Grandma Lai is a recipient of the LIMCA-Hidden Gems III Award. The purpose of the awards program is to recognize individuals for their story, creative work, and contributions to the LIMCA Iu Mien community.

Grandma Lai is the subject of My Name is Lai, directed by Re-Take Oakland filmmaker, Lucy Saephan.

In My Name is Lai, a first generation Mien American elder, shares the events leading up to her arrival to the U.S. as a refugee survivor of war. Lai retraces moments of her life from memories as a young child, to being a newly arrived refugee finding her way in the U.S. Through these memories, Lai reflects on her life, passing on cultural traditions, fears of losing her independence, and hopes for the future.

This Adventure Called California, directed by Re-Take Oakland filmmaker Jennifer Huang, will screen at the 2022 United Nations Association Film Festival on Sunday, October 23 at 1pm in Palo Alto.

This Adventure Called California is a short documentary film about recently divorced Arnoldo, who comes to the United States from Mexico to win back his family but meets only brutality and despair, until a chance encounter at a racquetball court changes the course of his life.

For more information, visit this page.

Coach Emily, directed by Re-Take Oakland filmmaker Pallavi Somusetty, is having its first in-person screenings! The film will screen:

October 22 at 4:00pm with BAMMS at the Roxie
For more information and tickets, visit this page.

October 23 at 12:30pm with Kearny Street Workshop at the Roxie
Pallavi Somusetty is a featured artist for this showcase.
For more information and tickets, visit this page.

Coach Emily follows Emily Taylor, a Black woman rock climbing coach determined to close the adventure gap for her team of young girls of color in Oakland.

When the Garden Comes, directed by Re-Take Oakland filmmaker Jay Gash, is screening at Femininity Framed on Friday, October 7th at 5pm at Rose Mary Jane in Oakland.

When the Garden Comes follows how the legacy of homeownership and gardening pumps through the veins of a Black family in North Oakland.

Femininity Framed features female filmmakers of color exploring their femininity within short films.

For more information and tickets, visit this page.

For Love and Legacy, directed by Re-Take Oakland filmmaker A.K. Sandhu, is making its way back to the Bay Area at Mill Valley Film Festival. The film is screening in the Shorts Program: Painting Pictures, October 12 at 3:45pm at Rafael 3.

For Love and Legacy tells the personal stories of sculptor Dana King and activist Fredrika Newton who come together to build a new monument that honors the Black Panther Party’s vital place in American history.

For more information and tickets, visit this page.

A.K. Sandhu will also be leading an archival workshop, Reel Life: History on Film, with Bay Area archivist, Alex Cherian, on October 15 at 11:30am. Exploring themes of history and memory, A.K. will talk about the curated archival footage she considered and utilized for the film, and participants will be able to study and learn how archives expand historical significance.

For more information and tickets, visit this page.

For Love and Legacy will also be screening at these upcoming festivals: DocNYC, HotSprings, Montreal Black FF, New Haven Docs, Montclair, and Urbanworld FF.

This is a list of tools and resources to help filmmakers, funders, and participants address ethical challenges that arise during the filmmaking process. These resources cover a range of topics, including: financial impacts and benefits, ownership, content review rights, and the film’s impact on participants. This list was prepared for a workshop presented by Filmmakers Collaborative SF and Re-Present Media.


  • What is Ethics?
    Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University
    An explanation of what ethics is.
  • Making an Ethical Decision (PDF)
    Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University
    Questions to help you make an ethical decision.
  • Inside the Documentary Cash Grab (Sep 16, 2022)
    The Hollywood Reporter
    As streaming transforms the once-sleepy nonfiction space into a money-making juggernaut of hit series, cool parties and $30 million single-title sales, THR talks to Alex Gibney, Ken Burns and other filmmakers about rising costs, ethical lapses and the very soul of their profession.
  • Editorial Standards
    Australian Broadcasting Corporation
    The editorial guidelines and standards of Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
  • Dealing with trauma and survivors of trauma (June 4, 2020)
    Australian Broadcasting Corporation
    The Australian Broadcasting Corporation provided this guidance to assist staff involved in the reporting, discussion or depiction of trauma. It includes advice on dealing with victims, survivors, relatives of victims, and witnesses of crime, accidents, and natural disasters.
  • Making Media with Communities: Guidance for Researchers
    Ann Light of Northumbria University and Tamar Millen of the Community Media Association
    These guidelines set out a framework of ethical and practical considerations for creating media with communities to think about the process, the approach, and the legacy of the project.

Congratulations to Re-Take Oakland filmmaker, A.K. Sandhu, who is the winner of Spotlight Your Town for her docuseries, We Beg Your Pardon, America. Spotlight Your Town is presented by SeriesFest and National Geographic Documentary Films.

We Beg Your Pardon, America tackles America’s version of history about the Black Panther Party through poetic interrogation by womxn Panthers. 

A.K. Sandhu will receive a $20,000 grant to be applied to her production, an opportunity to pitch to National Geographic Documentary Films, and unscripted teams in one-on-one curated meetings, as well as receive a six-month mentorship with Academy Award-nominated filmmaker, Steve James (Hoop Dreams, Abacus: Small Enough to Jail, City So Real).

This Adventure Called California, directed by Re-Take Oakland filmmaker Jennifer Huang, is screening at Cinequest, Saturday, August 20, at 9:15 am. A special extended panel conversation follows the screening of the film!

This Adventure Called California is a short documentary film about recently divorced Arnoldo, who comes to the United States from Mexico to win back his family but meets only brutality and despair, until a chance encounter at a racquetball court changes the course of his life.

For tickets, visit: https://bit.ly/3yrp0ro

Re-Take Oakland filmmaker, Jennifer Huang, has been awarded a Berkeley FILM Foundation 2022 Grant Award, for her film The Long Rescue.

The film is the recipient of the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation Elevate Award for $25,000, in partnership with the Berkeley-based Jonathan Logan Family Foundation (JLFF).

The Long Rescue follows Filipina teen sex trafficking survivors for six years where we learn of their dark pasts through brief flashbacks that reveal the cyclical nature of exploitation that haunts women and their children for generations.