Risking Light

When I first envisioned this film, I saw it as an "evergreen" subject, but over the past year, a new urgency for these stories has emerged. While we live in an increasingly divisive culture, where our social media feeds are populated by outrage that reinforces our own biases and pain, how do we begin to talk with one another again? How do we move forward from devastating betrayals and traumas of our lives? These are the questions that are at the heart of “Risking Light”.

The subjects of “Risking Light” are from the United States, Cambodia, and Australia. Each of them experience profound trauma and each of them are deeply human and flawed in their own ways. What does make them unique is not sainthood, but their bravery and commitment to feeling emotions that many people run away from. No religious or academic experts, just the lived experiences of four remarkable people -- Mary, O’shea, Kilong, and Debra – as they anguish, hate, and, finally, forgive.

That the act of forgiveness in "Risking Light" is foremost about healing for the victims, which has the effect of ending the cycle of violence that seems to be at the root of so many of our conflicts, both personal and political.

“Risking Light” has already created national and international dialogue.  Soon after launching our first video about Mary and O’shea on the internet in 2011, the story went viral. Mary and O’shea were featured on the ABC Evening News, NPR’s Story Corps, People Magazine, and ABC’s “The View”. There was a clear hunger for these stories, but the results were limited by the format of short-form journalism.

This film has been in production for 7 years and took our team around the world, powered by a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2012 for production and another successful Seed&Spark campaign in 2016 for post-production.

“Risking Light” was a finalist in the #UntoldStory Crowdfunding Contest by Project Greenlight and Seed&Spark. We were also honored to screen a short work-in-progress clip by invitation of the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, curated by Deirdre Haj of Full Frame Film Festival.

We’ve worked with an amazing crew, including consulting Editor Doug Blush (The Hunting Ground, The Invisible War, 20 Feet from Stardom) editor Peter Rhodes (The Price of Sugar, The Last Mountain, The Year We Thought About Love).

I am proud of our final film and look forward to sharing it with festival audiences around the world.