This film is available for the run of the festival starting the day of Thanksgiving 2021. To watch or to vote for this film please click on the orange “TICKETS” button below and purchase a ticket for BLOCK 11. You also have the option to buy the Movie Buff Pass to watch all the films of the festival until December 15, 2021.
Synopsis
Dulce Brassea faces a nightmare come to life as she discovers she has Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and that her body will inevitably degenerate. She amongst others with MS must fight through the menacing darkness and mystery of the disease to rediscover how to live a meaningful life.
Born in Venezuela and raised in South Florida, Melanie is a director and filmmaker that merges social impact with poetry, magical realism and light. She has worked on commercials, music videos, documentaries and short series– not limited by the medium to create stories that shift culture.
Melanie is a Ryan Murphy Half Initiative Mentee and a two-time Directors Guild of America Award recipient for her films ‘South Arcadia St.’ and ‘STAND’. Her work has been featured on attn:, BET, Billboard and Refinery29. She recently edited ‘Raising Our Collective Strength’, a docuseries about the Black Church’s role in the liberation movement.
In 2020 she has been an organizer for Street Dance Activism and their Global Dance Meditation for Black Liberation and served as the chair of the Human Rights committee for Young Entertainment Activists. She also produced the Hollywood Digital Climate Summit and other digital live events with The Center for Cultural Power and 5050by2020.
Melanie has worked as an assistant editor for Mark Harris’ ‘Breaking Point: The War for Democracy in Ukraine’, Jack White’s PBS/BBC docuseries “American Epic”, Paola DiFlorio’s ‘Awake: The Life of Yogananda’, Janice Engel’s ‘Raise Hell: The Life and Times of Molly Ivins’, and Sara Terry’s upcoming documentary film, ‘A Decent Home’.
Melanie completed her MFA at the University of Southern California in Film and Television Production.
Medical research and magical realism horror do not tend to be coupled together, but upon learning that Latinos are an underserved community in Multiple Sclerosis, often being diagnosed 3 years later than their counterparts with little content and media made for them, as well as how dire the experience of M.S. is for an individual, I felt an opportunity for us to delve into the darkness of the condition in order to find the light within it.
During the months of research preceding the production of “Dentro de Mi”, I met many latinos with Multiple Sclerosis, and learned how they processed/persevered through this intense diagnosis and treatment afterwards.
What I did not expect to hear while meeting with them was the unanimous darkness and heaviness they constantly felt about the diagnosis; a heaviness that made them ashamed. This heaviness comes from the fact that their bodies will degenerate. The only variables left in question are how and when it will degenerate.
For those diagnosed with MS for the first time, and their families, it can be a frightening and disorienting time. In the Hispanic community, particularly it can be much more daunting, as there is little media developed for Latinos. Even amongst neurologists in America, MS is still misperceived as a “Caucasian Disease”.
I found this film to be a balance of staying honest to this darkness they feel while still offering a sense of hope. I wanted it to be rooted in what it feels like to go through the MS journey and for it to be told in they style of traditional South American folklore, which is often rooted in mystery and horror. Though MS can seem daunting, it is important to show that being proactive can transform the trajectory of the disease.
It is exciting to be challenged to translate medicine into art, research and technicalities into human emotion. Through this connection, the complexities of MS can be more palatable and universal.
While spending time with these brave five individuals who told their story in this film, I was moved to the higher message they all taught—that in the heaviest and most confusing of times in life, you can find the light and strength within.
I am so grateful to have been able to work on this project. May it bring understanding to this notoriously “mysterious” disease.
With much love,
Melanie
