MEET THE FILMMAKERS
GAYLE NOSAL
Executive Producer • Director • Videographer
BERET E. STRONG
Producer • Director • Videographer
JOHN TWEEDY
Editor • Videographer
ZOE LYTTLE
Lead Animator
Since entering the field of documentary filmmaking in 2012, Gayle has directed and produced award-winning films about young women refugees in Uganda, a community living off the grid on a wolf refuge in southern Colorado, and a re-entry program for women and men who were previously incarcerated. She co-founded Needle&Frame, a filmmaking and arts collective that builds solidarity, unites communities and inspires courageous action toward positive social transformation. The most recent project is Stronger than Coffee (Más que un Café), a series of short documentary participatory films written, directed and filmed by smallholder women coffee producers in Costa Rica.
Between 2020- 2021 Gayle created RELISH | relinquish, a collaborative, multimedia, interpretive exhibit focused on one woman’s experience living with late-stage Alzheimer’s dementia, installed and exhibited at the Dana L. Wiley Gallery in Dayton, OH.
Beret E. Strong, Ph.D., M.F.A., has been making documentary films since 1995 with John Tweedy, with whom she owns Landlocked Films. She has been collaborating with Gayle Nosal and Nee Nee Productions since 2014. Her films have shown on PBS stations across the U.S. and Canada, and won CINE Golden Eagles, the National Association of Film and Digital Media Artists' Insight Award for Excellence, and a nomination for an IDA/ABC News Videosource Award.
Beret's films have screened at many festivals, including Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, Yamagata International Film Festival, the Boulder International Film Festival, Denver International Film Festival, and the Pan African Film Festival. Her and John Tweedy's most recent film, This is [Not] Who We Are, is about the history of Boulder, Colorado and the experiences of its resilient Black community. Beret is also a researcher, writer, and educator.
John has been directing, producing, and editing films with Beret E. Strong and Landlocked Films since 1995. He directed Streams of Gold, about gold mining in an Ecuadorean valley over a 100-year span, broadcast nationally on Free Speech TV; Penny and Red, about Penny Chenery and the thoroughbred racehorse Secretariat, broadcast on PBS stations nationwide; and edited most of Landlocked Films’ other prize-winning documentaries. His filmography includes work on climate science, law and equity issues, cultural competency, disability, and education. John is also a lawyer, mediator and writer.
Zoe Lyttle (she/they), originally from the Nashville, Tennessee area, is a New York City-based animator and filmmaker. Their debut film, Shots, has made them a student Academy Awards finalist and an international award-winning filmmaker and animator. Currently, they are working as a full-time animator and artist, primarily focusing on educational non-fiction and documentary work. Using the art of animation, they love to focus on real human issues and stories, and they want their work to speak as an extension of what they care about. To see their work, please visit https://www.ossizoe-art.com/
DIRECTORS' STATEMENTS
I believe in a media landscape that is inclusive, just, and ethical, centering community wisdom and intention to create films and other artforms that educate, entertain, and inspire. In 2015, as a volunteer for a dance program at LaVista Correctional Center for Women in Pueblo, CO, I met Cassy. Cassy’s determination to explore how movement can support emotional release, and her expressed desire to create a new way of being, was palpable and dynamic. When Cassy left LVCC, our paths crossed through dance and I was inspired to know more about what life after incarceration would be for Cassy. I wondered: what caused her substance abuse and spiral into prison; what would it take for Cassy to become and remain substance free; would she be able to return to her family and re-new her commitment to the future she envisioned? Cassy decided to co-create a film about her experience with substance abuse, trauma, the justice system and re-entry from prison. Her family, always supportive of Cassy, told their stories too. Whether it’s love, support, self-acceptance or surrender, making this film reminds me that doing whatever it takes to heal "No Matter What" is a life practice that benefits everyone’s well-being. I hope this film reminds every one of the power of never giving up.
- Gayle Nosal, Director
I care about amplifying people’s voices, social justice and equity, the global community, and the health of our planet. I was moved to collaborate with Gayle Nosal on making No Matter What after meeting Cassy years ago and experiencing how vulnerable, open, and brave she is about sharing her story. I learned about Cassy and her family's efforts to help Cassy recover from life traumas, including drug and alcohol dependency and years of incarceration. I was struck by how in prison, Cassy got to choose between regular prison jobs, such as "dish pit", and intensive, painful therapy that helped her daily "dig a little deeper" into her pain and personal issues so that she could become emotionally healthy and substance-free. It has been a privilege to witness Cassy's recovery and to watch her create her own new nuclear family. That Cassy is now helping other women recover from their traumas by running a re-entry house feels very in keeping with the person Cassy is. Cassy's loving parents are another reason I chose to help make No Matter What; I was moved by their bravery, candor, and loyalty to their daughter. My wish is that No Matter What will encourage individuals and their families, giving them hope for the future.
- Beret E. Strong, Director