DIRECTOR, CINEMATOGRAPHER

Below you will find a trailer for a documentary short film produced during my residency at UnionDocs in New York City, in 2015-16. During the making of this film, I immersed myself in the microcosm of this tiny, yet fascinating, East Village dessert shop. While helping out at the counter, the film began to take shape through audio-recorded diaries of the store’s inhabitants.

STORY: Open 24 hours, Ray’s Candy Store in New York City, has become a sanctuary for two young volunteers seeking wisdom from the owner, an 84-year-old Iranian refugee, who almost never sleeps and has worked every night shift at the shop for the past 43 years.

PREMIERE: SF Shorts, San Francisco International Film Festival (2017)

PRODUCED BY: UnionDocs, Christopher Allen, Lucila Moctezuma

IN COLLABORATION WITH: Ann Chen, Jenny Catherall, Emile B. Klein, Cam Scott