Author: A.C. Brooke
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The Paper Birds Official Trailer Is Here!
Crossing the Finish Line At long last, the official trailer for Paper Birds is here! I want to start by giving a huge thanks to Jordan Graff, my editor, for putting this together. As you may know, this thing has been nearly half a decade in the making, and that’s if you don’t count its origin in…
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The Fear of Coming Forward: A Never-Before-Seen Clip of Paper Birds
Honoring All Parts of the Journey A short never before seen excerpt from my documentary, Paper Birds! Thought I would share in honor of recently watching an updated cut from my editor. Just a few notes regarding colorgrading and I think that might be a wrap! A little interesting fact, which I’ll relay through a…
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Off to Raleigh for National Mental Health Conference
The Grand Premiere of Silent War is Here! Headed off to North Carolina tomorrow for UCA WAVES’ conference, Roots & Resilience: The Power of Data & Stories to Advance AAPI Youth Mental Health. This event has been months in the making, and brings together talented, passionate people from across the country. There, we’ll also be…
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Highlighting Men’s Mental Health During Suicide Prevention Month
Giving Hope A Face In honor of National Suicide Prevention Month, I wanted to repost a story I did back in September of 2023 during my time at Lancaster EMS. One of our drivers, Jeremy, took the digital floor to speak candidly about being a survivor of childhood abuse and his struggles with mental health,…
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A Message for Those Who Feel Helpless in Our Current Climate
Put Your Life Vest On First I wanted to share something that intersects with both Suicide Prevention Month and our current landscape as a country after flying back home on 9/11 in the wake of a very publicized assassination. While abroad, I was lucky enough to connect with people from all over the world. Something…
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Landscapes from Austria!
Environments: Austria at Altitude Some scenes from Innsbruck, Austria last week atop the Nordkette. We were actually ‘stranded’ up there for about an hour or so after a storm blew in, putting the gondola out of service. Time passed quickly though in good company. Always love how foggy scapes look in grayscale. As much fun…
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Silent War Enters the Film Festival Circuit
Wish Us Luck! For the past four years, I’ve served as the Assistant Director to award-winning filmmaker (and my former professor), Changfu Chang’s upcoming film, Silent War: Asian American Reckonings with Mental Health. After years of production, we’ve finally entered the film festival circuit! Last month, we started strong, learning Silent War was selected for…
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New Resource Hub of Wellness Apps, Podcasts & More for People Healing Trauma
Digital Tools to Guide the Way While the documentary, Paper Birds, aims to start a discussion, the hope is for the film’s website to guide viewers’ next steps. The last addition to the resources tab was a master list of book recommendations directly sourced from trauma survivors across a number of online communities. Now, we’re returning…
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A New Photo! (And A Little Story)
A Warm Surprise Alas, a new photo! Probably not as cool as I envisioned it in my head, but this was inspired by a pretty recent moment: I was working in my room late at night on Paper Birds this past weekend, and my mom came into my room unexpectedly and just started running her…
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Film Stills In Honor of PTSD Awareness Month
A Short Reflection June is PTSD Awareness Month. In honor of that, I wanted to share a few stills from my upcoming documentary, Paper Birds. I was 20 when I was officially diagnosed with PTSD after a traumatic memory from childhood resurfaced the summer prior. It took me a year and a half to begin…
A.C. Brooke 