Moath al-Alwi has never been charged with a crime, but he has spent over 19 years at the U.S. military detention camp in Cuba. “A Ship From Guantánamo,” a six and a half-minute Op-Doc video, tells the story of the art he makes to survive — and escape.

Despite the limited materials available within the prison, Mr. al Alwi builds elaborately detailed ships out of found materials like dental floss, prayer beads, sponges and old T-shirts, often given to him by other inmates and even guards. “I want people to know that we can make beautiful things,” says Mr. al-Alwi, “even in a place like Guantánamo.”

Watch the full film at New York Times Op-Docs.

This film is part of a series of short documentaries, directed and produced by Dara Kell & Veena Rao. See the full series here.

TIME Magazine commissioned me to make a short video portrait of leading civil rights activist and public intellectual Reverend William J. Barber II. This video draws on footage from a feature length film about Reverend Barber that will be released in early 2024.

I had a blast working with pioneering painter and street artist, Futura. Getting to be in the interview chair with Futura for two days, and explore his vast oevre at his studio in Brooklyn, NY, was inspiring and energizing.

Watch Futura’s MasterClass at https://mstr.cl/3wBocMr.

After a two-year hiatus, Africa’s biggest art fair is back. The theme of this year’s Dakar Biennale is Ī’Ndaffa in the Serer language. It means “to forge”. Artists interpret the theme in a myriad ways through many mediums: painting, art, sculpture, video, textiles, performance.

The result is a bold, often moving meditation on the stories we tell ourselves. The visiting artists say they have found a community in Dakar after difficult pandemic times, and their conversations and connections forge a way to what Kenyan artist Syowia Kyambi calls “new horizons”.

I was a Creative Producer and Director for the inaugural phase of the Ford Foundation’s “#InequalityIs” video campaign, featuring a wide array of voices—including Elton John, Gloria Steinem and Richard Branson—who share their perspectives on the subject of inequality.

It was an incredible gift to interview the singular, inimitable Gloria Steinem, especially, whose ability to fuse journalism, art and activism in her life is deeply inspiring.

Director & Producer.
When the South African government promises to 'eradicate the slums' and begins to evict shack dwellers far outside the city, three friends who live in Durban's vast shantytowns refuse to be moved. Dear Mandela follows their journey from their shacks to the highest court in the land as they invoke Nelson Mandela's example and become leaders in a growing social movement. By turns inspiring, devastating and funny, the film offers a new perspective on the role that young people can play in political change and is a fascinating portrait of South Africa coming of age.

Rent the film on Amazon Prime

Artist and researcher Ralph Borland invited me to document the making of his most recent work, “Bone Flute” as part of his ongoing research project, AIAIA - Aesthetic Interventions in Artificial Intelligence in Africa. “Bone Flute” is a 3D-printed replica of the artist’s femur, made into a flute. The work is a collaboration with orthopaedic surgeon Rudolph Venter, in the Division of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, and flute player, composer and improviser Alessandro Gigli.

This body of work is part of his Future Hospitals project at HUMA, the Institute for Humanities in Africa at the University of Cape Town, funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The short film premiered at Brutal gallery in Woodstock, Cape Town, on 25 January 2023. Read more about the project here.

I was commissioned by Terre des Hommes to make a series of short documentaries about human rights violations during two Mega Sporting Events in Brazil - the Olympics, and the Soccer World Cup.

Learn more about the campaign here.

It was an honour to work as an additional editor on one of legendary documentarian Albert Maysles’s last documentaries, “IRIS.” The film pairs the late 88-year-old filmmaker with Iris Apfel, the quick-witted, flamboyantly dressed 93-year-old style maven who has had an outsized presence on the New York fashion scene for decades. More than a fashion film, the documentary is a story about creativity and how a soaring free spirit continues to inspire. Watch the trailer at: https://bitly.com/