The 33rd edition of the Arizona International Film Festival opens this week. The state’s longest-running festival will present 107 films from 21 countries and feature multiple faculty and alumni filmmakers from the School of Theatre, Film & Television (TFTV).
Film & Television instructor and award-winning filmmaker David Wing will serve as the festival’s Honorary Chair. Crossing the Desert, a dramedy short by alum Reena Dutt (’98) will premiere on April 5. And making its Arizona premiere that same day is The Kids are Not Alright, the award-winning documentary feature by director and editor Mikaela Shwer (’04).
In a career spanning 15 years, Mikaela has worked on projects for PBS, HBO, Netflix, Hulu, and Apple TV. Her debut feature documentary, Don’t Tell Anyone/No Le Digas a Nadie (PBS), earned a Peabody Award. She worked as an editor, writer, and co-producer on the documentary series Allen v. Farrow (HBO) for which she was honored with 2 Emmy nominations. Other recent editing work includes the Netflix documentary series Harry & Meghan and the documentary series Last Call (HBO), released to critical acclaim in 2023. TFTV recently caught up with Mikaela.
Prior to its upcoming screening at AZIFF, The Kids Are Not Alright made its World Premiere at Dances with Films in New York and is slated to screen at numerous festivals around the country. What does it mean for you to bring the film to Tucson, home of your alma mater?
We were so thrilled to have our World Premiere at Dances with Films in New York. One of the troubled teen programs featured in the film, the Family Foundation School (FFS), is based in New York, and we spent nine years filming with Liz Ianelli and other program survivors in the area. So it was very special to be able to invite survivors to attend the premiere in New York.
Bringing it to my home state of Arizona and particularly to Tucson, where I was first introduced to the art of film and the field of journalism through my time at the University of Arizona, is particularly special and full circle. Tucson is also where I began my work in editing. While attending U of A, I interned at KVOA, and I got to edit some local sports segments – tape to tape back then! Editing college basketball became crucial to starting my documentary career. When I moved to New York, I made money editing college basketball during the day so that I could intern and assistant edit at my first documentary jobs. I’m very grateful for all of my experiences in Tucson that have led me to where I am today.
The Kids Are Not Alright is an intimate portrait of trauma as three families work to shed light on the devastating impacts of abuse suffered at the hands of the Troubled Teen Industry, an unregulated network of for-profit institutions claiming to fix wayward teenagers. How did you first learn about the families’ devastating circumstances and what compelled you to bring their stories to the screen?
I grew up in Phoenix, and while in high school I knew of kids who were sent away to these programs. We would hear stories about them being shipped far away for ambiguous treatment because they were “bad kids.” Tragically, they didn’t all come home. Aaron Bacon, a teen from my high school, died horrifically in a wilderness program in 1994 and I remember the devastating news stories at the time. I didn’t think much more about the industry for about 20 years, but then in 2015 I was researching a different project and I read Maia Szalavitz’s book Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids. She covered Aaron’s story in detail, and I felt myself pulled back to this topic.
I became aware of the abusive tactics used in these programs in the name of tough love treatment, and the devastating impact these places have on the children and the families who experience them. I learned that many program survivors deal with PTSD and the suicide rate among this community is alarmingly high. In my first interview with Maia Szalavitz, she told me about the suicide of troubled teen survivor and activist Jon Martin-Crawford and put me in touch with his close friend and fellow FFS survivor, Liz Ianelli. I knew that this story was important to share. Liz was determined to pick up Jon’s activism work and we followed her on her incredible journey forward over the years.
Due to past portrayals in the media, the public tends to see one program as a bad apple instead of a bad system, so for me it was important that the film depicted multiple stories from within the industry. Through reaching out to various survivors, I met Cadilina and Cynthia. Cadilina’s story shares similarities to Liz’s story, but she endured unique trauma as a trans woman. Cynthia’s daughter Erica died during her time at a wilderness therapy program, and I felt that her story would help to provide a different perspective in the film. We’re so grateful to every survivor who shared their experiences with us.
The film won the Audience Choice Award for Best Documentary Feature at Dances with Films – a testament to the power of your storytelling. Have you spoken with audience members after the screening? What kind of feedback have you received? What can audiences expect?
Thank you so much for the kind words! We’ve had a great response from audience members so far and I think some of the takeaways depend on your experience coming into the film. For survivors, the main takeaway has been feeling heard and seen – for decades, many survivors have had their accounts dismissed as exaggerations or fabrications and had a hard time feeling heard by family members, therapists, and the community at large. Lack of accountability has been a huge issue. Liz’s story is one of the few stories in which people are held accountable, and we hope that survivors see that some form of justice is possible, even years later.
For families viewing the film, the takeaway has been to encourage discussions – both for families who have been through this experience and families who might be thinking of sending a child somewhere. Ultimately, we are hoping to take the film around the country to engage survivors, families, lawyers, therapists, and legislators in meaningful discussions to prevent more of these experiences from occurring.
Your editing career encompasses a wide range of award-winning work in non-fiction, including the Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan, the story of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s courtship and exit from royal life, which was viewed by more than 97 million households in the first 7 days of its release and holds the record for the biggest debut of a Netflix documentary. When you were working on the first episode, did you sense that it was going to have such a seismic impact?
I certainly knew that the series would reach a wide audience, but as someone who hadn’t fully kept up with the intricate parts of the story and so much of the controversy before joining the project, I can say I wasn’t anticipating how large the response to the film would be. Once I was into the edit more and started to learn how passionate people were on many different sides of this story, I began to understand that the series would take on a life of its own.
And finally, a question we love to ask our alumni: what did you learn at TFTV that you value to this day?
I think the entire program really inspired me at a crucial time in deciding what I would pursue as a career. I started my freshman year as part of a smaller international studies program but that eventually closed and I somewhat scrambled to think through what program to join. I had always been drawn to photography, but I loved montage work as well and that inspired me to look at the Media Arts program. After joining the Media Arts program (now TFTV) it really opened my mind as to the many ways to tell stories. I also think being a part of a program with so many creative students exploring the field was just incredible. I had never thought of all of the different aspects of filmmaking and the incredible faculty sharing their real-life experiences in the industry was invaluable. I loved being able to learn and participate in different parts of the industry – and even though I found my way back to editing, I loved getting to explore the writing, theory, and production aspects of the field.