Director's Statement
Growing up in a low-class neighborhood, the second youngest girl in a family of boys, I had to learn early on how to hold my own. I remember the beauty and fun of my old hometown, but I also remember the dangers too. I always felt as though I had to learn how to defend myself because of the threat of dangerous situations.
As a young girl, I didn’t know what opportunities awaited me outside of my small community. But the lessons I learned there would help me take hold of them. As a filmmaker, I yearn to bring those lessons to the big screen and make films that represent the community and home I remember in a way that champions its complexity and authenticity.
This is why I wanted to create Cherry Lemonade –a story about a young girl learning how to hold her own in a world that contains tough (and sometimes violent) men, even when those men present themselves as her protectors.
