Current Projects:

Le Café: l'âme de la rue
(The Cafe: Soul of the Street)

The cafés that dot the Paris cityscape are frequently overlooked, often reviled, and occasionally romanticized. New York based filmmaker JoMarie Fecci shows them as they are -- a bastion of vibrant neighborhood life and an important resource for the community. Shooting around Paris over the past year, Fecci used a verité style to capture a slice of life in ten very different cafés -- places where workers, immigrants, and intellectuals mix comfortably; where innovative artistic, intellectual, and political currents emerge. The resulting one-hour documentary, THE CAFE: SOUL OF THE STREET, reminds viewers of the colorful history of the city’s neighborhood cafés and explores the forces currently threatening the future of many small cafés. In the process, this film celebrates the neighborhood café as an integral part of the national patrimony to be nurtured and protected. For more info: www.thecafefilm.com

 

Western Sahara, Africa's Last Colony

WESTERN SAHARA, AFRICA'S LAST COLONY, a one-hour documentary, tells the human story of the Western Sahara conflict through the eyes of the family of Mulay Ami Didi, refugees since 1975. The documentary engages viewers in the refugees' plight through an intimate portrayal of their daily lives in a refugee camp in the unforgiving desert of Southern Algeria. The family's story is interwoven with a presentation of the recent history of the Western Sahara, ultimately showing how that history is an integral part of who our main characters have become. Three generations tell the tale -- the Grandfather who fled to the desert camps, the Son who fought in the war, and the granddaughter who was born in the camp and poses the questions of the Sahrawis' future. While using the story of a single family as a narrative thread, the documentary also weaves in the experiences of other refugees to give viewers a more complete understanding of their situation today. Interviews with officials and academics provide the historical context and an insight into the competing political perspectives on the conflict. For more info: www.paristempo.com/sahara.html

 

Back To Brooklyn

BACK TO BROOKLYN is a character-driven documentary that gives voice to ordinary people, who tell their own stories in an uplifting way. It is about understanding – intergenerational understanding, cross-cultural understanding, inter-community understanding, and understanding ourselves. The film uses the reminiscences of an elderly couple who moved from the burough in the 1960s -- John and Jo -- as the starting point for an exploration of common experiences across generations and cultures in Brooklyn. Their recollections are illustrated with archival imagery and modern footage intercut with scenes of their daily life. Historical context is provided by Ron Sweiger, Brooklyn Borough Historian, Leroy Gaines, of Washington Avenue Merchants Association, and Eric Ierardi, of the Gravesend Historical Society.