Joe Brewster, M.D. is an American psychiatrist and filmmaker who
directs and produces fiction films, documentaries and new media
focused on the experiences of communities of color.A native of South
Central Los Angeles, Joe Brewster graduated from Crenshaw High School
and received a B.A. in Biology from Stanford University. Brewster went
on to Harvard Medical School, where he received his medical degree in
1978 and completed his residency in psychiatry and neurology at McLean
Hospital in 1982. After completion of a fellowship in Institutional
analysis, the systematic study of people’s collective behaviors in
institutions, with Dr. Ries Vanderpol, Brewster enrolled in the
documentary production program at the New School for Social Research
in New York City with a goal to use his documentary film to positively
impact institutional behavior.Brewster wrote and directed his feature
film debut The Keeper in 1996, a psychological thriller rooted in his
experiences working as a psychiatrist with prisoners and correctional
officers at the Brooklyn House of Detention. The Keeper debuted at the
Sundance Film Festival and Brewster was nominated for an Independent
Spirit Award in the Someone to Watch Award category. Brewster’s
follow up to The Keeper, The Killing Zone, was inspired by a year he
spent working on a Mobile Crisis Team in Harlem, New York.With partner
Michèle Stephenson he founded the Rada Film Group with a mission: to
tell stories about communities that have been neglected by the
mainstream media and contribute to the American narrative mosaic.
Together, while raising a family in Brooklyn, New York, Brewster and
Stephenson have directed and produced documentary and fiction films.
In 2008, they directed Slaying Goliath, a documentary that follows 10
days in the life of their son's fifth grade basketball team from
Harlem, New York as they experience culture clash at a national
tournament in suburban Florida. Brewster and Stephenson also produced
and directed Faces of Change, which follows five activists on five
continents fighting racism in their communities.
directs and produces fiction films, documentaries and new media
focused on the experiences of communities of color.A native of South
Central Los Angeles, Joe Brewster graduated from Crenshaw High School
and received a B.A. in Biology from Stanford University. Brewster went
on to Harvard Medical School, where he received his medical degree in
1978 and completed his residency in psychiatry and neurology at McLean
Hospital in 1982. After completion of a fellowship in Institutional
analysis, the systematic study of people’s collective behaviors in
institutions, with Dr. Ries Vanderpol, Brewster enrolled in the
documentary production program at the New School for Social Research
in New York City with a goal to use his documentary film to positively
impact institutional behavior.Brewster wrote and directed his feature
film debut The Keeper in 1996, a psychological thriller rooted in his
experiences working as a psychiatrist with prisoners and correctional
officers at the Brooklyn House of Detention. The Keeper debuted at the
Sundance Film Festival and Brewster was nominated for an Independent
Spirit Award in the Someone to Watch Award category. Brewster’s
follow up to The Keeper, The Killing Zone, was inspired by a year he
spent working on a Mobile Crisis Team in Harlem, New York.With partner
Michèle Stephenson he founded the Rada Film Group with a mission: to
tell stories about communities that have been neglected by the
mainstream media and contribute to the American narrative mosaic.
Together, while raising a family in Brooklyn, New York, Brewster and
Stephenson have directed and produced documentary and fiction films.
In 2008, they directed Slaying Goliath, a documentary that follows 10
days in the life of their son's fifth grade basketball team from
Harlem, New York as they experience culture clash at a national
tournament in suburban Florida. Brewster and Stephenson also produced
and directed Faces of Change, which follows five activists on five
continents fighting racism in their communities.
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