Author's Biography:
Aisha Ford is an award-winning filmmaker with a gift for gracefully humanizing complex issues, shining a spotlight on the forgotten people of her childhood. Art is her activism; she hopes her films inspire others to also speak their truth. Aisha's work has screened at multiple Academy Award and BAFTA qualifying film festivals, such as Tribeca, SXSW, and American Black Film Festival. During her time at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Aisha distinguished herself as a rising talent, earning prestigious accolades, including the Dean's Fellowship, the Spike Lee Film Production Grant for multiple of her short films, and the esteemed NYU Wasserman Award for her captivating second-year short film "Royal.” Additionally, she was honored with the HBO Scholarship from BAFTA. In recognition of her promising talent, Aisha was selected as one of the distinguished MFAs to represent NYU at the Sundance Film Festival. Finally, Aisha directed an award-winning campaign for Dove and Ogilvy titled "As Early As Five,” bringing attention to critical issues through powerful storytelling. Recently, her latest short, Brownies, executive produced by Spike Lee, earned her the Best Director Award at Reel Sisters of the Diaspora, the first Academy Award-qualifying festival for women of color.
Script Synopsis:
Rain is a soft-spoken girl who doesn't see much of a future for herself. When the opportunity arrives to reconnect with her estranged mother, Rhonda, Rain must decide if Rhonda (a recovering addict) has really changed and is worth inviting back into her life. Rain decides to make a documentary about Rhonda for her film class. In the process of asking her mother intimate personal questions about her past and forcing her to re-live painful memories, Rain unwillingly tempts Rhonda to relapse. Similarly, Rhonda, desperate to reconnect with her daughter, is too afraid to ask her to stop. In the end, Rain's decision to document her mother's rehabilitation forces her to reevaluate her mother's ability to change and her own ability to be more than the byproduct of a broken home. Rain realizes Rhonda’s true strength is not in complete recovery, but her ability to TRY despite her shortcomings and mistakes. It's a strength that Rain realizes she possesses as well. Rain's new perspective on her mother gives her permission to dream of a future for her and her family beyond the circumstances that have kept them estranged all these years.
Director's STATEMENT:
This story is close to home. Years ago as an undergrad, I was tasked with making my first documentary. At the time, my mother was rehabilitated and I thought – Wow, what a powerful story to share about the strength of women who have been ostracized from society. So, I started filming. Things were going well, or so I thought. Suddenly, my mother relapsed. The documentary I envisioned as a celebration slowly unraveled into something closer to a horror film. I began to feel ashamed, not just of my family, but of myself. I believed I had failed her, and soon, I started to believe I was a failure altogether. Little Rhonda is a beautiful story based on my award-winning short film “Wren” and now, I am ready to expand this short into a feature film. I aim to explore what happens when a young girl’s passion to tell a story rooted in what she knows becomes something complicated, maybe even harmful. And how do you keep going when you believe there is no end? While this story is located in Ohio, its emotions and themes are universal. Everyone has a mother or a familial relationship, complicated, loving, or yearning, that they can relate to. Families are always universal.