enjoying time with Danielle Brooks, whose luminous performance as Lozita in If I Go Will They Miss Me takes the film to a whole new level, after a Film Independent screening of that powerful, deeply moving & inspiring film at Harmony Gold earlier today...LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this breathtaking father-son story about imagination, family, and the grace we extend to the people we love, with a complicated father-son story at its heart that mirrors the messiness of the mother-son story

My compass poem I also performed at tuesday night's @aim4theheartorg heart sessions urban poetry workshop "From false compass to true compass. Next week's Halloween-themed topic is monster. hope u can join us!

having a blast with the deeply moving short film The Birthday Gift's director Arianna Ortiz & producer Rachel Stander & Leo & Jay from Cinelounge, after an FYC screening there Monday night...the film, which is about finding your true name, was deeply resonant for me as a foster kid & adoptee...)...& tonight's Cinelounge FYC screenings featured 2 equally powerful films by Academy Award-nominated writer and director Cyrus Neshvad, the live action short film I Will Be Alright, a

My Forgetting poem I performed at last night's Aim4theHeArt Heart Sessions urban poetry workshop"From Forgetting Love to Forgetting Fear . Next week's Halloween -themed topic is Monster . Hope u can join us!

CanadaDayYearRound Diaries Day 118/DJ Derek's Heavenly Rave Playlist Day 2328/LA Lockdown Diaries Day 2368 (image: hanging out with my dear friends Titan & Lilliana after last night's Aim4theHeArt Heart Sessions poetry/hiphop workshop, where Titan performed a Lakota song & I performed my 2 most recent poems, From Forgetting Love to Forgetting Fear, and From False Compass to True Compass (which I'll be posting later), while next week's Halloween-themed topic will be Monster, t

having fun with Backrooms Producer Kori Adelson & Associate Producer Grant Donghia after Kori bought a copy of my debut memoir Killing Justice after a screening & Q&A for Backrooms at the Pollock Theatre at UCSB this past Saturday...Love this wildly adventurous film, & also love the artist-friendly environment at A24 which producer Kori Adelson & associate producer Grant Donghia talked about at the Q&A

having a blast with Carlos González, who plays Alberto in La Bola Negra...LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this truly transcendent masterpiece, WHICH OPENED FRIDAY, & which features, as does my debut memoir Killing Justice, the struggle to be one's true self, and a journey to try to heal intergenerational trauma in a mother/son relationship through art...Allow the beauty of The Black Ball to transport you to a place where it’s very easy for everyone to be their genuine selves. A place where

enjoying time with Milo Quifes, who plays Carlos in La Bola Negra...LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this truly transcendent masterpiece, WHICH OPENS 2DAY, & which features, as does my debut memoir Killing Justice, the struggle to be one's true self, and a journey to try to heal intergenerational trauma in a mother/son relationship through art...Allow the beauty of The Black Ball to transport you to a place where it’s very easy for everyone to be their genuine selves. A place where everythin

LOVE,, LOVE, LOVE this truly transcendent film!... Enjoying time with Moon Choi after being shattered by her #fearless, #luminous performance in @bedfordparkfilm . I especially loved how it explored the #themes of the parallels between #immigrant and #adoptive #trauma, & of learning to love ourselves through being truly seen & loved by another, both of which are central themes of our #KillingJustice / #OrphanRising project...so I asked Moon if she'd be open to possibly playin

Enjoying time with Sarah Pidgeon, after an FYC screening of episode 8 of Love Story: John F Kennedy, Jr & Carolyn Bessette, after sharing with her how deeply moved I was by her luminous performance as Carolyn, and how I related to her character in feeling like an outsider (in my case from being a foster kid and adoptee), & to JFK, Jr.s abandonment fears, both of which are central themes of my debut memoir Killing Justice...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gw2RakWShdE

enjoying time with my new friend & fellow artiste Al Chang, after a screening of his wonderful short film "Cindy" at the NewFilmmakers Los Angeles monthly film festival yesterday...Cindy is a darkly comic portrayal of the underbelly of the LA night life scene, just as my debut memoir Killing Justice is a darkly comic portrayal of my 10 months in federal prison for my friend's fraud...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fN2tFWT3mJ8

enjoying time with my new friend & fellow foster kid, artiste, & principled rebel Crystal after she got a copy of my debut memoir Killing Justice after last night's screening of Furious at Vidiots

sharing a laugh with Emmy Rossum, who plays the traumatized, complicated FBI agent Alice Black in the new series Furious, who I identified with way more than I wanted to, as a traumatized, complicated lawyer turned writer, after a screening of the premiere episode followed by a Q&A at Vidiots last night...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBSqPDxmNZs

Enjoying time with my fellow healers from the urgent, harrowing, compassionate, and deeply affecting new documentary American Doctor, director Poh Si Teng and subject Dr. Thaer Ahmad...LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this story of courage, compassion & humanity...To see "American Doctor" is to bear witness. To acknowledge that these horrors have happened, are happening. And to collapse the comfortable distance between them and us, Palestine and the U.S....In a landscape where stories from G

In my old life as a lawyer I wanted to be ambassador to Israel & help bring about world peace. In my new life as an artist I believe that films like this one can help move us towards that same goal. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this urgent, harrowing, compassionate, and deeply affecting new documentary, as it's a story of courage, compassion & humanity...To see "American Doctor" is to bear witness. To acknowledge that these horrors have happened, are happening. And to collapse the comfo

poster for La Bola Negra, which I got to enjoy an advance screening of last night courtesy of KCRW...omfg, what an incredible palate cleanse after the darkness of the Musk documentary on Sunday....LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this truly transcendent masterpiece, which features, as does my debut memoir Killing Justice, the struggle to be one's true self, and a journey to try to heal intergenerational trauma in a mother/son relationship through art...Allow the beauty of The Black Ball to t

enjoying a laugh with Musk producer Jessie Deeter after Sunday's screening & Q&A at the AMC Century City...a cautionary tale about one of the ultimate abusers of power on the planet, which is also a central theme of my debut memoir Killing Justice...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFTf1lzcs28

Had a chance to see this must-see doc Sunday afternoon, followed by a great Q&A...GO SEE IT, as it's a cautionary tale about one of the ultimate abusers of power on the planet, which is also a central theme of my debut memoir Killing Justice...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFTf1lzcs28

enjoying time with Sul Kyung-gu, one of the lead actors in Possible Love, a truly transcendent masterpiece, which centers around the ripple effects of trauma, and explicitly pays homage to Kieslowski's Decalogue 10 "Thou Shalt not Covet", as so many of its themes parallel those found in my debut memoir Killing Justice, in particular the trauma of betrayal, after a screening at Harmony Gold last week...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zd3qXH9qN70

grabbing a quick picture with the visionary writer/director of the Cannes Palme D'or winning Fjord, Cristian Mungiu, after last night's screening & Q&A at USC...LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this truly transcendent, darkly comic masterpiece, my new choice for best international feature, narrowly edging out Possible Love, primarily because Fjord is a more challenging film, by humanizing both sides of a very polarizing conflict, whereas Possible Love has more clearly defined heroes & villai