Directed and Produced by
Rebecca Cammisa
The film follows several unaccompanied child migrants as they journey through Mexico en route to the U.S. on a freight train they call “ The Beast ”. Director Rebecca Cammisa (Sister Helen) tracks the stories of children like Olga and Freddy, nine-year old Hondurans who are desperately trying to reach their families in Minnesota, and Jose, a ten-year-old El Salvadoran who has been abandoned by smugglers and ends up alone in a Mexican detention center, and focuses on Kevin, a canny, streetwise 14-year-old Honduran, whose mother hopes that he will reach New York City and send money back to his family. These are stories of hope and courage, disappointment and sorrow. They are the ones you never hear about – the invisible ones.
Rebecca Cammisa
Rebecca Cammisa became a filmmaker in 1998, when she teamed up to co-direct, co-produce, and shoot the feature documentary film Sister Helen. In 2003, Rebecca founded Documentress Films, and received development support from the Sundance Documentary Fund, HBO, the Wellspring Foundation, and the J. William Fulbright Fellowship in Filmmaking for Which Way Home.
Awards and Nominations:
- 2008 The Fulbright New Leaders Group Award for Mutual Understanding
- 2007 The Blaufarb Documentary Film Award, NYU
- 2004 News Documentary Emmy Award for Outstanding Cultural & Artistic Programming
- 2003 Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary Film Award, Directors Guild of America
- 2002 Distinguished Documentary Achievement Award by the International Documentary Association
- Documentary Directing Award, Sundance Film Festival
- Gold Hugo Award for Best Documentary Film Chicago International Film Festival
- Jury Prize for Best Documentary Film, Newport Film Festival
- Best Documentary Film Award, Nashville Film Festival
Mr. Mudd
In 1998, Lianne Halfon, John Malkovich and Russell Smith created the production company Mr. Mudd, whose first film was the notable Ghost World, directed by Terry Zwigoff. In 2003, Malkovich followed this up with his own feature directorial debut, The Dancer Upstairs, starring Academy Award winner Javier Bardem. Other Mr. Mudd credits include The Libertine, starring Johnny Depp and Samantha Morton and Art School Confidential, also directed by Zwigoff and written by screenwriter / cartoonist Dan Clowes.
Mr. Mudd landed its biggest box office and critical success with Juno, starring Ellen Page, Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman. The film, distributed through Fox Searchlight, received an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay (Diablo Cody) and three other nominations, for Best Motion Picture, Best Actress (Ellen Page) and Best Director (Jason Reitman). Recently, Halfon, Malkovich and Smith joined Bristol Baughan, Jack Turner and Bette Cerf Hill to executive produce Which Way Home.