NY Premiere
“…a deeply moving story…a gorgeous film.” - Barbara Kopple, Two-time Academy Award-winning filmmaker
A little girl grows up in a custodial apartment hidden inside the St. Agnes Branch of the New York Public Library, where her father stokes its coal furnace 24/7. Four decades later, the little girl-turned-actor Sharon Washington chooses the theater to write her modern-day fairytale childhood filled with real and imagined dragons, family secrets, forgiveness, and a life filled with books. But revisiting her past comes with an unforeseen cost.
It is in her solitary late-night revisions to pen an ending to her solo show days before opening night that the cost appears. She must descend and dwell in her scared little girl place from long ago to finally tell the flipside of her childhood story. It’s a time filled with uncertainty as her father battles with addiction and her mother copes with a life deferred. It is in that dark place that she discovers “I am the story.”
Q&A Details
Wed Oct 18 at 7 pm: Fearless and Naïve. Navigating The Story When It’s Too Close To Home.
Sharon Washington (subject/actor/playwright/wife), Chuck Schultz (director/producer/husband), and Judah-Lev Dickstein (co-director/editor) discuss the obstacles they faced in making the film that would tell Sharon’s very personal story. Moderated by actor S. Epatha Merkerson.
Thu Oct 19 at 7 pm: The Independent Artist: When The Stage Meets The Screen
Sharon, Chuck, and Judah share candid insights into the challenges, joy, and frustrations they face as independent artists working to bring their creations to life. Moderated by documentary filmmaker Yoruba Richen.