We’re excited to announce that ASCENDING AFGHANISTAN, our collaboration with VICE, will be in competition at the Banff Mountain FIlm Festival this fall. Tickets available here. The film follows a team of 13 young Afghan climbers set out to make history as the first women in the country to summit the Afghan mountain peak of Mir Samir. The team embarked on a 16-day-long expedition against the advice of their elders in an attempt to change the country's narrative as one of the most dangerous places for women in the world.
Here's what we're up to:
Not all stories have easy endings
Here's the painful followup to our latest film edit for VICE about 13 Afghanistan women who attempted to climb their nation's tallest peak.
ASCENDING AFGHANISTAN: RISING WOMEN
ASCENDING AFGNHANISTAN (our latest film edit for VICE) follows a team of 13 young Afghan climbers set out to make history as the first women in the country to summit the Afghan mountain peak of Mir Samir. The team embarked on a 16-day-long expedition against the advice of their elders in an attempt to change the country's narrative as one of the most dangerous places for women in the world.
Emmy nom for Madeline's Story
We're incredibly honored that "Madeline's Story," a piece we worked on with the smart folks at KQED Learning, has been nominated for a NorCal Emmy!
Should 16- and 17-year-olds be allowed to vote?
What would politics look like if more young people were involved? In a collaboration with KQED Learning, we recently spent time with some teens who say they are old enough to have their voices heard on Election Day.
Postcard from Fire Country at the G2 Green Earth Film Fest
Just in time for another punishing California fire season, our look at the devastating Rim Fire and how climate change is affecting wildfires hits the G2 fest in LA. Screening Saturday, Aug 6 at 4pm.
Disaster Control
In 1966, an American Air Force bomber exploded in mid-air, scattering four hydrogen bombs across the Spanish countryside. Today, many of the 1600 airmen who were tasked with finding the bombs and executing the cleanup – without any protection against radiation - are facing dire health problems they believe were caused by exposure. In our latest collaboration with the New York Times, we edited this piece for their investigation.
Madeline's Story
It's hard to understand the human scale of politics, but one Oakland teenager gets straight to the heart of the immigration issue in this piece we collaborated on with KQED.
John Beaver mini-doc
Todd recently finished his doc profile of John Beaver, one of the most in-demand club DJs in the SF Bay Area, who also spends his days tending to endangered animals as a zookeeper. A performer with boundless energy, enthusiasm, and optimism, John is an inspiring, transformational figure both in and outside the music world. Take a look:
On location at Happy Hollow Park & Zoo
WE WON!
What can we say?!? We're absolutely THRILLED to have received an Emmy for Bret's piece GO OR NO GO about the Space Shuttles Challenger, Columbia, and the nature of calamity. Thank you team Retro Report and The New York Times for creating a space for us to explore the deep legacies of events like these. And thanks to Diane Vaughan, whose research on organizational dysfunction was so ahead of its time. And most respect to the engineers and astronauts at NASA who bravely endeavor to solve problems that most of us have yet to even fathom.
