Heaven Through the Backdoor
TFI Suppport
TFI Pond5 Program 2019 Fall
Logline
HEAVEN THROUGH THE BACKDOOR is a multi-platform documentary that tells the story of Yo (Yolanda Shae), a fiercely independent 88-year Swiss emigre whose unique brand of individualist feminism culminates in how she chooses to live in old age and ultimately, how she prepares for her next great adventure: death. The project juxtaposes intimate documentary footage with cinematic interpretations of Yo’s stories using intricately built miniature sets and other creations.
Anna Fitch
Director, Producer, Cinematographer
Anna Fitch is an Emmy award-winning director based in San Francisco. Anna’s documentaries have aired on PBS, BBC, National Geographic Channel and Channel4 UK, among others. Most recently she directed Octopus: Making Contact ,which aired on Nature (PBS), Natural World (BBC) in 2019, and co-directed and produced the Peabody and Emmy Award nominated Survivors, which aired on POV (PBS) in the fall of 2018. Anna co-directed the feature documentary, The Genius of Marian (2013), which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and was broadcast on POV in September 2014. Her film BugWorld: War of Two Worlds won an Emmy for Best Documentary Directing in 2003. Her narrative short The Burning Wigs of Sedition (2010) screened at the National Gallery of Art and film festivals worldwide. Anna is currently in production on Heaven Through the Backdoor, a multi-platform documentary about dying that has received support from the Sundance Documentary Fund, SFFILM, the Center for Cultural Innovation, the Creative Work Fund, Pacific Pioneer Fund and the Headlands Center for the Arts. Anna's past work has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Tribeca Film Institute, the MacArthur Foundation, Doc Society, the Catapult Film Fund, The Fledgling Fund and the Bertha Foundation.
Banker White
Co-Director, Producer, Editor, Cinematographer
Banker White is a multi-disciplinary artist and filmmaker based in San Francisco whose work has been celebrated for a uniquely intimate approach to telling large-scale social issues. From war and disease to the complex dimensions that surround aging and death, his work is unified by a compassionate humanism. Banker is the director and producer of the award-winning documentary, The Genius of Marian, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and was broadcast on PBS's award-winning series POV in September 2014. Most recently, he co-directed and produced the Peabody and Emmy Award nominated Survivors (IDFA / POV 2018), which aired on POV in the fall of 2018 and continues to tour the international film festival circuit. Banker also directed Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars (POV 2007). The film was nominated by the IDA for best feature in 2006; won Grand Jury Awards at AFI Fest, Full Frame Film Festival and the Human Rights Watch Film Festival; and earned Audience Awards at SXSW and the Miami International Film Festival. Banker is currently in production on Heaven Through the Backdoor, a multi-platform documentary about dying that has received support from the Sundance Documentary Fund, SFFILM, the Center for Cultural Innovation, the Creative Work Fund, Pacific Pioneer Fund and the Headlands Center for the Arts. His work has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, the MacArthur Foundation, the Tribeca Film Institute, Impact Partners, LEF, DocSociety, SFFILM, the Catapult Film Fund and the Fledgling Fund. Banker also founded the WeOwnTV Freetown Media Center, a collaborative filmmaking and storytelling project in Sierra Leone, which is supported by Creative Capital, Freedom to Create, The Bertha Foundation, and BAVC.
Sara Dosa
Producer
Sara Dosa is an Indie-Spirit Award nominated documentary director and a Peabody Award-winning producer. As a producer, she recently produced the Peabody and Emmy nominated SURVIVORS about Ebola in Sierra Leone (2018 IDFA / POV); co-produced AN INCONVENIENT SEQUEL: TRUTH TO POWER (2017 Sundance / Paramount) and THE EDGE OF DEMOCRACY (2019 Sundance / Netflix); and, produced Peabody award-winning AUDRIE & DAISY (2016 Sundance / Netflix Originals). Dosa also produced the VR piece MELTING ICE (Sundance 2016) as well as the short film BORDER PATROL BODY SLAM for NY Times OpDocs in 2013. Her first feature as a director, THE LAST SEASON, which tells the story of two former soldiers turned wild mushroom hunters, made its World Premiere at SFIFF 2014, taking home a Golden Gate Award, and was nominated for the Indie Spirit “Truer than Fiction Award.” Most recently, Dosa directed an Emmy nominated episode of the Netflix music docu-series REMASTERED about Johnny Cash's 1970 concert for Richard Nixon; and recently premiered her third feature as a director THE SEER & THE UNSEEN at the 2019 San Francisco International Film Festival where the film won the McBaine Bay Area Documentary Prize. THE SEER & THE UNSEEN was called “Captivating, strong and surprising” by The Hollywood Reporter and “Elegant, deft and inquisitive” by Variety, and “Sublime” by The Playlist. The film went onto its International Premiere at Hot Docs and is touring the international festival circuit. In 2018, DOC NYC named Dosa to the inaugural “40 under 40” class of documentary filmmakers to watch and was also named to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Documentary Branch. She graduated from Wesleyan University holds a joint Masters in Anthropology and International Development Economics from the London School of Economics & Political Science.