VIDEO

I began my career in film, video and photography as a janitor at a public television station in Boston and somehow landed in its expanding film department.  I learned audio, camerawork, and editing on the job and made a lot of mistakes.  But the spirit of forgiveness, creativity, and independence were very much alive during my many years there.  As the programs I worked on went to larger and larger audiences, the cinematic and journalistic challenges increased.  It was great fun meeting each one.

My independent film’s focus on what many people would call the little guy, the non-star.  To me they make much more interesting subjects than the rich and famous do.  I am fascinated by the drama and heroism of their seemingly everyday lives.  Mainstream media would have overlooked the greatness of several of my main characters.  This is exactly why I make these films.

"Alexei"

“Alexei Gets a Leg” is a chapter in a feature length documentary called “The Magic Stick.” I started shooting this film in 1999 because I am fascinated by the innovative efforts of people in the field of international development. In all I have visited the prosthetic clinics in Leon, Nicaragua and Choluteca, Honduras ten times and shooting is not yet done. Alexei was eleven years old in 2000 when this segment was shot. In “Alexei” the viewer can see the powerful impact of two clinics on different sides of a war zone.

"Maya"

I became fascinated by the Maya in early 2000 when I shot a public television documentary in Guatemala with my tireless associate producer Marnie Stanton. Together we met Mercedes Longfellow, a Maya priestess, and Gerardo Barrios, Keeper of the Maya calendars, and in 2003 traveled with them to many sites the traditional Maya hold sacred. Their depiction of the ancient Maya culture stands in stark contrast to the vision presented by many scholars. I thought the contrast was very interesting and worth exploring. So I am still trying to get the funding to shoot more and to present the debate in a truthful and evocative way.

"Steps"

I shot “Steps” in December of 1977. I had very little money so my shooting ratio was five to one and I had to wait six months to save up enough money to process the film. I finished the film just in time for the 1980 Boston Independent Film Festival where it received critical acclaim (click on “Reviews” to see what critics said at the time). “Steps” documents the enduring friendship of two young women, one of whom was paralyzed at the age of seventeen in a driving accident.

"Marie"

I made this documentary as a tribute to my good friend, Dr. Marie Felton, who died from brain cancer in 1994. Marie was an iconoclastic figure in Boston’s medical community. She was a star student and an acclaimed clinician whose fundamental professional pursuit was the care of the most vulnerable members of our society. Marie was a pioneer and advocate in the care of people with AIDS and quadriplegia. Although this film has never been released to television, it has been seen by thousands of people within Boston’s medical community.

"Fred's Story"

In 1994, my friend Gayle Kranz asked me to help her tell the story of her close friend, Alfredo Calabrese. Fred had been trapped for many decades inside Connecticut’s training school system. My plan was to make this documentary for Fred and Gayle as the principle audience and I shot the film in one day (and two hours and thirty minutes of tape) in October of 1994. But when I started editing the piece, it came alive all by itself. After presenting the film to a group of people who, like Fred, had been virtual prisoners of this system for housing people with mental retardation, it was clear the piece spoke to a wide audience. Fred’s story was a critical and financial success (click on “Reviews” to see what critics said at the time).

"Fred's Roman Holiday"

By 1999 Fred Calabrese had become a celebrity in the field of mental retardation. His dream of having a documentary about his life had been fulfilled in “Fred’s Story.” But like everyone else, Fred had many dreams. My friend Gayle Kranz, who had co-produced “Fred’s Story” five years earlier, wanted to make a sequel about Fred’s other great wish. “Fred’s Roman Holiday” is a comedy that shows the mysterious side of Fred. The film reveals a secret about a pivotal moment in Fred’s childhood.  I mostly shot the Rome part of film in a low-tech format (8mm video) because I wanted to disappear into the crowd of tourists while I was shooting it. I think the story and psychological content of this documentary (in the final stages of editing) are what really make it resonate for a broad audience.

"Paracelsus"

I shot this film with my close friend, Drew Pearson, with whom I had worked on many PBS documentaries. This scene from the eighty-minute documentary about a revolutionary approach to the treatment of intractable diseases may be hard to watch for many who are squeamish about needles. But it accurately presents one of the basic techniques that Dr. Thomas Rau uses at the Paracelsus Clinic in Switzerland. The film tracks three patients who have opted for a different course in their treatment. In most cases, patients who come from the US have exhausted most, or all, of the possible regimens offered by the US medical community.