“TAPESTRIES OF HOPE: WOMEN OF AFRICA” – in Post-Production, August 2007

Two child abuse survivors from two corners of the world take on a government, a myth and an entrenched system in their fight to protect girls of Zimbabwe from rape and abuse.

Synopsis:
"TAPESTRIES OF HOPE" is the story of Filmmaker and child rights advocate, Michealene Cristini Risley, traveling to Zimbabwe to document Betty Makoni and the Girl Child Network, and to expose an issue that continues to be ignored: the rape and sexual abuse of thousands of young girls in Zimbabwe.

The cause of these rapes is shocking: men with HIV and AIDS are counseled by local traditional healers that if they have sex with a virgin, their blood will be purified and they will be cured of the disease. The rape and abuse is out of control with little to no legal or societal consequence. The youngest case reported was one-day old. Young infants are sometimes even being gang raped.

Both victims of child sexual abuse, Michealene Cristini Risley and Betty Makoni unite from two corners of the world to give the girls of Zimbabwe a voice and fight for the safety and rights of the women of this declining country.

Betty Makoni, native of Zimbabwe, rape survivor, and renowned child rights activist, has been a vital source of hope and support for these girls. Through her non-profit, Girl Child Network (GCN), she and her staff provide food, shelter, and a chance for girls to further their education and interests. It is groups like hers that give hope and a continued future to these girls.

During the filming of this documentary, the filmmaker and her crew were interrogated, arrested, and deported. The crew refused to be silenced and so do the girls of Zimbabwe.

"BULLET THE BLUE SKY"
Nicholas, aka Nicky, a Vegas troublemaker is sent to Sweetwater Correctional, an experimental federal program where the idealistic warden, Sarge, and no nonsense trainer, Rachael, hope to recycle him as a cowboy by breaking wild mustangs. Better with a motorcycle than human beings, Nicky rails against trusting any living thing and soon discovers that being good at something makes up for the damage caused by a mother's death and a father's violence. Suddenly blindsided by the discovery that the mustangs are covertly sold to meat houses instead of families, Nicky stands at the ultimate crossroads: he has one last chance to choose redemption and a new life or break out of prison and become lost in the labyrinth of his old one forever.

Prologue:
There has been a political battle ranging over public lands in the United States between cattle ranchers and all those concerned guardians of wildlife for over thirty years. In the 70’s, thousands of wild mustangs were machine-gunned mercilessly from helicopters to make room for more cattle.

Many breeds were wiped out, endangering the most enduring symbol of our national heritage and the legendary West. In the 80’s, a band-aid called the Wild Mustang Bill was created to stop the killing.

It didn’t work.

BULLET THE BLUE SKY is based on the federal prison ranch program, and a young man who gets a last chance, and is reborn, and re-created in the heat of that ensuing battle. It is a great American story of redemption, of hope and belief in the future.

“THE SWEET SPOT”
(Spring Training and the Branch Rickey Story)

A true story about a group of civic leaders in a small, southern city who were willing to cover up (and possibly commit) a series of hate crimes and murder in order to keep baseball's spring training teams and the dollars that they generated continuing to flow into their city. It also examines how events of that time helped shape the early careers of baseball legends like, Branch Rickey, who went on to integrate baseball decades later with the help of Jackie Robinson. The story sheds light on the all American game in the most un-American time and the behind-the-scenes struggles that took place on and off the field.