Food Roots - Director Michele Josue & Subject Billy Dec

Food Roots - Director Michele Josue & Subject Billy Dec

Emmy award-winning Filipino American film director Michele Josue (Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine) masterfully blends cinematic storytelling with intimate cultural exploration, FOOD ROOTS follows Billy Dec, two-time Emmy Award Winning TV Personality, Actor, Attorney and Entrepreneur, as he journeys through his mother’s native 7,641 islands in the Philippines in search of his last living elders, ancestral recipes, and long-held family stories. Traveling by plane, boat, motorcycle, jeepney, and on foot, he moves through bustling cities, remote islands, and cloud-covered mountain villages, uncovering culinary traditions and personal truths that redefine his understanding of identity, heritage, and belonging. About the subject - Billy Dec is a 2-time Emmy Award Winning TV Personality, Actor, Attorney and Entrepreneur. Dec is the Founder/CEO of celebrated businesses like Sunda New Asian Restaurants, The Blueprint Underground Cocktail Club, as well as cutting edge Creative Agency COACT, with 4000+ teammates around the world. Dec can regularly be seen hosting and cooking on local & national TV, loves to act from time to time, and is proud to share his heritage in his new documentary FOOD ROOTS. A Chicago-Kent College of Law and Harvard Business School Alum, Dec was a Presidential appointee for five years, serving on the White House Advisory Commission on Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders, and the White House Bullying Prevention Task Force, and has served on many local philanthropic boards and committees. About the filmmaker - Michele Josue is an Emmy award-winning Filipino American director. She is the Executive Producer and Director of “Happy Jail,” [https://trk.cp20.com/click/93qm-30vnn1-al1vc3-1bmlyeq3/] a Netflix Original Documentary Series about the Filipino jail that is home to the world-famous “Dancing Inmates” known for their viral Michael Jackson dance video. Michele’s critically acclaimed feature-film debut "Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine" [https://trk.cp20.com/click/93qm-30vnn1-al1vc4-1bmlyeq4/] is the winner of 10 Best Documentary and Audience Choice Awards from festivals worldwide and boasts a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. In 2016, the film won the Daytime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Special Class Special.”

Georgia O’Keeffe: The Brightness Of Light - Directors Paul Wagner & Producer Ellen Casey Wagner

Georgia O’Keeffe is widely revered as the “Mother of American Modernism” and the greatest woman artist of the 20th century. In the 1920s, O’Keeffe became famous for her paintings of flowers, bones, and the beauty of nature. She posed nude for shocking photographs by her lover, Alfred Stieglitz, but denied that her paintings depicted sexual imagery. In the 1970s, living in her beloved New Mexico, she emerged as an iconic role model for American women. Cargo Film & Releasing announced that it has acquired North American distribution rights to Georgia O’Keeffe: The Brightness Of Light, about the life and art of the iconic American artist, starring Claire Danes as the Voice of Georgia O’Keeffe with narration by actor Hugh Dancy. Cargo will release the film theatrically for special screenings on and around Mother’s Day this May, with a nationwide digital launch set for June 1. Produced and directed by Academy Award and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Paul Wagner (The Stone Carvers) and his American Focus producing partner Ellen Casey Wagner (Windhorse).

Shakti - Director Nani Sahra Walker

Shakti [https://pvkjs5ebb.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001AsEAyOK1OgKiXxZ_YU-U5qWKESVlE0_1Hi9snzEzr3yuBvaCwQk1yvvFQNtnXsHclS-E1nBY_YV7rR1rJJjiNXGGrK30_4V27oWfBEY87PgV-HyvOU8KNBrmZobs1b5WqYST2NGTVAtEMG1Gvswyzwy1vEWIp7WvZThL1IMaUVhg8QzhvS6lnCbIwbAjKpQN_i-3HR_Au79vUN_LFNb-Kg2fcLP4q2Uc&c=kL4ie5QCOe1jKo1vEJPVQWKaGF91pV7xv8QTLm5EfHIXQ4os85XtRA==&ch=aEFGzY4g1e6j6Y8HDTd62F-iRwkV4MF4v65tEi7g4eiLySVHFKcVAA==] is the narrative film debut of Nani Sahra Walker. A single mother, Durga, enrolls her young daughter, Lila, in a private painting class, in order to keep her out of trouble. However, when Lila’s behavior drastically changes and falls ill, she and Durga begin to confront their shared trauma. All this unfolds in the midst of social and political change – particularly surrounding women’s rights – in Nepal. Set in Kathmandu, Nepal – a country that recently elected its first female prime minister – the story unfolds against a backdrop of social and political change, as conversations about women’s rights are increasingly prominent. But behind closed doors is often a different reality. About the filmmaker - The award-winning Shakti is Walker’s debut narrative feature. Walker (Other Nature) previously won an Academy Award as an executive producer of The Last Repair Shop, and she teaches documentary filmmaking at UC Berkeley.

