Gaze of the Beholder

Beauty: a characteristic of a person, place or thing that provides a pleasurable or satisfying experience. This explains why when we speak of beauty it encompasses so many different things - from a song, a sunset or a smile. This film shifts the conversation from the tangible to the intangible; from the flaws to the favorite attributes.
Through the filmmaker's lens we explore personal perspectives on beauty, body-image and our influences that occupy the internal gaze of the beholder with the power to shape and distort our perception.
Before blaming others, we must first take responsibility, beginning with how we see ourselves. This film reflects the conversations of personal accountability around our shared with acceptance and self-love. The 'Beautiful yoU' starts with the 'Be U.'

  • Wadooah Wali
    Director
  • Hanh Nguyen
    Director
    Caffeinated, The Bush Man, Leaving My Mark: A Portrait of Scott Donahue
  • Wadooah Wali
    Writer
  • Wadooah Wali
    Producer
  • Quinn Daly
    Producer
  • Dania Sacks March
    Producer
  • Carson Daly
    Key Cast
    Last Call with Carson Daly, The Today Show, The Voice
  • Vanessa Villegas
    Key Cast
    Entourage, Sons of Tucson
  • LaShawn McGhee
    Editor
    Teen Wolf: Back to the Pack (TV), Girl Rising (Documentary), Hulk Hogan's Micro Championship Wrestling (TV series), Digital Media: New Learners of the 21st Century (Documentary) (assistant editor), What's Your Sign (Short)
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Feature, Television, Web / New Media, Other
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 11 minutes 49 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    November 9, 2013
  • Production Budget:
    82,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital, HD
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Capital City Black Film Festival
    Austin, Texas
    September 28, 2013
    3rd place - Best Documentary Feature
  • Women's International Film & Arts Festival
    Miami, Florida
    March 29, 2014
  • Imperfectu International Film Festival
    Tijuana, Mexico
    April 2, 2014
    International Premiere
  • St. Tropez International Film Festival
    Nice, France
    May 13, 2014
    European Premiere
    Awarded Best Editing of a Documentary Feature; also received nominations for: Best Cinematography of a Doc Feature, Best Directing of a Documentary Feature, Best Producing of a Documentary Feature and Best Documentary Feature
  • International Independent Film Awards
    Los Angeles, CA
    June 30, 2014
    Silver Award - Documentary Feature
Distribution Information
  • Revry
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: Video on Demand, Paid TV
Director Biography - Wadooah Wali, Hanh Nguyen

Regardless of the title –Filmmaker, Writer, Director, Communications Executive, Digital Media Strategist, Producer- the audience (consumer or business/technology) or medium, Wadooah Wali is a natural born storyteller. As a true media maven, her career expertise spans across broadcast, print and disruptive new media companies across digital and traditional media platforms.

As a digital media exec, PR professional and former SF Bay Area dot com veteran, Wadooah has worked with many emerging companies, leading strategic communications activities and working closely with executive teams to establish businesses and sometimes take them public. For more than 15 years she’s worked with and launched many brands and organizations including, the American Cancer Society, Ask Jeeves, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Ocean Pacific, Z. Cavarrici, HP, Hitachi Data Systems, Facebook, Demand Media and Fullscreen.

Never turning her back on her personal creative passions that include writing, photography, film and music, in 2011 Wadooah was selected as one of 30 high profile women to contribute to the Legacy Letters, an inspiring anthology of letters written by the women to the teenage version of themselves. The stories offer advice on life, love, and success that result in an inspiring compilation of wisdom that's reached three continents and empowered girls, women, and men to move past fear and build memorable legacies one day at a time.

Naturally complementing her knowledge of content creation in a new media world, her love of the written word and her ability to find “the story,” Wadooah founded Parking Meter Productions in April of 2010 – an independent production company. Her first feature-length documentary, “Gaze of the Beholder” written, directed and produced by Wadooah, was awarded Third Place in the feature documentary category at the Capital City Black Film Festival in late 2013. In 2014, the indie doc was also accepted into the Women’s International Film Festival, Imperfectu: International Film & Gender Studies Festival and the St. Tropez International Film Festival, where the film was nominated for five awards, including: Best Directing, Best Cinematography, Best Producer, Best Editing, Best Documentary Feature. The film went on to take home the win for Best Editing of a Documentary feature. Recently, the documentary also was awarded as the Silver Winner of a Documentary Feature for the International Independent Film Awards.

Wadooah earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Communications from the University of South Florida and currently resides in Los Angeles.

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Director Statement

"Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire." / "Do not go where the path leads. Go instead where there is no path and create a trail." P.S. Storytellers ROCK!