Documentary Shorts at the Drexel
The Documentary Shorts at the Drexel block includes the following films:
- Meantime (Michael T. Workman)
- A Shelter for Edith (Elisa Stone, Matthew Leahy)
- Ampe: Leap into the Sky, Black Girl (Claudia Owusu, Ife Oluwamuyide)
- The Foundry (Robert Machoian)
- Born of the Earth (Kuukua Eshun)
- Both Sides of the Desk (Brian Plow)
This screening will be accompanied by a post-show Q&A with directors Elisa Stone, Matthew Leahy, Claudia Owusu, Ife Oluwamuyide, Kuukua Eshun, and Brian Plow.
Director: Michael T. Workman
Runtime: 18 min
After Tim’s work-related stroke leads to troubling signs of memory loss, his son Michael returns home to Montana. As they spend the most time together since Michael’s childhood, they reckon with the past that haunts Tim. Meantime is a deeply personal exploration of memory, guilt, labor, and the attempt to preserve the fleeting.
Directors: Elisa Stone, Matthew Leahy
Runtime: 22 min
As the world grappled with pandemic isolation, Edith Espinal entered her third year of sanctuary in a Midwestern church. A Shelter for Edith sheds light on the solitary life of one undocumented woman and the threat that sent her indoors — not the pandemic, but the fear that ICE could tear her family apart.
Directors: Claudia Owusu, Ife Oluwamuyide
Runtime: 18 min
Set in the sister cities of Accra, Ghana and Columbus, Ohio, Ampe: Leap into the Sky, Black Girl is a rhythmic love letter to Black girlhood across the African diaspora. Through the lens of the Ghanaian traditional jumping and clapping game, Ampe, the film takes us on a journey of sisterhood, loyalty, and nostalgia in a space created for us, by us.
Director: Robert Machoian
Runtime: 5 min
A shift at a metal foundry provides the basis for a meditation of life as a pressure machine.
Director: Kuukua Eshun
Runtime: 9 min
Kuukua Eshun explores the reconnection of women of African descent with the earth.
Director: Brian Plow
Runtime: 21 min
A short documentary about two women with intensive trauma histories and the new approach to mental health treatment that led to healing and resilience. It is also the story of the pioneering women who are leading the way in advocating for Trauma Informed Care in Ohio.
