Available screening types
Virtual
On-demand
In-person
Available until
Apr 02, 2029
Speakers Available
Available in
Worldwide
About the film
LOGLINE: An Optometrist opens her first clinic in the under-served area of Staten Island, New York. A newly released felon asks for a job. After some polishing up, they grow the clinic to 20,000 patients but a sudden “people, places and things” incident threatens to destroy all that they have worked for. SYNOPSIS: With only “five files and my faith,” Dr. Carolyn Powell opened her first private optical clinic practice in Stapleton, an under-served and dangerous area of Staten Island, New York. A young man showed up at her door looking for work, saying that he had training in optics. She knew from the certificate that the training was from prison but he swore that “I will be nothing but an asset for you.” And with that, she took a chance on him. Bryant Pearson had been a notorious drug dealer from the Stapleton Projects but with Doc as his mentor, he began to dare to dream the unthinkable – to become a professional. While working at the clinic, he enrolls at the City Tech CUNY School of Optometry, living his motto “All I See is the Future.” Together they grow the business with great success until he ends up in the wrong place, at the wrong time. With everything at stake, Bryant has to face one last binding tie to his past, so that his future vision can come to fruition.
Genre
Documentary
Runtime
0h 14m
Released
2020
Director
Nancy Dionne
Producer
Nancy Dionne
Crew
Braulio Jatar, Xiaoxiao Chen, Julia Cheng Zhu, Mariko Ide, Katerina Olkhovaya
Cast
Bryant E. Pearson, Dr. Carolyn Powell
Awards & recognition
Just Trust Org
$75,000 Grant for Impact Campaign
2022 Telly Award
Silver Telly Award
Montreal International Black Film Festival
2020 Audience Award Winner for Best Short Documentary
New York Women in Film and Television Online Shorts Festival
2019 First Place Best Documentary Short
Canada Shorts Film Festival
2019 Winner of Best Documentary
Crested Butte Film Festival
Special Jury Prize for Achievement in Social Impact and Activism
What people are saying
‘The documentary explores the hardships experienced by Pearson and his commitment to being an optometrist despite the stigma society holds against people who have been incarcerated. One of the primary messages of the film is that we must destigmatize the formerly incarcerated and see them as people worth a second chance. The theme of resilience was also prevalent. Pearson mentioned that despite being the face of the documentary, the documentary is not for him. Rather, it is for the world to see the harm of labeling people as “criminals” and denying them opportunities.Powell explained that one of the reasons she was able to hire Pearson was because her practice lacked any official HR department, many of which, she noted, dismiss all criminals outright because many HR departments are not trained to properly analyze criminal records. Yet a criminal record is not a negative thing. Recommended for recommended for who want to engage topics like grace, redemption and mass incarceration.‘
Colin Farmer
Redemption requires opportunity: A review of “All I See is the Future”