Filmmaker Statement

This story comes from the heart of my eight-year-old self, who looked up to my mother with such awe that I thought she had superpowers. She would not only take care of our large family, but she ran her own home beauty salon business and kept herself together physically and mentally. I admired her and the superpowers she somehow naturally inhabited. In my eight-year-old mind, this superpower had to be coming from the magical golden hoops she would attach to her ear loops every morning. As I struggled with bullying and performance anxiety in school like so many other little girls, I felt if I only had my mother's hoops, I could probably be magical just like her. I thought if I could only wear them for one day, maybe the kids at school wouldn’t pick on me and I could embody the confidence I see in my mother. This is where Hoop Dreams was born. My own authentic experience and truth is the soul of it.