Directors Statement

Like many films, this one has been a labour of love, and our intention is for it to create a ripple effect that will spread understanding and hope through the art of film. Because we intend it to be used as a storytelling therapy tool for anyone who has experienced loss or displacement, it was important for us to work with psychologists and refugees in workshops so that the story is told in a sensitive way based on truth, and can resonate in both a universal and personal way - a delicate balance to strike!

Having experienced the trauma of the refugee experience through my own family history, it was essential to get the tone and imagery to resonate with the plight of so many children globally who have become refugees - whether it be the result of war, climate change, poverty or natural disaster. Inspired by Sting's song "Inshallah", which he has kindly donated to our film, we wanted to tell the story of refugees from a fresh point of view. - Maya Sanbar, Director

Maya Sanbar - Director

“Being part of the process of making this film during lockdown has been a really deep experience for all of us. It has been a way of reaching through, across borders. The title FOOTSTEPS ON THE WIND refers to the marks we leave behind on our journeys, and how they are carried to others energetically by the wind’s invisible flow through boundaries.

We have designed the film with characters that encapsulate many different races: the refugee story is planetary. The art of animation allows symbolism for the viewer’s imagination to transgress words: there are many layers to uncover in the treasure hunt of clues within the script. The story is conceived as a storytelling tool for trauma therapy, about all kinds of loss and resilience, whether within or outside the experience of being physically or emotionally displaced."

Maya is an Artist and Filmmaker. Her work in both moving image and installation is centred on the art of storytelling. As a multimedia artist, her work has been exhibited internationally, notably installations at Shoreditch Town Hall in London “Waiting” 2015, the Rubin Museum of Art in New York City “Alex in Wonderland” scented experience (2016), and at the Berlin Wall on the 30th anniversary of its fall “Chasing the Light” (2019), "Words on the Hill" at the Coronet Theatre in London (2020). Her production credits include 360 immersion visits to artist studios, and documentaries.  Sanbar is fluent in 6 languages, and passionate about crossing cultural boundaries using words with images to bring about a fresh point of view.

Her experience is varied, as is her career. From her beginnings in international law and the United Nations, she has honed the skill of telling stories that have relevance, in both the public and corporate worlds. She takes a keen interest in education as an engine for change – Maya is a Trustee of Madrinha mentoring children to thrive to their highest potential, and she is a Governor of a London state school. Maya Sanbar is a regular public speaker, and helps promote others finding their own voice too.

Gillian Gordon –Producer

No Fear No Favor illuminates the wrenching choices faced by rural Africans who live where community meets wilderness—on the front lines of Africa’s poaching crisis. Filmed over several years in Zambia’s vast Kafue National Park, as well as in North Kenya and Namibia, the film follows local women and men who fight the illegal wildlife trade through both cooperative law enforcement and community-led conservation that sustains wildlife, returns profit to local people, and generates new livelihoods. No Fear No Favor reveals that when the connection between poverty and poaching is disrupted - people and wildlife can thrive equally, side by side.

ABOUT MIRRA

Mirra Bank is an award-winning independent director and producer. A selection of her films include: The Only Real Game - Best Documentary at the NY Indian Film Festival, and American Spirit Award at Sedona Intl. Film Festival, on Netflix.  Last Dance - short-listed for an Academy Award. Nobody’s Girls - a non-fiction PBS prime-time special. Enormous Changes - premiered at Sundance and Toronto, followed by theatrical release, and distriubtion by ABC Video Enterprises, and BBC-2.  Her numerous commissions and production awards include: C.P.B, P.B.S, N.E.A., N.E.H., N.Y. State Council on the Arts, N.Y. Foundation for the Arts, Women in Film, and NY Women in Film and Television, American Film Institute, FORK Films, Foundation for Jewish Culture, The Andrew Sabin Family Foundation, The Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, American Composers Orchestra, and the Donnet Fund. 

Bank’s films have played at festivals worldwide, including Sundance, Toronto, N.Y. Film Festival, BFI/London, Hamptons International Film Festival, Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, A.F.I./Silverdocs, Full Frame, Palm Springs, Santa Barbara, Palm Beach, Sarasota, Hawai’i, The Flaherty Seminar, Mumbai, Amsterdam, Verona, Dance on Camera (East and West), and Hamptons DocFest -- among many others. 

She is a member of the Academy’s Documentary Branch; a MacDowell Fellow and film panelist; a member of New Day Films; she serves on the Board of Directors of the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures, and on the Advisory Board of the Bronx Documentary Center, and of New York Women in Film and Television, of which she is a past President. She is also a lifetime member of the Actors Studio.