Director Statement
Shared joy is one of the most rewarding ways to connect with people. This is what feeds my desire to tell stories and make people laugh. Yet, this connection has been elusive to me since I developed Alopecia—a skin condition that caused me to lose all of my hair by age 13. From then on, I felt separate from the people and world around me. In college, I began using video, especially stop motion, miniatures, puppetry, and animation, as a medium to explore this feeling. I was compelled to utilize anything other than people, like toy robots or broccoli, to connect audiences with characters that look unlike themselves—mimicking my own life experience. A source of inspiration are my two sisters, with whom I have enjoyed creatively collaborating for my whole life. They have been pillars of support throughout this current documentary project, which involves more human characters than any of my other projects, as well as examining a topic that is incredibly personal.
Andrea Alberti
Directors
Andrea Alberti is a videographer, editor, & animator and co-founder of the creative agency, Amelia Street Studio, with her two sisters. She managed the video department producing promotional videos and digital content for clients and internal marketing. Currently, she works at Chicago’s Public Access Station as a Training Coordinator. There, she directs, edits, and co-produces a monthly studio show for Chicago Special Olympics with a crew of 7 special needs athletes. She has worked on small- and large-budget films, including “Captain America: Winter Soldier” and “Kings of Summer,” as an assistant in various departments. She produced and edited the Illinois regional TV series “Crimestoppers/CaseFiles”, a magazine-style true crime show filmed in Gary, IN and South Side Chicago, which still airs on WPWR Chicago. She has screened work at the Akron Film + Pixel Festival and the International Video Art Film Festival. Andrea graduated from Art Institute of Pittsburgh in Digital Media Production focused on Video Art and Documentary.
