Shifting Paths
I am currently working as Co-Producer, Researcher, and Editor on the short documentary Shifting Paths directed by Charles Abelmann. Shifting Paths examines the loss and survival of one family during the boycott of Jewish business in 1933 in Frankfurt, Germany. This short film follows the loss of a beloved family owned pharmaceutical company, forcing the family to change paths. One chamomile based product that was banned in 1933 has miraculously survived today with few knowing anything of its history – Kamillosan.
We are accepting donations through Filmmakers Collaborative.
A Pocketful of Miracles: A Tale of Two Siblings
I was the lead editor, co-writer, and researcher on the feature documentary A Pocketful of Miracles: A Tale of Two Siblings directed by the award-winning Aviva Kempner.
Based on their Shoah Foundation testimonies, Berlin born filmmaker Aviva Kempner chronicles her mother Hanka and uncle Dudek Ciesla’s lives before and during World War II. From their idyllic Jewish upbringing in Poland through their survival of the Holocaust, to their tearful reunion after the war, this moving documentary follows the incredible story of these loving siblings and the successful lives they built in America as painter Helen Ciesla Covensky and businessman and philanthropist David Chase.
The film had its world premiere at the JxJ DC Jewish Film and Music Festival where it won the Audience Prize for Best Documentary. The film had its European premiere at the Berlin Jewish Film Festival in June 2023 with Aviva and I in attendance. It was rated 3 out of 4 stars by the Washington Post and included in their list of Best Movies of 2023.
Credit to The Ciesla Foundation
Imagining the Indian: The Fight Against Native American Mascoting
I was an Assistant Editor on the film Imagining the Indian: The Fight Against Native American Mascoting, directed by Aviva Kempner and Ben West. This award-winning documentary examines the movement that is ending the use of Native American names, logos, and mascots in the world of sports and beyond. The film details the current uprising against the misappropriation of Native culture in a national reckoning about racial injustice that has succeeded in the removal of Confederate imagery, toppling statues of Christopher Columbus and forcing corporate sponsors of Washington’s NFL team to demand it change its most-offensive name. It examines the origin and proliferation of the words, images, and gestures that many Native people and their allies find offensive. Imagining the Indian explores the impact that stereotyping and marginalization of Native history have had on Native people. It chronicles the long social movement to eliminate mascoting.
The film made the Washington Post’s Best Films of 2023, was a finalist for the Library of Congress Levine/Ken Burns Prize for Film, and was awarded Best Documentary at the Boston International Film Festival. It was also reviewed in The Guardian, and is currently streaming on Apple TV and Amazon Prime.
Credit to The Ciesla Foundation
I graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts, where I focused on editing and documentary filmmaking. I am trained in Avid Media Composer, Adobe Premiere, and Final Cut Pro X. I am open to editing and assistant editing work, in addition to archival research and clearance work.