Short Documentaries

The following short documentary films were created during graduate study in photojournalism at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  These are predominantly single filmmaker projects, with the same person producing, filming, & editing projects under tight time constraints.  Following standard journalistic practices, these films are not directed, but rather moments are captured using vérite filming techniques and left unaltered. 

karen Flower

Teenage life is tough for anyone. But for Karen youth coming to the U.S. as refugees, life can be even more complicated.  Many refugee youth are thrown into schools with little to no language skills. They face the almost impossible task of adapting to their new culture while at the same time preserving their Karen heritage.  On top of all this, like all teens, they still have their own identity to figure out.

Meet Paw Paw Wei, a 16-year-old high school sophomore living in North Carolina with her family. Like many refugee youths, Paw Paw struggles to juggle the many, often conflicting, demands placed on her shoulders. This is part of her story.

Filming, Editing, & Production: Vanessa Patchett
Music: "Constant Motion" by Emmett Cooke, "Ghost Return" by Moby, mobygratis.com

Archival footage provided by Al Jazeera, cc.aljazeera.net/

Home Away

The ongoing crisis in Burma is one of the worst humanitarian nightmares in the world - nearly a million people displaced, over 3,000 villages destroyed, rampant violence and ethnic cleansing all carried out by the Burmese military regime.

Saw Lah Lah lived in a rural village in the Burmese mountains, but after repeat attacks on their village by the military, he was forced to flee the country. The Lah family arrived in North Carolina two years ago after spending a decade in a refugee camp. Now they struggle to once again rebuild their lives in a place far from home.

This was a short version of a longer story, created for the Carolina Photojournalism Workshop 2012: Port City Stories

Filming, Editing, & Production: Vanessa Patchett
Music: "Tam+" by LJ Kruzer (ljkruzer.co.uk/)

To Overcome

Persons with disabilities are among the most marginalized groups in Mexico, along with indigenous populations, the elderly, and persons with HIV/AIDS. Here is a glimpse into their world and one man's struggle to overcome.  [English version]

This story is part of a collection of student-driven documentary shorts exploring diversity in Mexico City. 

Filming & Editing: Vanessa Patchett
spanish Translation & Additional Cameras: Ceci Fernández Lobato & Javier Hernández Soto
Workshop Coach: Pat Davison

A Fish Story

People love to fish. Catching a fish is not just a tale we remember and share from childhood, but one that connects people - past, present, and future.  Throughout the world, fishing communities have a culture of their own, each with distinct voices, stories, and characters.  The fishing community of Badin Lake, North Carolina, has a rich history and vibrance of its own. Here is a fun, and quirky look into this community and the stories we all share.

This story was created as part of a student-driven multimedia project, Finding the Uwharries, viewable at http://carolinaphotojournalism.org/cpjw

Filming, Editing & Production: Vanessa Patchett
Workshop Coach: Pat Davison