Author: Andrew Gersh

https://vimeo.com/46443548 When Donna Appell learned that her baby daughter Ashley suffered from a rare genetic disorder that would kill her in 30 years, she was told there were less than 30 people in the US who had been diagnosed with it and no one knew where to find them. Realizing that no one was going to [...]

https://vimeo.com/68789661 Each year, 60,000 people from around the globe gather in a dusty windswept Nevada desert to build a temporary city, collaborating on large-scale art and partying for a week before burning a giant effigy in a ritual frenzy. Rooted in principles of self-expression, self-reliance and community effort, Burning Man has grown famous for stirring ordinary [...]

https://vimeo.com/28805088 Lawyer turned social advocate Amlan Ganguly doesn’t rescue children; he empowers them through education and activism to battle poverty and transform their lives and communities. The Revolutionary Optimists follows Amlan and the children he works with—Shika, Salim, Kajal and Priyanka—as they staunchly fight against the forces that oppress them. Utilizing theater and dance, and supported by Amlan’s [...]

https://vimeo.com/134142788 Real Boy is the coming-of-age story of Bennett Wallace, a transgender teenager finding his voice—as a musician, a friend, a son, and a man. The film follows Bennett over the first 3 1/2 years of his transition as he grapples with issues of identity, sobriety, and connection to the people he loves. And the person he [...]

What lies at the root of America’s fatherhood crisis? Daddy Don’t Go takes an intimate look at the struggles of four diverse, disadvantaged NYC fathers to beat the odds stacked against them and defy the deadbeat dad stereotype. Fighting against homelessness, unemployment, bureaucracy and, in some cases, a criminal past, Alex, Nelson, Roy and Omar want nothing [...]

https://vimeo.com/143304103 Through the eyes of Sierra Leonean filmmaker Arthur Pratt, Survivors presents an intimate portrait of his country during the Ebola outbreak, exposing the complexity of the epidemic and the sociopolitical turmoil that lies in its wake. During one of the most acute public health crises of the modern era, Survivors reveals the bureaucratic missteps that [...]

https://vimeo.com/340326409 Ghazwan Alsharif sacrificed everything by working as a translator for U.S. forces during the Iraq War, only to be wrongfully accused of being a double agent and tortured by the U.S. military. Ostracized from family and country, Ghazwan was forced to flee war-torn Iraq. From Baghdad to The Bay follows eight years of Ghazwan’s life in the Bay [...]

Trafficked in America tells the story of a group of teenagers from Guatemala who are forced to work against their will at an Ohio egg farm. The film exposes the criminal network that exploits the minors, the company that profits off of them, and the U.S. government’s role in delivering the children into the hands of their [...]

https://vimeo.com/268831999 Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin is a feature documentary exploring the remarkable life and legacy of the late author. Produced with Le Guin’s participation over the course of a decade, the film is a journey through the writer’s career and her worlds, both real and fantastic. Viewers will join the writer on an intimate journey of self-discovery as [...]

In the early 1970s, teenagers with disabilities faced a future shaped by isolation, discrimination and institutionalization. Camp Jened, a ramshackle camp "for the handicapped" in the Catskills, exploded those confines. Jened was their freewheeling Utopia, a place with summertime sports, smoking and makeout sessions awaiting everyone, and campers who felt fulfilled as human beings. Their bonds [...]