Filmmaker Statement

I grew up, like a lot of sheltered, middle-class suburbanites, believing that there are certain things which are so terrible, they cannot actually happen. "Don't worry, it's too far-fetched. That much pain would never be allowed.” Of course, eventually every person, even the middle-class and sheltered, has to reckon with violence, death, and chaos. These experiences of reckoning — sometimes sudden, sometimes snaillike and creeping — can be reality-shattering. They are also, for better or worse, an unavoidable part of growing up. It’s this particular flavor of “coming-of-age” that I am compelled to make movies about. My goal is to feel along the hard edges of the human experience and try to put the pieces back together: the terror we sometimes feel in moments of tenderness, the salvation we find in suffering, the shards of humor and beauty and grace that cut through even the most unbearable loss. My hope is that these films, which help me make sense of my personal experience, might also resonate with an audience. When I was growing up, there were movies, crafted with honesty and empathy, that helped me through my own moments of reckoning. It would be an immense honor to be able to do the same for someone else.