WHO WE ARE

SARAH FEINBLOOM

 

DIRECTOR/PRODUCER

 

Sarah Feinbloom is an award-winning director, producer and editor whose work includes documentaries, dramatic narratives, and fundraising videos. r documentary What Do You Believe? - The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers (2) aired on PBS stations and screened internationally at venues including the Mill Valley Film Festival, the Toronto Children’s Film Festival, the National Association of Multicultural Educators, and the American Academy of Religion. It was voted "One of Ten Best Videos for Young Adults in 2003" by the American Library Association, and has been shown at over 2000 schools and colleges in the United States and internationally. She also created and led workshops nationally and internationally on interfaith dialogue and religious diversity. Sarah has been a featured speaker for the Ford Foundation Difficult Dialogue Series, the Graduate Theological Union's conference Religious Pluralism in the 21st Century: Muslim Identities in the Diaspora, and for the Religions For Peace-USA Symposium: Beyond Bigotry: Recreating our Ethnic, Racial and Religious Harmony in a Post-September 11 World. She has received funding in the past from the California Council For The Humanities, Paul Robeson Fund for Independent Media Film Grant, The Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund, The Pacific Pioneer Fund, The Marin Community Foundation and Hartley Film Foundation. She recently directed Earth Water Woman (2013) about Rastafarian women environmentalists in Trinidad, which premiered at the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival. In 2017 she directed a documentary on LGBTQI activists in Jamaica called Many Loves, One Heart (2017). Sarah's other film projects include Youth to Youth, which examined racism, rape, war, police brutality, and growing up with violence through the eyes of the youth. She has led national workshops on violence prevention for schools, non-profits and public health organizations. Her film Daughters and Sons Preventing Child-Trafficking in the Golden Triangle (2005), which profiled a program that saves children from sex-trafficking, was featured on NPR, won the award for Best Short in Child Advocacy at the Artivist Film Festival, and helped raise over $250,000 for the non profit profiled. Other credits include In Search of the Heart of Chocolate (2008), which premiered at the Palm Springs International Short Film Festival.

 

Sarah has a B.A. in Political Science from Barnard College, Columbia University and an M.A. in Education from Tufts University. She has taught high school social studies, ESL and youth filmmaking workshops. Sarah coordinated social justice programs for organizations including the American Friends Service Committee and the San Francisco Volunteer Center. She was a member of New Day Films where she worked on the marketing committee, and she’s been a juror for documentary film festival competitions including the Audience Awards Women's Film Challenge. In 2014  she founded GOOD DOCS in order to support independent documentary filmmakers and to provide independent content to students, educators and communities. 

GORO TOSHIMA

 

DIRECTOR/CINEMATOGRAPHER

 

Goro Toshima is an award winning documentary filmmaker.  His film, A Hard Straight, received the jury award for best documentary feature at the South by Southwest and Santa Barbara Film Festivals.  In addition to screening at dozens of other festivals, including LA and Chicago, A Hard Straight broadcast nationally on PBS' Emmy award winning series, 'Independent Lens'.  Variety said 'it's a dramatic and up-close look at the temptations and frustrations faced by three parolees...It won't be hard for this documentary to gain global festival and tube exposure." His most recent film, Broken Doors, received a best documentary short nomination from the International Documentary Association.  It also received the jury award for best documentary short at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival and New Orleans Int'l Film Festival, and screened at numerous festivals throughout the U.S. and Europe. As a cinematographer, Goro's work has aired on HBO, PBS, the Sundance Channel and Bravo.  He has DP’ed numerous documentaries and docu-reality shows. In addition to his film and TV work, Goro also directs web commercial spots for various advertising agencies, including Goodby-Silverstein and 72 Sunny (clients include AT&T, Hyundai and Bugaboo).  Goro received a Masters Degree in Documentary Filmmaking from Stanford University.