Co-leader Docshop
YASMIN MISTRY
Animator / Designer / Director / Producer
Yasmin Mistry is an Emmy-nominated animator and filmmaker. Her work has been displayed worldwide including showings at the United Nations and White House as well as at film festivals such as SXSW, Tribeca and DOC NYC. She is the recipient of grants from the Brooklyn Arts Council, Puffin Foundation, Riverside Sharing Fund, Artists Volunteer Center and Harnisch Foundation and was a finalist for funding from the 2018 and 2019 ITVS Diversity Development Fund.
Films from her documentary shorts series about foster care have been featured in over 100 film festivals and been nominated for more than 80 awards. She is currently in production on a feature documentary about family separation and the quest for reunification.
WEBSITES: FOSTERCAREFILM.COM/IDESYGN.COM
SOCIAL MEDIA: FACEBOOK/TWITTER/INSTAGRAM
A Q&A with Filmshop Breakthrough Series 2017 Featured Artist Yamin mistry...
"FAMILY REWRITTEN" (DOCUMENTARY SHORT)
Despite battling Cystic Fibrosis, Camilla, age 16, identifies as a typical middle-class American teenager until the thread that holds her family together suddenly snaps. Just months before her 18th birthday Camilla finds herself in foster care, but instead of being ashamed, she makes a conscious decision to not let her situation define her.
What was the inspiration for your project?
As a CASA volunteer, I’ve spent years working with children, their families and the court system to help foster youth find permanent homes, good educational opportunities and needed medical/social services. I found it unsettling that I had more say in these youth’s life’s than they did. So I decided to give foster youth a chance to be heard, using the tools I knew best, animation and film.
If you could do one thing differently, what would that be?
I would find more funding to better compensate everyone who worked long hours to make this film a reality. A big thanks to the Brooklyn Arts Council and Artist Volunteer Center for providing the funding we did receive.
How did the Filmshop community contribute to its development?
FilmShop was invaluable to the completion of the film. Numerous FilmShop members contributed their talents, including Maxine Trump (editor), Pedro Vivas Hernández (Colorist), Rhett DuPont and Jackson Eagan (Cinematographers). The documentary was workshopped multiple times at FilmShop SoBro and the feedback we received helped make the film’s narrative stronger.
What would the New York Times say about your project?
Other publications that have reviewed the film have said “Family Rewritten is a gripping, impactful film,” that “packs a powerful message about the complexity of relationships.” We hope the New York Times would agree.
What’s next?
"Family Rewritten" is the third film in an 8-part documentary short series which highlights the foster youth experience. We’re currently in production on the fourth film, “For A Better Life,” a fully animated documentary about child trafficking, which we plan to release in 2018.
We’re also working on a feature-length documentary about three sisters, decades apart in age, who grow up on opposite sides of the globe, in foster homes and orphanages, and unexpectedly find each other in adulthood. We hope to release a fundraising trailer for this film at the end of next year.