FINDING US | PBS REEL South

Role: Director

Georgetown University sold hundreds of enslaved people to stave off bankruptcy, scattering families across the South, never to see each other again. With the help of DNA databases, their descendants are reconnecting six generations later. In this Emmy Award-Winning film, four descendants use their unique talents to regrow the family trees felled nearly two centuries ago.

Festivals & Distribution:

WINNER: Best Historical Cultural Long Form Content | Capital Emmys | 2025
WINNER: Award of Excellence | IMPACT Docs | 2024

Impact Docs, DC/Dox , Richmond International Film Festival, American Documentary Festival, DC Black Film Festival, DC Shorts International Film Festival, Annapolis Film Festival, Baltimore International Film Festival.

“Finding Us” is distributed by PBS’s Reel South. The film aired on local PBS stations in Louisiana and in Maryland, and is now live on PBS.org and ReelSouth.org. Stream for free at https://www.pbs.org/video/finding-us-6ohkwi/

Impact Screenings:

“Finding Us” was awarded a grant by Georgetown University’s Reconciliation Fund to create an impact screening series to further the reach of the film in communities of descendants of enslavement by Jesuits. The goal of the series is to find more descendants, and reconnect the families of those ripped apart more than 150 years ago. The screenings have been attended by hundreds in the Louisiana parishes where more descendants are thought to live today.

credits

Production Company: SideXSide Studios
DOP: Brandy Bruce
Writer: Deanna Del Ciello
Editor: Liza Slutskaya, Kathryn Carlson
Producers: Karran Harper Royal, Jamie Coughlin Silverman and Gabe Silverman
Composer: Malcolm Parson