MEET THE TEAM
BUSHRA AZZOUZ
Director/Writer/Editor
BUSHRA AZZOUZ (1956-2019) was an Iraqi-born experimental documentary filmmaker and educator based in Portland, Oregon, whose films about identity, transformation, and resilience include And Women Wove It in a Basket, Women of Cyprus, and No News. She was the lead faculty member for the Northwest Film Center School of Film for more than two decades. She conceived the film with Johnny Stallings in 2010.
"I made this film for the [incarcerated men] and their families, and for the public, to know the very deep humanity of these men."
ENIE VAISBURD
Co-Director, Editor, Post Production Director
ENIE VAISBURD is an award-winning experimental documentary filmmaker who is Professor of Film at Pacific University and was previously a lead faculty member for the Northwest Film Center. At Bushra’s request, she led the artistic and editorial effort to edit the film to completion. She continues to shape its release in the world. (www.evaisb.com)
“The idea of transformation was really important to Bushra. She would say ‘we tell ourselves the story of who we are, but we can transform that story.’ Being able to reimagine yourself is like freedom. That is what I carried through.”
ELLEN THOMAS
Post-Production Producer
ELLEN THOMAS directed the Northwest Film Center School of Film and education outreach programs for emerging artists, youth, and the film-curious public for more than three decades. At Bushra’s request, she led a collaborative team effort to premiere and circulate the film to festivals. She continues to shape its release in the world.
“Filmmaking, for Bushra, was an incredibly political act. It wasn’t about getting a great shot. It was about doing something that was ultimately going to create meaningful conversation between people.”
JOHNNY STALLINGS
Producer, Stage Production Director
JOHNNY STALLINGS is an actor and director who taught theatre in Oregon prisons from 2006–2019. His collaboration with Bushra on the film began in 2010. As Executive Director of Open Hearts Open Minds, and later The Open Road, he helped make possible the creation of more than 60 hours of footage for the film, and the sourcing of financial contributions from more than 100 individuals.
"We are born in love. We grow in love. That’s why we came to this room….The project was a safe place inside a dangerous place….A place of love."
CAST / PARTICIPANTS
“TV portrays us like... we’re all a bunch of dope fiends, illiterate scumbags. It’s nice to hopefully show that we are people with potential. That we are people with dreams.”
GARY CHILCOT
KEISHA NIKOLE-LEE STOREY
(credited as Salathiel Dale)
BRADLEY WILLIAM FOOTE
AARON GILBERT
BRANDON GILLESPIE
DAVID GILMORE
WILLIAM GREEN
DAVID HANDLER
ZEBDIAH HARRINGTON
STEVE JAMISON
ALLEN MILLS
AARON O’HARA
LARRY RICHARDSON
JUSTIN STEDMAN
JASMINE ROSE
(credited as James Stewart)
JOSHUA UNDERHILL
CASEY WARD
“For so much you have to be strong in here and you got to carry this façade that you’re bigger than life. And I was able to be free for once... I had sixteen guys that I knew would help me if I stumbled.”
“After the public performance, it felt like I really did something for people. Something I really haven’t experienced before in my life.”
FILM CREW
Writer/Director
Bushra Azzouz
Co-Director
Enie Vaisburd
Producers
Bushra Azzouz
Johnny Stallings
Ellen Thomas
Post Production Directors
Bushra Azzouz
Enie Vaisburd
Post Production Producers
Bushra Azzouz
Ellen Thomas
Executive Producers
Ronni Lacroute
Andrew Larkin
Associate Producer
Aysha Ghazoul
Directors of Photography
Richard Blakeslee
Jon Beanlands
Camera Operators
Bushra Azzouz
Tom Chamberlin
Mark Eifert
Trevor Fife
Mario Garza
Aysha Ghazoul
Vassiliki Katrivanou
Michael Poulin-Roberson
Jeffrey Richardson
Brian Yazzie
Landscape Cinematography
Bushra Azzouz
Mark Barnes
Sound Recordist
Patrick Williams
Additional Footage
Laura Dias
Grace Hankins
Zachary Harrington
Chase Hoffman
Rylee Skidmore
Abby Weinman
Miranda Wessman
Editors
Lauren Mueller
Cam Williams
Enie Vaisburd
Additional Editorial
Zsuzsanna Mangu
Original Score
by Elijah Pine
Musical Interludes
David Gilmore
Sound Design & Re-recording Mixer
Wayne Woods
Colorist
Jake Buff
Catering
Nancy Scharbach
Costumes
Nancy Scharbach
Frances Britt
Props
Nancy Scharbach
Poster Illustration
Rick Bartow
Original Poem
Casey Ward
Event Photography
Ellen Thomas
Ian Westmoreland
Graphic Design
Annodomini Design
Social Media
Stephanie Hough
Johnny Stallings
Denise Bare
Web Design
Iris Mairead Young
Steph Landtiser
Johnny Stallings
Ellen Thomas
Web Developers
Iris Mairead Young
Steph Landtiser
PRESENTING ORGANIZATION
OPEN HEARTS OPEN MINDS
OHOM is an Oregon-based nonprofit organization that supports individuals serving prison sentences through arts and dialogue, facilitating personal and institutional transformation and growth.
OHOM arranges live film screenings which facilitate in-person community conversations around incarceration and the incarcerated.
CARLA GRANT
Executive Director
CARLA GRANT became OHOM’s Executive Director in 2019 after creating a performing arts program at the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility in 2014, UP A CREEK THEATRE, a program she continues to direct today. With a life-long love of theatre, she relishes the process of finding empathy and sharing opportunities for enrichment and enlightenment.
JOSH UNDERHILL
Chair, Board of Directors
JOSH UNDERHILL has been a participant in OHOM programs for more than ten years, including as an Actor in A Midsummer Night’s Dream In Prison. As President of the OHOM board of directors, he is working to promote the film while helping to expand all OHOM arts programs, bringing his unique perspective of real experience to the work.
