The filmakers
JOHN J. VALADEZ - Writer, Director, Producer
JOHN J. VALADEZ is a Peabody Award winning filmmaker who has directed a dozen nationally broadcast films for PBS and CNN over the past 25 years. His work explores themes of race and power, particularly regarding Latinx Americans. They tackle such diverse subjects as the false imprisonment of a leader of the Black Panther Party (Passin’ It On POV/PBS), Latino Gangs in Chicago (Making Peace ITVS/PBS), Latinos in World War II (Latino Americans WETA/PBS), the birth of Latino civil rights (The Longoria Affair Independent Lens/PBS), the evolution of Chicano music (Latin Music USA WGBH/PBS), genocide, art and Native Americans in the southwest (The Last Conquistador POV/PBS), The Chicano movement of the 1960s and 1970s (Latino Americans WETA/PBS), segregation in a small southern town (Matters of Race PBS/ITVS), and the lynching of Mexican Americans (The Head of Joaquin Murrieta PBS). His films have garnered top prize at festivals from San Francisco to Chicago to Mumbai and have been broadcast across the U.S., Canada, and Europe. He has a BFA from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and an MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Arts.
John is the Director of the Documentary Film Program (the DOC LAB) at Michigan State University.
CARLEEN L. HSU - Producer, Editor
For over 25 years Carleen produced and co-produced long form non-fiction films for HBO, PBS, the Learning Channel, BBC, CBC, and Channel 4 UK with subjects ranging from the obesity epidemic in America to gender identity in Thailand to faith healing in Africa. The documentaries have been recognized for their exceptional storytelling and original content with two George Foster Peabody Awards, a Royal Television Society Award, a Grierson Award, a Foreign Press Association Award for Best Documentary, and a nomination for a national News and Documentary Emmy. Themes of health, science, and the environment permeate much of her work. She has received grants from the MacArthur Foundation, ITVS, the New York State Council for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, Latino Public Broadcasting, and the Knight Center for Environmental Journalism. Currently she is a Professor of Practice in the School of Journalism and in the Film Studies Program at Michigan State University. Carleen is a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.
Elia Lyssy - Cinematographer
Elia moved to the New York City from Switzerland Elia in 1988. After graduating from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts he started working as a cinematographer in the U.S., Asia, Africa, South America and Europe. Working in both the narrative as well as the documentary field he has been a part of films such as “PHISH-Bittersweet Motel” by director Todd Phillips, the Peabody Award winning series “Latino Americans” and the National Emmy nominated film “The Longoria Affair” by director John Valadez, the acclaimed documentary series “Weediquette” for VICE, the award-winning short film “Wonder”, the documentary “Black in Space” for the Smithsonian Channel, directed by Laurens Grant, as well as the Swiss Comedy “Die Letzte Pointe” aka “The Final Touch”, which he co-directed with his father, Swiss director Rolf Lyssy. Most recently he finished production on “Eden for All”, a comedy to be released in Fall of 2021.
Felix Solis - Narrator
Felix Solis is an actor and filmmaker. He has appeared in films, and television for over 25 years. Most recently he has a recurring roll as Omar Navarro in the Netflix series, "Ozark". Solis has also appeared in the feature films, "Arbitrage", "Man on a Ledge", "The Forgotten" along with television series': "The Following", Charmed", "SEAL Team", "Ten Day in the Valley", "The Good Wife", "Law & Order", "NYC 22) among many others. Felix also is a voice actor in the video game series, "Grand Theft Auto". "Tinto", the short film which Solis co-wrote and directed, was invited to screen at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2014.
Tom Phillips - Composer
Tom Phillips’ scoring credits include close to 500 films for national broadcast networks and independent filmmakers. His scores have been heard on PBS, ABC, CBS, National Geographic Channel, Discovery Channel, TLC, Lifetime, A&E and HBO, which have amassed an impressive list of industry awards. His scores are regularly heard on national broadcast television, including the Antiques Roadshow theme and programs for American Experience. His resume includes four national Emmy winners as well as many other Emmy nominated films, and he is a two time music Emmy nominee. His resume also includes a multiple of film festival winners including Sundance. His scores are heard in countless exhibits, installations, and multimedia shows for museums and planetariums such as the American Museum of Natural History in NYC.
Gus Van Duser - Composer
Guy Van Duser is the legendary guitarist who ‘set the bar’ for virtuoso fingerstyle with his astonishing arrangement of “Stars and Stripes Forever”! His playing echoes Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed (both of whom he knew personally and worked with), and the classic fingerstyle sounds of country guitar picking, and his instrumental technique is second to none. Guy is currently Professor of Guitar at Berklee College of Music in Boston. He was the soundtrack composer for “Disney’s World of English” series from 1990-2010. and PBS programs such as "Nova" and “American Experience”. That’s Guy, playing guitar on the “Antiques Roadshow” theme (composed by Tom Phillips). He scored the music for “Hellfire: A Journey from Hiroshima”, nominated for an Academy Award. Guy has performed as a swing jazz duo with clarinetist Billy Novick for the last 45 years. He records on Rounder, Daring, and Poor Jack Recordings.
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