FILM — RASCONA

This collection of films represents work produced across the globe for NGOs, to government and to the United Nations Foundation. I’m the Director on all aspects of making these productions from concept to delivery, to include ideas, production planning and budgeting, every aspect from pre to post production, shooting the films and delivering on budget and on time. I’ve earned a reputation for creating dignified, poignant story accompanied by equally high aesthetic – supported by the premium creative skills of some of the best post production creatives in London – bringing stories from the developing world community to the 1st world. Predominately my work over the last two decades has been centered on social and environmentally driven issues from health and education, to climate ie.. drought and famine – spending much of 20 years at the village level.

*PLAYBACK QUALITY NOTE – Place the settings (wheel icon bottom right corner of film) to 1080 / 720.

RED DIRT ROAD

We follow the life of Hab Saly, a young woman who believed there was more to life than working so hard for so little, in the oppressive garment factories in Phnom Penh.With a backdrop of the 1974 Khmer Rouge atrocities that permanently scared Cambodian life, Saly's vision is equally full of dreams for her future and the never-to-be forgotten ghosts from the past. Overcoming multiple odds and with minimal education, Saly was determined to learn how to be a seamstress, to chase her dreams and return to a simple, peaceful life in the jungle with her family. Her world soon changed when life brought first world women to her village who wanted to help developing world women enjoy a better life. We lift the veil to the lives of humble yet very courageous women living in the jungles of rural Cambodia, who with western women as loving mentors, help Saly realize her dreams, let go of her ghosts, and become part of a vast global sisterhood where everything is possible.

BLACK INSIDE - THREE WOMEN’S VOICES

A landmark film, BLACK INSIDE is a Grand Prix winning triptych created for the United Nations Foundation's - Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves. An indie sized film team was taken around the globe to create three intimate stories revolving around a serious global women's health problem caused by the toxic laden smoke inhaled by women across the world – when simply preparing meals for their family. Sarah, Vandana and Monica - Kenya, India and Peru, each woman presents the challenges and aspirations for their children and their family.

MONICA

One of three women featured in the film Black Inside, who gives us an intimate view to her world in the Peruvian Highlands. MONICA presents a strong, dignified self sacrificing woman who regardless of her cultural differences, shares her home and a common bond for a better life for her children.

SARAH’S STORY

Just west of the Somali border and equally south of Ethiopia’s Ogaden, you’ll find one of the most brutally harsh regions of open desert within Kenya’s vast northern territory, yet it’s called home by Sarah and her nomadic tribe the Gabra. Sarah is one of three women featured in the UNF-GACC's film, Black Inside, Directed and Co-Shot by Rascona.

VANDANA

Jadishpur India – Living in a pastoral yet urban village along the Nepalese border, Vandana, a devout Hindu woman, speaks of her aspirations for life, which are not that different from those of us in the West. One of three women from the triptych Black Inside-Three Women's Voices, Vandana gives us an intimate view of her world and what her life is all about.

LOG ON.RISE UP.

A global project focused on four women, each from four different cultures – Nigeria, The Philippines, Texas and India… each sharing their lives and the challenges faced. They speak of World Pulse, a digital online space where women are safe to share their aspirations and dreams for life, equally sharing how theyve met uncertain challenges, in a solidarity filled enviroment designed to help speed up the path towards gender equality.

CONGO

The Democratic Republic of Congo is a wonderful country, yet each and every day, men, women and children must fight for survival. I was sent to the region to raise awareness to the challenges, and to the successful programs, which serve nearly a million people.

I AM - a WiSci Story

Presenting a fresh voice on the STEM/STEAM initiative – we follow four girls through their experiences, and see their worldview change in a short documentary produced on location in Malawi Africa 2017. Created for the US Department of STATE in Washington DC - the film documents and celebrates 98 girls from the US and 6 countries in Africa at WiSci '17, a 2 week camp for high school girls where they learn about careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Design, and Mathematics (STEAM). Hosted by the UN Foundation's GirlUp program and the U.S. State Department, plus forward thinking tech companies INTEL, NASA and GOOGLE – who taught the girls how to code.

KINGS OF KIBERA

NAIROBI-KIBERA SLUMS: No one had any money for a boom box to play their music on so they had to dance to sounds from a trashed car radio with ripped speakers while their dance, hidden from view within a dank concrete garage, was lit by a single broken car headlamp. Unrehearsed, unscripted, raw street talent shot for a Pilot on dance.