Behind The Breaking Silences Camera

Sexual Assault Documentary | Behind Breaking Silences

Aishah Shahidah Simmons, Producer and Director
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Joan Brannon, Director of Photography
JoanBrannon.jpgJoan is an Independent Film/Videomaker, Media Artist, Writer, Teacher and Community Activist based in Lexington, KY. She combines her talents in an effort to balance mainstream media distortion of African-American lifestyles. Joan Brannon is particularly committed to offering well-produced documentation of the extraordinary existence of Black women. This focus has led to the production of several works, including a 30-minute documentary, RICE, The Book…The Bags, which features acclaimed poet Nikky Finney, Raised By Women, Natural Woman, My Baby…My Body…My Temple, Lil’ Kings, Growing Up Black and Proud, Rap Is Art Is Life,Twenty Years of the “F” Word: The Kentucky Women Writer’s Conference, ArtSpeaks and Brick City, to name a few. Ms. Brannon either produced, directed, photographed and/or edited each of these features .She is also the Co-Producer and Director of Living The Story: The Civil Rights Movement in Kentucky, a 60-minute documentary featuring activists whose work shaped the state from the civil war through the 1970’s. Works in progress include, Sacred Clay, a 60-minute biography of the life and work of nationally-renowned sculptor, Ed Hamilton, and Hear The Voices, a 60-minute documentary that features African-American Elder-Women in Kentucky. To promote grassroots exploration of independent media production, Ms. Brannon shares over 15 years of commercial and creative production skills by teaching videomaking courses to youth and adults at community centers and in schools. Ms. Brannon is a recipient of the Kentucky Arts Council’s Al Smith fellowship. She has received grants from the Kentucky Foundation for Women, The Kentucky Arts Council, Kentucky Educational Television, Kentucky Humanities Council and The Lincoln Foundation. Joan’s work has been screened throughout the United States, in Canada, parts of Africa, France and England.

Monica Dillon, Editor and Composer
MonicaDillon.jpgMonica is a New Orleans native singer, pianist, songwriter, and producer. Her smooth sultry sounds have captivated those around the globe. Monica’s debut CD, All I Have is a Moment has gotten worldwide attention reaching those in the USA, Germany, London, Japan, Spain, Greece, France and Croatia. Featured on her debut CD, her song, No, which is a powerful call to action to bring an end to all forms of violence perpetrated against women, is highlighted in NO! The Rape Documentary, by Aishah Shahidah Simmons. She edited and composed the original score for Breaking Silences: A Supplemental Video To NO! The Rape Documentary, which was produced and directed by Aishah Shahidah Simmons. She recently composed the score for the forthcoming documentary Belly of the Basin by Roxana Walker Canton and Tina Morton. This documentary focuses on the psychological and emotional healing of Hurricane Katrina survivors; and the retention of New Orleans culture in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. She also recently composed the score for the recently released Black Womyn: Conversations With Lesbians of African Descent, produced, directed, photographed, and edited by Tiona McClodden of Black Womyn Productions. Featuring candid interviews with over 50 lesbians of African descent based across the United States and in Canada, this feature length documentary breaks new ground by digging well-beneath the surface to begin this long overdue, consistently ignored audio/visual space for Black lesbians to speak in their own voices.Monica is working on her second CD project, A Beautiful Life. Already an EP, A Beautiful Life features the acclaimed song When the Levee Broke, which received national attention on National Public Radio’s News & Notes in a segment titled A Song for New Orleans. When the Levee Broke was recently licensed for the documentary Hurricane Katrina: Rescue and Refuge, by John Menzer. Among her list of accomplishments she has had the pleasure and privilege of opening for vocalist Lalah Hathaway, and legendary Grammy Award winning New Orleans artist Irma Thomas. She has performed with popular artists such as Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes, The Batiste Brothers, Kwest of Memphis, TN, Mother Earth of Memphis, TN, Aqua Moon of Chicago, IL, the late blues legend Harry Hippolite, Mathilda Jones, Marc Stone, and Mother Tongue.

Gail Lloyd, Assistant Camera, Lighting Design, Sound
GailLloyd2.jpgA graduate of Temple University’s Film and Media Arts program, Gail Lloyd is a Philadelphia-based, independent producer, director, and cinematographer who has 15-years experience of working with video and film. As a freelance film and video artist, she has worked with numerous award-winning film and video artists, media arts centers, and production companies across the United States, and in Australia, and Iceland in the fields of cinematography, editing, sound recording, lighting, and art direction. As an independent film and video artist, she has produced, written, directed, and/or photographed her own independent documentaries and experimental videos, which have been broadcast nationally, screened at film festivals, colleges/universities, high schools, and media arts centers, nationally and internationally. Her work has focused on a myriad of social change issues including but not limited to the impact of intimate partner violence on the lives of African-American children; best practices in public education through the work of an exemplar charter school; safer sex between women; and links between the system of colonization and Victorian era “science.” In addition to her own independently produced work, Ms. Lloyd has several feature film screen credits including Co-Producer and Contributing Editor for NO! the internationally acclaimed documentary by Aishah Shahidah Simmons; Assistant Director for the acclaimed documentary Homecoming by Charlene Gilbert; Casting for the award-winning narrative feature The Watermelon Woman by Cheryl Dunye; and Assistant Hair Design for Camp Stories, which was released by Miramax. She assisted in archival photo research and rights acquisition for the award-winning documentary W.E.B. DuBois: A Narrative in Four Voices by Louis Massiah. Ms. Lloyd has taught film and video at Arcadia University and is currently a non-linear editor instructor at Scribe Video Center.