NYC Overcoming: Anoria Boutique (2022)

Editor, Story Producer

10 min.

Production Company: Firelight Media + Human Pictures

NYC Overcoming, a series of 5 short films packaged into a 1-hour special from Harlem-based production company Firelight Films, helmed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Stanley Nelson. This documentary aims to celebrate the efforts of the nightlife, hospitality, and entertainment communities throughout the five boroughs as they recover from pandemic hardships.

Anoria Boutique is a new business in Queens owned by Vanessa Gonzales who, like so many New Yorkers, lost her retail job during the pandemic. With money made from making and selling face masks, she began buying handmade traditional Oaxacan embroidery pieces from friends and family in her native Mexico. Her store now sells traditional pieces that celebrate Mexican culture and is among several businesses in her neighborhood that were created despite all odds