Uncle Nacho

In this interview, I sat down with filmmaker and former human rights attorney Michèle Stephenson. She tells us about her migration journey as a Haitian-Panamanian woman and the family dynamics she experienced growing up. Michèle shares her unconventional path toward filmmaking and co-founding the Brooklyn based Rada Film Group with her husband Joe Brewster. Michèle emphasizes the need to complicate narratives as a filmmaker of color and to question those who consider themselves allies. As she says, “Practicing the art form is a statement of resistance itself." And that, “I want the stories that I tell to be disruptive.” Adding, “The statement at the end of the story has got to somehow disrupt the system.” Michèle also acknowledges that “I want the process to be as important as the end product, as the end of the story itself.” And that, “I think by taking a critical look at ourselves and our subjects… we are complicating our humanity.” She mentions how “Transformation and impact happens in process.” Adding t