The Ride

Meet the Mentors & Mentees - Fall 2006

Jonathan Whitehead battles the hardships of losing a brother as he travels with his Dad to the place where his brother tragically passed. Through the journey that he takes, he finds out more about the effects of the death and a better understanding of himself.

TRT: 9:31

Mentor: Karlyn Michelson

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So It Goes

Meet the Mentors & Mentees - Spring 2006

"So it Goes" is a story about a filmmaker's search to discover who his father really is, while at the same time telling the story of his father's life. It's a combination of altered views of his father that Max attempts to boil down to truth.

TRT: 14:08

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Out of the Picture

Meet the Mentors & Mentees - Spring 2006

Teenage boys talk about growing up up without their father and how it has affected their lives.

TRT: 8:32

Mentor: Neel Scott

Official Selection: 2007 Tribeca Film Festival

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Jewmaican

Meet the Mentors & Mentees - Spring 2006

Melinda had the world against her from about day one. Her mom committed suicide when she was 4 months old (it goes without saying that her death was a tragedy). But Melinda's story brightened when Beverly entered her life. Beverly was a Jamaican woman who was hired to be Melinda's nanny, but ultimately became her mom. You can say that Beverly contrasted with the rest of Melinda's family, since they were all Jewish. Watch this film of many themes, ethnicity, tragedy, biased storytellers and much more!

TRT: 8:41

Mentor: Michael Pinckney

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Multifaceted

Meet the Mentors & Mentees - Fall 2005

A young man examines his parents' breakup and how that event has resulted in the many masks he wears to hide his emotions.

TRT: 7:26

Mentor: Bradley D. Burford

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The Other Side of the Picture

Meet the Mentors & Mentees - Fall 2005

"The Other Side of the Picture" is based on the life of the filmmaker's father, Steven Shrem, as he tries to achieve his dream of becoming a famous artist. This film expresses the difference between who Isaac thinks his father is, Steven, and the person he has become, "Stephan."

TRT: 8:45

Mentor: Kermit Cole

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99 Hammers

Meet the Mentors & Mentees - Spring 2005

My father came back into my life, and for a time things were fine. We didn't talk. We didn't see each other: the normal father-son relationship. Then, one day he was gone forever. There's a problem with grave robbing in the Dominican Republic where my father was buried. So, before he was laid to rest, my family defaced his coffin with hammers, beating it ninety-nine times. This film is dedicated to Ramon Rojas, The greatest man I never knew.

TRT: 7:55

Mentor: Stuart Dworeck

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Helena

Meet the Mentors & Mentees - Fall 2004

When I decided to do a film about my mother's death, I was afraid that whoever saw the film would think I was a whiny teenager looking for sympathy. But then I realized that making this film would help me in a lot of ways - help me accept her death, help me cope with the fact that she took drugs and help me understand that she wasn't a bad person. I also thought it would be a good way to bring up good memories of her and help me to stop hating her for everything she put me through. Making a film about my mother's death has helped me become a stronger person.

TRT: 7:25

Mentor: Rebecca Haimowitz

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A Part of Me

Meet the Mentors & Mentees - Spring 2004

Ketty profiles her personal hero, her mother, who came to the US from Haiti to build a better life. Ketty asks why no woman in her family has ever achieved her dreams?

TRT: 6:49

Honors: Broadcast on WNET/Thirteen's Reel NY Series

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Driving With Jimmy

Meet the Mentors & Mentees - Fall 2003

Tamahl has lived with his stepfather, Jimmy, for seven years, but he never took the time to get to know him. Memory, identity and a question of love haunt this moving exploration of the complex relationships inside one family.

TRT: 8:00

Mentor: Jon Michals, with special thanks to Albert Maysles

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Thanksgiving

Meet the Mentors & Mentees - Fall 2003

A young man's love for his family moves him to examine the gratitude he feels everyday for his life. Join Jonah as he invites you to "meet the Levy's."

TRT: 7:00

Mentors: Randi Barros & Jon Grznar

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Dancing Alone

Meet the Mentors & Mentees - Fall 2003

When her mother left to start a new family, Shenelle spent each day waiting for her return and dancing alone. A video poem, featuring Shavonne Lawson, a student at the Mark Morris Dance Studio.

TRT: 3:00

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I Wish

Meet the Mentors & Mentees - Fall 2002

After four years of suffering, Peri's father died of leukemia. In this courageous film, Peri explores the shattering pain that her family still suffers one year later and offers a testimony of love to her father's life.

TRT: 9:19

Awards: Winner! 2003 Audience Award, Reel Teens USA Film Festival; Winner! 2004 Honorable Mention Student Emmy

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The Amazing Life of Scott Tsang

Meet the Mentors & Mentees - Spring 2002

Stricken with a brain tumor at six, Scott lost both his parents by thirteen. His philosophy of life? You'll be inspired.

TRT: 5:00

Honors: Selected for broadcast on HBO Family

Official Selections: 2002 American Film Institute Film Festival; Urban Visionaries Film Festival; & The 2003 Hamptons Film Festival

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