Biography

Michèle Stephenson is an American documentary filmmaker, artist, and author who pulls from her Panamanian and Haitian roots, and experience as a human rights attorney to tell compelling, deeply personal stories that are created by, for, and about communities of color. With spouse Joe Brewster, Stephenson founded the Rada Film Group. While raising a family in Brooklyn, New York, they directed and produced documentary and fiction films. In 2008, they directed Slaying Goliath, a documentary that follows 10 days in the life of their son's fifth grade basketball team in Harlem, New York, as they experienced a culture clash at a national tournament in suburban Florida. Brewster and Stephenson also produced and directed Faces of Change, which follows five activists on five continents fighting racism in their communities. In 1999, Brewster and Stephenson set out to document the experiences of their son and his best friend at the time both boys entered kindergarten at a private Manhattan prep school up until their upcoming high school graduation in 2012 in the documentary film, American Promise. Their goal was to closely examine the coming of age and school experiences of two middle class African American boys at The Dalton School, a predominantly white prep school, in the context of the persistent U.S. achievement gap. American Promise was broadcast on POV in 2013. Brewster and Stephenson are Sundance Institute Fellows, Tribeca All Access Fellows, and the recipients of the Tribeca Gucci Fund for Documentary Film for the 13-year longitudinal documentary. American Promise is the centerpiece of a transmedia engagement campaign that will use the mobile web and interactive technology to help propel young men of color to success.