AMERICAN GODFATHERS: THE FIVE FAMILIES // Story Producer

Three-part series aired on the History Channel.

SHERRI PAPINI: LIES, LIES AND MORE LIES // Associate Producer

Produced by NBC News Studios for Oxygen.

MAZAHUA FRENTE // Director

MAZAHUA FRENTE is a short documentary that follows a rural indigenous community’s fight for water. Since the expansive Cutzamala water system was built to supply Mexico City 30 years ago, the surrounding rural communities have fought for access to the system. One group, the Mazahua Frente, temporarily stopped a chlorine truck needed for water treatment in 2004 as protest. Today, their fight continues. The film follows as the Frente plans another major protest. It also provides a glimpse into the lives of women who literally carry the burden of lack of water on their backs, despite having the Mexico City’s water system in their backyards.

This film project is made possible by grants from the Pulitzer Center, Smith/Patterson Science Journalism Fellowship, Institute for Journalism and Natural Resources and the University of Missouri's Duffy Fund. Translation by Aldo Casas, Taylor Twellman, Juan Pulido and Hughes Ransom.

Margarita Reyes takes a break after finishing her typical water gathering routine, which requires her to haul a large pump down to a nearby river. Reyes has lived on the same property her entire life and has watched the Cutzamala System invade her community. She has never had running water in her home despite the system being so close.

Members of the Mazahua Frente chant during a protest outside the governor’s building in Toluca. The group demanded to meet with the governor to discuss their community needs.

Maria Isabel takes a donkey to collect water every morning. She wakes up at 6:30 am to gather water, make breakfast and then walk her daughter to school. “If I do not go and get water, I cannot bathe, I cannot drink, I cannot use water to make food. I want them to come and see our community without water.”

Women clean laundry in Villa Victoria, which is one of the ten dams within the Cutzamala System sub-basins.

A man fills a water truck from a spring near the Villa Victoria dam. A report published by the World Bank (2015) claimed that the communities living in the system’s sub-basins are supported nearby springs. Although, the report vaguely describes the region’s sustainability as ‘at risk.’

A third distribution line is being built to “reduce the number of service interruptions caused by reparations to the pipeline network” (World Bank, 2015).

The Cutzamala System was built in three stages, beginning in the 1970s. The system elevates water more than 1,100 meters to reach its destinations of Mexico City and Toluca. The complex system includes seven reservoirs, six pumping plants, 322 kilometers of canals and tunnels, and one large water treatment plant. The treatment plant was the location of the Mazahua Frente’s recent protest (World Bank, 2015).

SurREALITY // Co-Director

At the age of 57, Anand’s aspergers diagnosis brought a sense of validation with a lingering sadness. Although the loneliness and isolation felt throughout his whole life will never fade, his surreal, and often misunderstood experiences now have binding reasons.

For a 3-day rental or to purchase this film visit: https://sproutflix.org/surreality-det...

Sproutflix is the only distributor of films exclusively featuring people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (https://sproutflix.org/).

ROSEBUD LINE // Director

Native American teens experience the highest rate of suicide of any population group in the United States. The Rosebud Reservation is home to Sicangu Sioux, one of the seven tribes of the Lakota nation. ROSEBUD LINE is a documentary film that follows Geraldine and Caroline, two Sioux women who run the only 24/7 suicide and crisis hotline on the Rosebud Reservation. The hotline is a single cell-phone that could ring at anytime as these women go about their daily lives. Geraldine and Caroline reveal their everyday challenges, intimate moments, and motivations for the work they do.

Cinematography by Nathan Wright and Meg Vatterott

Selected for Big Shoulders International Student Film Festival and St. Louis International Film Festival.