Blog

Two Important Films in Support of Reproductive Justice

September 20, 2021
As the volatile and deeply personal issue of abortion becomes headline news yet again, New Day Films reaffirms its support for women, trans, and non-binary people in their struggle for sexual freedom and reproductive justice. “The Court’s order is stunning. Presented with an application to enjoin a flagrantly unconstitutional law engineered to prohibit women from exercising their constitutional rights and evade judicial scrutiny, a majority of Justices have opted to bury their heads in the sand.” 

Care for All: Films Promoting Health Equity

September 18, 2021
The elastic band from one of my many facemasks is finally stretched out beyond repair. After eighteen months of wearing this mask to protect myself and others from the COVID-19 virus, it is time to finally discard this faded and worn, but familiar accessory to my everyday wardrobe. I have been fully vaccinated for six months, and with the privilege of my expanded freedom comes the stark reality of the many who are not so fortunate.

Meet New Day: Joe Phelps and Rosemary Smith

September 18, 2021
We began working together in 2018. I (Joe) spent early years in the music industry as a drummer and band leader, but later started a marketing company centered on a team-based structure and integrated marketing communications. In 2015 I launched the Getting Better Foundation, which focused on supporting media literacy education in schools and legislative efforts, building trust and resilience, and reducing polarization and racism. The film, TRUST ME, was a clear next step in our mission. 
A shiny multi-colored academy award statute with the text: 2021 New Academy Members #WeAreTheAcademy

Congrats Rodney Evans and Alice Elliott for Being Inducted into the Academy

July 8, 2021
Special congrats to our very own Rodney Evans and Alice Elliott for being added to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as new members in 2021. We're so proud of them for achieving one of the highest honors as filmmakers. Learn more about the 2021 Inductees to the Academy here.
In this black and white photo from the 1980s, five teens and children of various races sit on playground equipment smiling on a bright summer’s day.

Mother's Day

May 4, 2021
Mother’s Day was first conceived in the 1850s when Ann Reeves Jarvis, a social activist and community organizer, put together “Mother’s Day Work Clubs” to provide assistance and education to reduce disease and infant mortality. At around the same time, Julia Ward Howe, another activist, as well as abolitionist and suffragette, wrote the Mother’s Day Proclamation - a call to action for mothers to work toward world peace. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a measure officially establishing the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.
New Day husband and wife filmmaking team Baldwin Chiu and Larissa Lam look directly in the camera smiling softly. Larissa is wearing a leather jacket and has her arm on Baldwin’s shoulder. He is wearing a black shirt with writing on it. They are bathed in red lighting.

Meet New Day: Baldwin Chiu and Larissa Lam

April 30, 2021
We are a Chinese American husband-wife filmmaking team from California who are passionate about empowering and educating others through film. We are actively working to broaden the way American history is taught and discussed so that it is more inclusive of the Asian American experience and other underrepresented groups. Prior to becoming a film director, I (Larissa) worked in the music industry for 20 years as a singer-songwriter and composer for projects like The Oprah Winfrey Show.
A middle-aged Japanese-American couple hold hands and dance in their living room. Their faces are lit with smiles as they face the camera, arms extended

AAPI Heritage Month 2021: Words Matter

April 28, 2021
My father grew up in a rural American community with scorching hot summers, wide open fields and spectacular sunsets, which left a fleeting glow on the swaying tule reeds of the near-by river.  Despite the challenges of being poor and having immigrant parents who spoke little English, there was reason for optimism as he looked forward to the rite of passage of his approaching high school graduation. Then on December 7th 1941, a country that he had never visited, but shared ancestral ties with, bombed Pearl Harbor and the United States entered World War II.
In this black and white still from the film, a female firefighter is fully geared up in a heavy coat, gloves and helmet as she races at the scene of a fire. She wears an oxygen tank on her back and looks out towards the distance, with determination on her face.

Women’s History Month

February 26, 2021
March is Women’s History Month. It is a time to recognize the struggles, celebrate the achievements, and encourage the study of the vital (and often unacknowledged) role of women in US History.Taking the Heat, a film by Bann Roy, tells the courageous story of one woman who took on the New York City Fire Department in a landmark lawsuit and paved the way for women to become firefighters for the first time.
In this empty theatre, we see rows of velvet chairs and an out-of-focus stage.

The Envelope Please...

February 26, 2021
With apologies to Alfred Tennyson: In the Spring, a young filmmaker’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of… awards. Yes, ‘tis the season of the Academy Awards, with nominations to be announced late March and the televised extravaganza a month later. 
Two black and white headshots are joined together. On the left, Filmmaker Olga Lvoff looks up at the camera with a slight smile. On the right, Filmmaker Victor Ilyukhin looks at the camera, his hand resting on his chin.

Meet New Day: Olga Lvoff and Victor Ilyukin

February 26, 2021
We (Olga Lvoff and Victor Ilyukhin) have been friends for many years.  We met in college in Moscow and then found ourselves at the same graduate school in the United States. We share the same interests and have a mutual understanding of an artistic and ethical approach to documentary filmmaking. So, we came together to make our first collaboration on an important and often misunderstood mental condition, dissociative identity disorder (DID).

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