Documentary and Trip To Dominican Republic

Hello everyone,

I have been blessed with the opportunity to attend a 3-week summer abroad program in the Dominican Republic with an acclaimed study abroad academy called CIEE. In order to pay for the trip, I am fundraising for a documentary that I will create while I am there, called The Diaspora: For Real.

My goal for the documentary is to represent my experience in the country and provide more visibility into one of the diverse communities of the African diaspora. It will include interviews, first-hand recordings and photos, and voiceovers to provide necessary historical context and information. Once the documentary is complete I will host an official premiere of the film to thank the supporters who made it happen.

I hope you will consider supporting my trip and my broader journey to be a filmmaker by donating.

Thank you much,

P.S. I have included information about my mission as a filmmaker and my hopes for the trip below...

I am Tatiola Sobomehin - a middle-class, Christian, creative, and studious Black girl, who lives in the middle of many communities. I have grown up in the Bay Area, mostly in the city of East Palo Alto, a predominantly Black and Brown neighborhood, literally down the street from Stanford University. I have also grown up traveling away from my community to attend some of the wealthiest schools in the country, where I am often the only Black student in my classes or even the entire grade. Being a part of these worlds has given me a perspective on social class, race, and culture that I want to share through the power of media.

At a young age, I discovered the power of media and at the beginning of middle school, I decided I was going to be a filmmaker. Throughout middle school, I explored the various forms of storytelling and the impacts they have on others. A story could be told through food, music, film, speech, books, but most often through conversation and observation.

During quarantine, I took my first trip out of the country to Ghana and Nigeria in 2019 for the Year of The Return, and I researched more about the African diaspora. As my knowledge of Afro-Colombians, Haitians, Ethiopians, Black Indigenous Americans and other communities grew I wondered, “Where are the movies about us?” While processing all of this, my mission for film developed rapidly. I wish to tell authentic stories about all types of people in a way that humanizes their struggles, resistance, and collective power. My interests specifically involve the history and impact of the African diaspora, with an emphasis on personal and vulnerable storytelling which would make this community visible on-screen. Visibility allows for self-love and radical self-healing which will help members of our community become more empowered. I want to continue to use my artistic expression and multi-media outlets to elevate social awareness and love. I feel moved to be the one to tell authentic and accurate stories about members of the Pan-African diaspora. But, before I tell a story about these diverse cultures, which I have little to no direct experience with, I plan to travel and immerse myself in the communities and countries in order to tell their stories authentically. My anthropological approach has guided me to discover a love for travel, cultural studies, diversity, and non-exploitive immersive studies.

This experience in the Dominican Republic would expose me to a country and culture that has been heavily influenced by Africans and would allow me to further connect to additional communities of color, to be able to experience a culture I want to represent on screen.