Forastera - Director Lucia Aleñar Iglesias

In her provocative and gripping debut film, FORASTERA Director Lucia Aleñar Iglesias hones in on young woman, Cata, (Zoe Stein) has to deal with the trauma of the sudden death of her grandmother, which only she witnesses. Her grief shifts when she casually turns to play pretend, transforming into the deceased. What begins with a game of dress-up will blur the lines of reality and family roles. Time stops in this house that, strangely, already felt stuck in time. Unable to process her grief, Cata turns to her grandmother’s belongings. Suddenly, objects and clothes she’d never seen now mean something to her, giving her purpose. She begins playing dress-up with her grandfather, who is unable and unwilling to move on from this shocking loss. Cata takes on a new role at home, or rather, this new role takes over Cata. Director and screenwriter Lucia Aleñar Iglesias joins us to talk the challenge of taking the short film version on FORASTERA and expanding in into a feature film, using the same actor to play Cata, Zoe Stein, in both versions of the film, and what it means to her to have FORASTERA premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival.

Spacewoman - Director by Hannah Berryman & Subject Commander Eileen Collins

Astronaut Eileen Collins was the first woman to pilot and command an American spacecraft. SPACEWOMAN beautifully captures Eileen’s journey, from her working-class beginnings in Elmira, NY, to breaking glass ceilings at NASA, commanding four space shuttle missions, and navigating the pressures on her family is awe inspiring. The doc includes archival materials and interviews that highlight both the monumental dangers of spaceflight and the incredible achievements of the shuttle program, including her leadership on STS-114, the first mission after the Columbia tragedy. Based on Eileen’s book Through the Glass Ceiling to the Stars, the film is directed by Hannah Berryman and produced by award-winning teams Keith Haviland (Haviland Digital) and Natasha Dack Ojumu (Tigerlily Productions). Director Hannah Berryman and Commander Eileen Collins join us to talk about Spacewoman. About the filmmaker - Hannah Berryman is an acclaimed documentary filmmaker known for combining archive footage, inventive animation, and recreation with contemporary narratives and powerful interviews with high-profile figures to uncover the human stories behind defining cultural moments. Her 2025 feature documentary Spacewoman follows astronaut Eileen Collins from a young girl growing up on the wrong side of the tracks with a secret dream of spaceflight to becoming the first woman to pilot and command a spacecraft. Rockfield: The Studio on the Farm, her 2020 BAFTA-nominated feature documentary for the BBC and distributed by Autlook Sales Worldwide, tells the extraordinary story of Welsh farmers who created a world-class recording studio on their land. The film features interviews with artists including Ozzy Osbourne, Robert Plant, Liam Gallagher, and Chris Martin.Other critically acclaimed work includes the two-part Grierson Best Arts–nominated series Banned! The Mary Whitehouse Story (BBC), which examined her campaign against the permissive revolution of the 1970s; the BAFTA-nominated BBC film Miss World: Beauty Queens & Bedlam, exploring the feminist protests surrounding the 1970 Miss World contest; Princess Margaret: The Rebel Royal, a two-part profile whose subject’s life and loves reflected the social and sexual revolutions that transformed Britain during the 20th century (BBC/PBS Worldwide); The Rose D'or nominated 'Can We Live With Robots' with dancer Akram Khan (C4); the Grierson-shortlisted documentary A Very English Education, exploring the emotional legacy of British boarding schools; and the Grierson-nominated High Society Brides, an entertaining and revealing look at the upper-class women featured in Country Life magazine across the decades. Based on Eileen’s book Through the Glass Ceiling to the Stars, the film is directed by Hannah Berryman and produced by award-winning teams Keith Haviland (Haviland Digital) and Natasha Dack Ojumu (Tigerlily Productions).