Experiencing Interruptions?

Traveling Mercies

Two Black high school students have different attitudes about the daily micro aggressions they experience in an ultra wealthy neighborhood of Houston, TX. When one of them encounters a shocking outburst at their private prep school, they’re both forced to reexamine their viewpoints.

  • Niva Dorell
    Director
  • Madison Trice
    Writer
  • Marjorie Lin Kilpatrick
    Producer
  • Madison Trice
    Key Cast
    "Ayalah"
  • Joseph Andrew Hanson
    Key Cast
    "Isaiah "
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Drama
  • Runtime:
    14 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    August 5, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    50,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States, United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States, United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    4k
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Pan African Film Festival
    Los Angeles
    United States
    February 12, 2025
    World
    Official Selection
  • Beverly Hills Film Festival
    Beverly Hills
    United States
    April 5, 2025
    Los Angeles
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Niva Dorell

Niva Dorell is an award-winning writer-director who makes films about the human condition. She specializes in adapting true stories. She won Showtime’s Black Filmmaker's Grant with her USC thesis film KINGS and made the short film MILK AND HONEY for Showtime starring Russell Hornsby and Maya Rubin. She directed Academy-award winner Louis Gossett Jr., comedian Kym Whitley, and Keshia Knight Pulliam in the made-for-TV movie WHAT ABOUT YOUR FRIENDS for UPN (now The CW). She also directed multiple music videos, PSAs, and theatre productions with actors such as Keith David, Loretta Devine, Ernie Hudson, Ella Joyce, Harry Lennix, and Mykelti Williamson, among others.

Niva’s storytelling skills crossover to non-scripted as well. She directed the feature homeless documentary SKID ROW featuring Pras Michel (The Fugees). She helped develop KNOCKOUT, a podcast and documentary series about the biggest embezzlement case to rock the boxing world in the late 1970s, and BRAIDED, the true story of a Sierra Leonean immigrant who sued the state of Utah for infringing on her rights to practice traditional African braiding and won.

Niva was also commissioned to write the television pilot for BYE BYE BABY based on Caroline Sullivan’s memoir Bye Bye Baby: My Tragic Love Affair with The Bay City Rollers, and the feature screenplay STONE MOTEL, based on Morris Ardoin’s memoir Stone Motel: Memoirs of a Cajun Boy.

Niva’s writing has been championed by mentors Robert Zemeckis, John Singleton, David Mamet, Rodrigo Garcia, and Scott Frank, and supported by residencies at the Vermont Studio Center, Millay Arts, and Cill Rialaig in Ireland. Over the years, Niva has also mentored other young aspiring filmmakers via Social Cinema Foundation and Make a Film Foundation.

Niva received an M.F.A. from USC School of Cinema in Los Angeles and B.A. from Temple University in Philadelphia. Born in Israel, raised in Philadelphia, and a resident of Los Angeles for almost 20 years, Niva now lives in New York City with her dog Ruby.

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Director Statement

They say truth is stranger than fiction. When producer Marjorie Kilpatrick called to ask me if I would direct Traveling Mercies (a previous director had to leave the project), I was half a world away in Israel for meetings on another project, which came to an abrupt halt on October 7th. That first call with Marjorie was an emotional one – I had to warn her we might be interrupted by bomb sirens (thankfully, we weren’t). I was also overjoyed to hear a familiar voice and be discussing something creative. I had read Madison Trice’s script for Traveling Mercies before and found the coming-of-age story of a young black couple who encounter the ugly reality of racism – and then face devastating consequences for their reaction to it – both well-written and poignant. Given the current war that had just erupted, it seemed an even more urgent story to tell. I enthusiastically said yes to Marjorie and dove into the project as if grabbing a lifeline.

Pre-production began as soon as I landed back in the U.S. Ten days later, we began shooting in New York. Then we lost a major location, forcing us to pause production with only three scenes filmed. We resumed production five months later in Arkansas, a very different environment than New York City to say the least, but ironically more appropriate for a story that’s set in Houston, Texas. While many Arkansas locals were supportive, others *politely* shunned the project because of the subject matter. Meanwhile, rehearsals often divulged into conversations about everyone’s discomfort with both saying and hearing the N-word in the film’s pivotal scene.

Throughout these challenges, we always came back to the script and our dedication to sharing it with audiences. This was not some fabricated story of blatant racism – both institutional and interpersonal – in some of our nations’ schools. This was a story that Madison had experienced, and her younger siblings and countless other children across the country still experience. And no one was talking about it.

It was both an honor and an inspiration to direct these young actors and witness their confidence grow by leaps and bounds. We analyzed every word of the script, every choice, and every nuance. We supported each other with trust and respect. And we never gave up our quest – to find the truth in every moment, no matter how ugly. Personally, Traveling Mercies marks a return to directing for me after several years away. Like all journeys, everyone who worked on the film ended up somewhere different than where they started.