THE SMALL WORLD FILMS TEAM
DR. ISABELLA ALEXANDER
Founder & Executive Director, SMALL WORLD FILMS | Writer, Director & Producer, THE BURNING
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Isabella isn't interested in a story unless it's hard to tell. "I've always been drawn to stories that have been hidden or silenced," she says. "At the root of them, there's usually an injustice waiting to be uncovered." An anthropologist, writer, and documentary filmmaker, she has spent the past decade living between the US and Africa. Over the course of this project, she has spent 18 months embedded with smuggling rings and hidden brotherhoods across North Africa and became among the first to ever conduct undercover research in North African detention centers and migrant camps hidden at the southernmost borders to the EU. As a leading expert on international human rights, she has written extensively on Europe’s unfolding migrant & refugee crisis and is a regular contributor to NPR, CNN, and BBC. When not on the ground filming, she is a Professor in the Departments of Anthropology and Film & Media Studies at Emory University in Atlanta and is inspired by the power of film to educate broad audiences. "I always communicate my research in diverse formats," she says, "so I can reach not only scholars and students, but policymakers and popular audiences, too." Earning her Doctorate in Cultural Anthropology after completing the Master's program in Film at the Spéos Institute in France, Isabella believes that in order to tell someone's story well, you have to live it. She lives alongside the individuals she is filming and encourages their active roles in shaping every project she takes on. She is thrilled to see the incredible community of supporters that have come together around THE BURNING. The project has been made possible by individuals who, like her, believe in the power of stories to create lasting change for those who have long been marginalized. You can learn more about Isabella here.
FACT: Among Africa's hidden brotherhoods, Isa is better known as "Sister Boza." |
JOE BERLINGER | Executive Producer, THE BURNING
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A seven-time Emmy and Academy Award nominated and Emmy and Peabody Award winning filmmaker, Joe has been one of the leading voices in film and television for over two decades. His films include the landmark documentary Brother's Keeper, the Paradise Lost Trilogy, which led to the release of the wrongfully-convicted West Memphis Three, and Crude, which exposed oil pollution in the Amazon Rainforest, winning 22 human rights, environmental, and festival awards and recently triggering a high-profile First Amendment battle with oil-giant Chevron. Five of Joe's films, including his Emmy-nominated 2012 documentary Under African Skies, have premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, earning three Grand Jury Prize nominations. He has won multiple awards from the Directors Guild of America, the National Board of Review, and the Independent Spirit Awards. According to Joe, "Isabella brings a courage, a determination, and a natural storytelling ability that reminds me of myself when I was first beginning my career. This film is set to expose the human side of the largest crisis in our world right now. It hasn't been seen before." You can learn more about Joe here.
FACT: Joe's films are so good, one of them released two men from life sentences and another from death row. |
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ANDREW BERENDS | Director of Photography, THE BURNING
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Andrew was a highly acclaimed documentary filmmaker with a history of work in active war zones from Iraq to Sudan. He was awarded the prestigious “Courage Under Fire” award by the International Documentary Association for his first film, The Blood of My Brother, about an Iraqi family who lost their son during the American invasion. His subsequent films included When Adnan Comes Home, Urk, Delta Boys, and the last film that he directed, Madina's Dream, which took audiences inside of a forgotten war between rebels and refugees fighting to survive in Sudan's Nuba Mountain region. When not directing his own projects, he collaborated with other filmmakers as an editor and cinematographer, including his role on Free Solo, which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2019. Behind the camera on THE BURNING, Andrew brought his unflinching approach to humanizing even the most brutal political crises.
Our team was devastated by the loss of Andrew on March 1, 2019, at the age of 46. This will be his final film. You can learn more about his legacy of work here. FACT: When given the choice between a shoot without cold beer or one with a little prison time, Andy didn't hesitate in answering. We tried. |
SMALL WORLD FILMS Internship Program
At SMALL WORLD FILMS, we think it's important to give back. We're committed to being active givers in communities around the world, as well as those close to home. One way we give back in our own community is by giving young people with an interest in the arts the chance to develop their skills, build out their individual portfolios, and create meaningful relationships in Atlanta's growing film industry through our internship program. Every semester, we select an exceptional group of interns from a highly competitive group of applicants who all share a passion for work at the intersection of the arts and activism. The ideal candidate believes in the power of stories to create change, brings a high level of motivation to individual and team work, and is ready to make the most of the opportunity. The SMALL WORLD FILMS internship program provides college-aged students and recent college graduates with the chance to work side-by-side with professionals on a variety of teams - Film Production, Community Engagement, Human Rights Awareness - and prepares them for careers of socially impactful work. In six months, our interns touch thousands of lives.
Our recent interns have been a global group of young change-makers including individuals from Ghana, El Salvador, Iran, Jamaica, Mexico, Egypt, Guinea, India, Haiti, China, and the US. We couldn't be prouder to call them part of the SMALL WORLD FILMS team!
If you're interested in applying for our internship program, please send us a message at contact@smallworldfilms.org with the subject line "Internship" and we'll get back to you shortly.
Our recent interns have been a global group of young change-makers including individuals from Ghana, El Salvador, Iran, Jamaica, Mexico, Egypt, Guinea, India, Haiti, China, and the US. We couldn't be prouder to call them part of the SMALL WORLD FILMS team!
If you're interested in applying for our internship program, please send us a message at contact@smallworldfilms.org with the subject line "Internship" and we'll get back to you shortly.
Internship Program GRADUATES
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