NO SUCH SUNRISE

Written, directed, produced, filmed, and edited by Dana Brandes-Simon, Laura (Jingyi) Li, and Cella Wright.

In the spring of 2017, on a small college campus in Ohio, an intoxicated white man threatened multiple students of color with racial slurs and an open blade knife. Although the college and the local court closed the case soon after, finding the man guilty of aggravated menacing, the students involved were left without any personal resolution. Six months after the incident, Laura Li, the student initially threatened, sought closure through the medium of film. “No Such Sunrise” seeks to document this event by illuminating the interwoven memories from that day and the individual attempts to process trauma.

Awards and screenings:

  • CineYouth Film Festival 2019 | Best Overall Film

  • Big Shoulders International Student Film Festival 2020 | Best Documentary Film

  • Chicago International Film Festival 2018 | Special Screening

  • Ohio Shorts Film Festival 2018 | Jury Award

  • Ivy Film Festival 2018 - Official Selection

  • Roxbury International Film Festival 2018 - Official Selection

  • North Dakota Human Rights Film Festival 2019 - Finalist

  • Social World Film Festival 2019 - Semi-Finalist

  • Skidmore MDOCS Sensing Surveillance: Student Exhibition 2018 - Official Selection