Michèle Stephenson

Biography

Michèle Stephenson is an American documentary filmmaker, artist, and author who pulls from her Panamanian and Haitian roots, and experience as a human rights attorney to tell compelling, deeply personal stories that are created by, for, and about communities of color. With spouse Joe Brewster, Stephenson founded the Rada Film Group. While raising a family in Brooklyn, New York, they 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 in Harlem, New York, as they experienced a 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. In 1999, Brewster and Stephenson set out to document the experiences of their son and his best friend at the time both boys entered kindergarten at a private Manhattan prep school up until their upcoming high school graduation in 2012 in the documentary film, American Promise. Their goal was to closely examine the coming of age and school experiences of two middle class…

Directed

1. Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project (2023) — Director
2. American Promise (2013) — Director
3. True North: Canadian Myths and Black Power (2025) — Director
4. Faces of Change (2006) — Director
5. Stateless (2020) — Director
6. Elena (2021) — Director
7. For Our Girls (2021) — Director
8. Slaying Goliath (2008) — Director
9. Coming Home: The Dry Storm (2010) — Director
10. A Conversation with White People on Race (2015) — Director
11. A Conversation with Black Women on Race (2015) — Director
12. A Mother's Dream (2016) — Director
13. Drawn to the Mat (2019) — Director
14. Decolonizing Mental Health (2021) — Director
15. The Changing Same - Episode 1: The Dilemma (2021) — Director
16. Black Girls Play: The Story of Hand Games (2023) — Director
17. The Changing Same (2018) — Director
18. A Conversation With Asian-Americans on Race (2015) — Director
19. A Conversation With Latinos on Race (2015) — Director
20. Paul Robeson Documentary — Director
21. Black Life: Untold Stories (2023) — Director

Also appeared in

1. American Promise (2013) — Self
2. Subject (2023) — Self