Three Documentaries by Michèle Stephenson and Joe Brewster
3 Episodes
In their urgent and empathetic documentaries, husband-and-wife team Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson explore issues of identity, injustice, and activist resistance in the Black diaspora. From AMERICAN PROMISE, an intimate chronicle of two Black boys (one their own son) navigating the pitfalls of the American educational system remarkably filmed over the course of thirteen years, to STATELESS (a solo directorial effort from the Haitian-Panamanian Stephenson), a devastating look at the effects of racist nationalism upon Haitians in the Dominican Republic, these unique films blend powerfully emotional storytelling with galvanizing sociopolitical insight.
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1:04:48Episode 1Slaying Goliath
Episode 1
Directed by Michèle Stephenson and Joe Brewster • 2008 • United States
This eye-opening documentary offers a rare look into the world of amateur youth basketball through the eyes of the Harlem-based fifth-grade team the New York Select Huskies, whose players include the son of filmmakers Michèle...
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2:14:30Episode 2American Promise
Episode 2
Directed by Michèle Stephenson and Joe Brewster • 2013 • United States
Beginning in 1999, filmmakers Michèle Stephenson and Joe Brewster turned their cameras on two families—including their own—as they grappled with the ups and downs of preparing their sons for academic success. In what would ul...
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Stateless
Episode 3
Directed by Michèle Stephenson • 2020 • United States
In 1937, tens of thousands of Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent were exterminated by the Dominican army, the killings fueled by anti-Black hatred fomented by the Dominican government. Fast-forward to 2013, when the Dominican Republic...
