Filmmaker Statement

I’m an independent documentary filmmaker. I'm an artist and I'm a mother. I'm drawn to making work about rebellious women and often narrow in on themes like motherhood, identity, hybridity, trauma, grief, and building power. I've worked within the public television landscape for years, but lately my work has pushed traditional form and I'm exploring more experimental and visceral approaches to telling stories. KILLFACE is a conceptual project at the intersection of documentary and experimental film and art. It's intended to create an immersive experience. My hope is viewers feel butted up against Morgan’s power. Impressed by her stamina, and determination. I hope they feel compelled to track her movements on screen. To feel claustrophobic, and then lost, and then found. To find a sense of patience in their observation. To be immersed in her breath. To feel trapped when she is. To feel nauseous. To feel elated. To break free when she does. I want folks to root for Morgan, not because they want her to win, but because they see themselves in her struggle towards strength. I made the film in response to tired tropes about female strength and what compels women to become strong. The film doesn’t concern itself with exceptionalism. Morgan doesn’t win or lose. And it doesn’t provide evidence about why a woman requires strength. It’s not that the project doesn’t value her track record, it's just interested in something different. We fully center Morgan in the frame and no one else, we embed ourselves in her process including the in between moments, and reference the women makers behind the lens by heightening their point of view and their gaze. What happens when we share a story about a woman building power without justifying why? What can we feel and learn anew through an immersive observation of female strength? The narrative and visual limitations narrow the scope of what we are able to see, spatial audio heightens the sound of what we hear, offering an exhaustive exploration of female strength through a visceral experience.