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Fourth Annual Festival

I Promise Africa

02:40 min
Public Service Announcement
Director: Jerry Henry
Producer: Jerry Henry

Winner of the Jury Award
Sponsored by National Film Network

FILMMAKER BIOS

Jerry A. Henry, Director/Producer

In August 1999 Jerry A. Henry was selected as one of 6 aspiring young filmmakers to serve as a unit director/videographer on the PBS documentary series Senior Year. He spent a year documenting the lives of 3 senior high school students at Fairfax High School in Los Angeles. The 13-part series aired on PBS in 2001 and was critically acclaimed. Immediately after completing the series he returned to the University of California’s prestigious MFA Production Program and completed his third year with an emphasis on digital media and cinematography. BRAVO Networks employed his talents again for the second season of the hit reality series The It Factor. He served as Unit Director/ Cinematographer for 11 months for the 13 part reality series that follows 9 actors living in Los Angeles. The series goes behind the scenes as actors audition for film and TV roles. During Sept of 2001, Jerry was commissioned by the organization Urgent Africa to complete a documentary on the opening of the NIA Health and Resource Center in the rural village of Majiwa in Kenya, Africa. This clinic was built to facilitate the health care of orphans with HIV/AIDS in this rural community. While he was there he lived with and documented the lives of a tribe of Moran warriors living in Samburu, Kenya. He is currently serving as cinematographer for the independent documentary The Grace Lee Project. This film is a poignant look at the lives of women named Grace Lee and is a humorous yet critical exploration of what it means to be a contemporary Asian female in America. In November 2002, Jerry traveled to Sao Paulo, Brazil to shoot the upcoming film BRAZILIANTIME. This documentary is a visual essay that combines modern hip hop turntablism, jazz instrumentation and traditional Brazilian percussion together on one stage. He is currently working as a videographer for Peter Jennings at ABC on a documentary that is covering the first year of the LAPD police Chief Bratton and a documentary series entitled USC Medical for Discovery Channel Health. You can reach him at djbisko@hotmail.com.