AMERICAN PROMISE

Directed & Produced by Michele Stephenson & Joe Brewster 2013 | 153 min

Available for streaming on Netflix

Spanning 12 years in the lives of two families, American Promise provides a rare look into black middle class life while exploring the common hopes and hurdles of parents navigating their children’s educational journey.

The film begins in 1999, when filmmakers Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson turned cameras on their son and his best friend, as the boys entered kindergarten at the prestigious Dalton School. Through the intimate experiences of these two families, the documentary reveals complicated truths about parenting, while challenging commonly held assumptions about educational access in the 21st century.

Nominated for three Emmy nominations including Best Documentary, Outstanding Coverage of a Current News Story Long Form, and Outstanding Editing.

Opens 9.19.15 in NYC] Every September over 200 seasonal workers, most of them Cambodian, Lao, Hmong, Mien and Thai, set up a temporary camp near the tiny town of Chemult, Oregon. They remain until the first snowfall, searching the lush woods of Klamath County for the rare matsutake, a fungus highly prized in Japan.

"...A LYRICAL ODE TO THE WONDERS OF LOVE AND NATURE, EVEN AMID INEVITABLE CHANGE."

- DAVID LEWIS, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE