Ellie Walton, an award-winning documentary filmmaker and educator, grew up dancing to the electric slide at neighborhood block parties in Washington, D.C. She has committed her life’s work to sharing personal stories of everyday heroes: public housing residents fighting displacement (Chocolate City, 2007), day laborers searching for the American Dream in a Home Depot parking lot (Igual Que Tú, 2009), theatre artists imagining change in schools and prisons (Walk With Me, 2012), teenagers rewriting their future (Fly By Light, 2013). Key to her process is the deep engagement with the community which she is not only documenting but also collaborating with, as she hands over the boom pole, shares the lens, and brings them into the edit room. She makes films because she believes they have the capacity to reveal beauty in surprising places, inspire connection and mutual understanding, and make a better world irresistible.
