Hope In The Valley

At the age of three, I found myself creating and sharing stories. My creative spirit has always had an intrinsic passion for story-telling; whether through dance, music, or film. I have always been guided by the powerful energy of narratives, driven to participate in stories that initiate change, transformation and ultimately-healing.

When the pandemic hit last year, I decided to take all of the anxiety and fears I was feeling and put it to use. I innately guided to this story and despite not having any logical idea of why I had to tell it, just knew to trust my instinct to tell it. I can say the lessons I learned shooting during a pandemic were incredible and led to Hope In The Valley being born.

I met Jonathan Leeper, the star of the film, volunteering at the Ventura County Rescue Mission in 2019. His spirit and authentic nature were undeniable and his passion to take his life lessons and transform them to serve and help the homeless in his community were inspiring. I have a clear mission as a female filmmaker: to create stories that focus on marginalized or misunderstood sectors of society; highlighting narratives and hone in on meaningful and relatable themes. I believe that all art is healing, and my projects tend to focus on this very core idea-- that through stories, audiences can take away important life lessons and hopefully, find some healing within the story and characters. I certainly believe Hope In the Valley does just that.

I believe that Jonathan Leeper is not only a beacon of light, but his courageousness to authentically open up about his battle with racism, addiction and homelessness will give others the courage to do the same. I believe many of the relevant issues and topics the film explore highlight many of the difficult issues that came to ahead last year, and that racism's effects can completely change the course of the victim's life in ways not fully yet studied and understood.

Through Jonathan's eyes, the film explores themes of how vicious cycles of racism, addiction, and homelessness form and ultimately influence each other. Growing up with a father in the military, Jonathan spent his younger years living in Japan and eventually the states, where as a young African American experienced racism and bullying amongst his peers and teachers. After years of trying to escape and run away from this feeling of seclusion, Jonathan found himself addicted to drugs and alcohol. We see his dark journey down the rabbit hole that ultimately results in homelessness, but we also see his discovery of true freedom and redemption. Jonathan's story highlights the true power of love to heal and transform, and reminds us that behind every homeless person is a human, who is in every single way, just like us. They have a story to tell and it is our job to leave our judgements at the door, and greet them with understanding and love.

While I have not directly dealt with many of Jonathan's hardships, I can relate deeply to feelings of being misunderstood and coping with those feelings through escapism. On a personal level, I have had very close family members deal with addiction and substance abuse problems, and have seen some of them go from prosperous, healthy lives to addiction and homelessness. I understand innately how one wrong step, one unresolved traumatic event can start a domino effect that spirals out of control. At the end of the day, it could be any of us. It was important for me to humanize and personalize this topic in a way that went beyond a general story about homelessness; but to to give it a name and a face.

My mission as a female filmmaker is to give those without a voice a space to tell their story; to give those forgotten or thrown aside, a safe space to share. I believe the time is now to tell powerful, transformative and healing stories that promote real change-- whether it be internal or external, large or small.