Raquel Stecher

Elena is a 20-something social worker living in the Dominican Republic. She’s the daughter of a Haitian sugar cane worker and is struggling to get her government issued ID so she can continue her work. An ID would allow her to vote, give her more rights as a citizen and open up educational and career opportunities for her. But there is a deep-seated animosity that Dominicans feel towards Haitian immigrants. It’s one that is deeply entrenched into the history of the Hispaniola and is not chang...

The Australian bushfires of 2019/2020, aka the “black summer”, was one of the most devastating natural disasters in recent history. It would have been one of the defining events of 2020 had the COVID pandemic not spread like wildfire around the world. Over 59 million acres burned causing mass devastation to homes, forests and wildlife and 33 people lost their lives. This catastrophic event is a prime example of the consequences of climate change but many, including Australia’s prime minister ...

Directed by Matthew Heineman, The First Wave chronicles the early days of the pandemic with a focus on Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens. New York was one of the hardest hit during the first wave and became the epicenter of this deadly pandemic. This documentary shows ER doctors and nurses in action, trying to save lives, trying to rehabilitate or trying to let go when all other options were exhausted. Two particularly bad COVID cases, that of Ahmed and Brussels, are spotlighted giv...

Youtube Sidney Poitier Film Reviews: Lilies of the Field (1963) and The Organization (1971)

Directed by Amina Waheed, Unrelinquished investigates how a lax justice system allows for perpetrators of domestic violence to carry otherwise illegal weapons. In 2018, 22 year Jazmine Willock was found dead in her Tucson, Arizona home. She was the victim of a murder-suicide enacted by her abusive boyfriend. Jazmine is one of many domestic violence victims that die by armed abusers. Waheed’s short documentary examines Jazmine’s case and how others like her are caught in a system that doesn’t ...

An eye-opening documentary reveals just what went down with the FBI’s treatment and the eventual incarceration of whistleblower Reality Winner.
In 2016, upon discovering crucial information regarding Russian interference with the United States presidential election, Reality Winner leaked confidential documents from her work at the NSA to journalists at The Intercept. What followed was a media showdown, an FBI investigation and a complicated trial. Reality Winner became the eighth whistleblowe...

Directors Sarah Jenks and Lizzie Mulvey new short documentary The Vet Van follows two low income families as they receive help from a local vet mobile. Lucy the yellow lab is dropping weight quickly. Tabitha has just been diagnosed with Parvo. Their humans seek help from the vet mobile which offers the most affordable options. These dogs bring so much joy to their respective families. But what happens when these much beloved dogs get seriously ill, and treatment, even at a lower rate, is stil...

“Once everyone learns everything about me, I gotta keep moving. Why do I do that?”
For the past two years, Audrey (Jena Malone) has lived in 4 different places and had 7 different jobs. She recently got fired from her collection agency gig, is overdue on rent and the electricity to her apartment has just been cut off. And to make matters worse, her father is ill and her mother refuses to speak to her. Audrey spends a lot of her time watching videos on YouTube and one night comes upon an ad fo...

"As a writer you strive for a sense of truth." — Horton Foote
Playwright Horton Foote (1916-2009) had been honored with many awards and nominations in his lifetime including Emmy awards, Tony nominations, the National Medal of Arts and a Pulitzer Prize for Drama. He won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) and the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Tender Mercies (1983). But chances are, despite his widespread recognition, you may not have...

“Sometimes what a man wants to do and what he’s able to do are two different things.”
Lucas (Pedro Correa) was just hit with some devastating news. His dad Augusto (Ricardo Molina) is dead. Lucas has had a strained relationship with his father and its been 10 years since he’s seen him. So it came as a surprise when his dad left him a Los Angeles apartment building as an inheritance. Lucas leaves his mom and loser friends in Reno to make his way to LA. His plan is to quickly sell the joint, co...

“If 21 million Americans are struggling with addiction, how many family members are struggling alongside them?”
Hallee Adelman
Directed & Produced by Hallee Adelman & Sean King O’Grady, Our American Family is a brutally honest new documentary that gives viewers an inside look into how addiction affects families.
Nicole is a drug addict who has been in an out of rehab over the years. In fact, she got pregnant in during one stint at rehab and is now leaning on her mother Linda to help her raise...

“I’m childfree and it’s fabulous.”
Marcia Drut-Davis
Women carry the burden of the many expectations society has for them. The biggest one: motherhood. If a woman in her childbearing years decides against having children, she’s considered selfish. In fact, if she makes any reproductive choices at all, including the use of contraceptives and birth control, voluntary hysterectomies or having an abortion, she will be criticized by someone who feels they have a say in the matter. Many women are s...

“One of the greatest writers America ever produced.”
Nelson Algren gave a voice to the voiceless. The Detroit-born writer made his way to Chicago where he became fascinated with that city’s seedy underbelly. He got to know those whom the American dream was elusive and every day meant trying to survive some battle. Algren got to know and eventually wrote about junkies, drug dealers, pimps, hookers, gamblers, drunks, etc. He became the poet for the disenfranchised with novels like The Neon Wild...

Hildy Good (Sigourney Weaver) knows the town of Wendover, MA like the back of her hand. She’s one of top real estate agents for the community, has lived there most of her life and co-exists her her ex-husband, her two daughters and her new neighbor Rebecca (Morena Baccarin). The problem with Hildy is that she’s a raging alcoholic. A functional one but still raging. Her family stages an intervention and while Hildy agrees to get better she just continues to get worse. While her business flails...