Every Day After
Interview with the Filmmaker
Film Screening & Ticket Information
When & Where to See this Film!
SURVIVAL: 6 films about digging deep and getting through it.
April 25, 2024 @ 7:00PM • Kaufman Astoria Studios – Zukor Theatre
Film Bloc Line Up:
View the Trailer
Synopsis
Growing up in Masbate Province, the Philippines, Jary is neglected and shunned since the moment of his birth for one reason — his appearance.
His older sister Jessa protects Jary through his early years, then takes him in as a young teen to raise him alongside her own two children in a fragile house on a hill. Jessa seeks the medical care Jary has been denied since birth. And more, the support to begin his physical and emotional recovery.
“Every Day After” provides a more nuanced look at the complexities of the healing process we don’t often see. And honors the invisible labor of a sister whose love and action makes it possible for Jary to experience the everyday joys and struggles of growing up.
Credits
Elisa Gambino, Director, Wasteland, Welcome to Pine Lake, Help Us Find Sunil Tripathi, A Love Song for Latasha (Executive Producer), Quilt Fever (Executive Producer)
Neal Broffman, Filmed and Edited by Help Us Find Sunil Tripathi, Welcome to Pine Lake, Wasteland, No Ordinary Life, Hot Spots: Martin Parr in the American South
Dave A. Liu, Executive Producer
Patrick Kirst, Music byThe Kissing Booth, The Kissing Booth 2
Elisa Gambino, Produced by
Neal Broffman, Produced by
Elaine Jose Bobadilla, Producer
Miranda Kahn, Animation, Shadow Life
Alex Altman, Sound Mixer
Woody Woodhall, Audio Post
Director Statement
After more than two decades documenting stories about health inequity around the world, my partner, Neal, and I wanted to make a film that celebrates the kind of stories we often witness, but that are rarely told.
We’ve all seen the stories about life-changing care. The magical before and after photos and footage. But so often, the real stories of patients, families, and communities are lost in place of saviorism and happy-ever-afters.
Through our film, we shed light on the daily challenges faced by those with cleft lip and palate, but we also celebrate their lives. Unlike other films which may take viewers down a path of sorrow, we showcase the resilience, struggles, and triumphs of Jary and his caring sister, Jessa. We highlight the power of sibling love to face challenges of health, poverty and prejudice.
“Every Day After” is about the love between a sister and brother. But the film also shows the positive impact of well-funded, community-based healthcare and the possibilities that arise when people can access it. We also hope that this film serves as an example of the power of single-camera observational documentary filmmaking.
(Elisa Gambino, Director)
As a cleft-affected person, I believe that our film is critical to changing the narrative about our community and all people with facial differences. Cleft lip and palate is one of the most common birth defects, affecting one in every 700 children worldwide. Yet, it is still a subject that is often ignored or mischaracterized by the media.
In fact, even in this day and age, cleft affected people are still being used in the TV and film industry as a negative trope to explain why someone becomes a social pariah or even a serial killer. This narrative has a very damaging effect on anyone with a facial difference because it gives the impression that anyone with such a difference is condemned to a life of ridicule, ostracism, or pity.
We hope to educate and raise awareness about this condition, dispelling myths and stereotypes, and promoting understanding and empathy towards those who live with it. By giving a voice to those who continue to be marginalized, we aim to create a more inclusive and compassionate society. This is why I am so excited to be part of the Every Day After team.
Ultimately, we believe that this film has the power to make a difference, to inspire change, and to break down barriers. We hope that it will not only entertain but also educate, enlighten, and enrich the lives of its viewers. We hope you enjoy the film!
(David A. Liu, Executive Producer)
Director Biography
Emmy®-award winning producer and director Elisa Gambino brings her journalist’s eye to capturing stories that matter. In 2022, she directed Wasteland, a CBS News docuseries for Paramount+ that examines the disastrous, and very personal, impacts of wastewater on four American communities. Just a few months after it debuted, Wasteland prompted the largest environmental justice grant in the history of New York State.
As a director, Elisa made her feature-length documentary debut in 2020 with “Welcome to Pine Lake”. The story of a small Georgia town whose self-proclaimed progressive values hide a darker truth, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution hailed it as “a scathing indictment of the privilege of obliviousness when it comes to class and race.” Elisa has been the executive producer of more than a dozen documentary shorts including the 2021 Oscar®-nominated “A Love Song for Latasha”.
Elisa brings to bear an extraordinary journalistic foundation to her film productions. Based first in Rome and then Moscow, Elisa spent her early career chronicling world events. From the fall of the Berlin Wall to the Gulf War in 1990, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the wars in the former Yugoslavia and Somalia, Elisa was there. Her work in Somalia was recognized with a News and Documentary Emmy Award. She interviewed Nelson Mandela, Yasser Arafat, refugees in Bosnia, war criminals in Serbia and South Africans celebrating their first free vote.
