#FF Portraits

Victoria Bouloubasis & Pilar Timpane are local filmmakers, currently collaborating on "The Last Partera," a film about Costa Rican midwives fighting for the right to their own healthcare choices.

"Every film has a wonderful character, or group of characters, at the center of the story. Full Frame is really helping us think about how to create character-driven narratives in our film & draw empathy from our audience."

Marcus Bryant is a Durham native working concessions at his first Full Frame. In 2013, he participated in a joint production between Student U and the Full Frame School of Doc, a free summer filmmaking camp for high school students in Durham.

"I was in this program called Student U. We did a Full Frame documentary on different restaurants in Durham. It was a lot of underground restaurants that you wouldn't really know of. ... I was the microphone man. It was pretty cool!"

Mollie Moses has worked at the Carolina Theatre for many years, with an even longer family history.

In 1978, her parents helped save the theater from demolition. An avid storyteller & lover of theater, her father once spent Christmas Eve repairing the heating system just in time for holiday showings! On your next visit, be sure to stop by the Connie Moses Ballroom, named in honor of her mother's leadership in the venue's preservation & renovation.

A big thank you to the Moses family!

Luke Hicks is from Austin, Texas and attends Duke University, where he studies film and ethics from a theological perspective.


“I think filmmaking gives you the opportunity to be up and close, like face-to-face with someone, to hear their story.”

Chapel Hill filmmaker Olympia Stone screened her short doc "The Original Richard McMahan," a genuine portrait of a miniature artist who connects us with artists across millennia.

"I went down this long road thinking I was making a film about an art savant, and then I found out that Richard had never been formally diagnosed. He doesn’t self-identify that way. It would not have been the right decision for me to force this narrative to make the movie I wanted to make. So it’s figuring out the line between not wanting to be exploitative of his trust, but wanting people to know enough about him to understand. You just want to make sure you do right by them."

Katherine Zhou is a Full Frame Fellow from Pittsburgh, PA, attending Duke University.

"I was shaking. 'Abacus' was so personal because it was a Chinese-American family. I saw my dad in the dad. I saw my mom in the mom. It was just so crazy to see an Asian family portrayed on a documentary screen in such a brutally honest way. It’s not stereotypical or typecasting. It’s just their honest lives. It’s so, so amazing to see them fight for their own rights!”

Between the two of them, Pete Goldberg and Susan Cohen have been in Durham for more than 60 years. This is their third year volunteering for Full Frame.

“The people that come are fascinating. They do come from all walks of life - all different demographics," Susan said. “And they’re so excited, and they’re so into film, they’re so into art, and they’re so amazed about how incredibly interesting Durham is. So it’s great! It’s great to show our city.”

Born and raised in Durham, Allen Williams enjoys exploring his imagination through screenplay, poetry, and songwriting.

“Full Frame brings new life to the city. It’s like a beating heart. It’s not what I remember of Durham. I think Durham made me a tougher person. But, it also brought out my creative side. I’m proud to be an out-of-the-box thinker, proud to be who I am, and I’m blessed.”

Durham filmmaker Nicole Triche screened "All Skate, Everybody Skate," a timeless window on Miss Doris, the septuagenarian owner of a roller-skating rink in Topsail Island, NC.

"Documentaries can make us laugh, make us cry, but hopefully they really make us think, make us more curious. I was curious about Miss Doris, and so in the process I learned what it's like to be a woman in her late 70s, working 7 days a week, at 2 different jobs, and really owning it!"

Adam Jahnke volunteered as manager of the Full Frame plaza team.

"My favorite documentary is 'Salesman.' It's so real and immediate. It takes you back to 1966, and those men... You really feel their desperation and need to sell their Bibles. So documentary absolutely has the potential to affect great change and open people's eyes. Documentaries risk preaching to the converted, but they can always start conversations."

Katherine Neer is from Chapel Hill and has been coming to Full Frame for several years.


“We’re just not exposed to as much of the world as we’d like to be. And for me, as an older person coming, it’s like being a student again...learning about things that I would normally never have a window into.”

Big smiles from four-year volunteer Leslie Shaip as she hugs Jamila Davenport, Hospitality Suite coordinator!

"I always joke that it's summer camp in April because I only see these people once a year at Full Frame. But every year we pick up like it's only been a week, and just...the camaraderie!"

Jeff Neer has been coming to Full Frame on and off for over 8 years. As a social worker, Jeff pays close attention to social justice issues.

“The great thing about documentaries is they help show you that different perspective, so you can see other people’s viewpoints.”

Local photographers Ken & Colin Huth are a dynamic father-son duo!

"We have a pretty nice dance that's second nature now. There's lots of inside jokes and laughter, wedged in around crazy work schedules! At Full Frame, we had that same sort of goofy bond with other volunteers. There we all were, at the last job of the whole festival, and another volunteer pulled us into her maniacal goal of finishing this immense heap of amazing Carolina Theatre popcorn. We ended up roping other photographers - and even some late-arriving guests - into the quest. Silly good times!"

Becky Ward is the Media Content Developer for Runaway, local makers of Full Frame's 20th Anniversary merchandise.

"Full Frame is bringing stories from all over the world that you would never have exposure to in a very intimate and emotionally driven way."

Cameron Spann is a local filmmaker. He volunteered on the photography team at his first Full Frame.

"My inspiration comes from my dreams. I produce sound sometimes, and then I develop a film over the sound. It's more experimental, like just a feeling. I put it out for people to use their imaginations and get whatever they get from it. So it's like free expression and 'free intake' expression."

Claire Collins is a photo & video journalism student at the University of North Carolina.

"My last few projects are about people with disabilities, who also have alternate realities where they are some kind of superhero. It's fascinating to me the way that people think of their own narratives and identities, and how that relates to their physical existence and the way other people perceive them."