Facing Race: A National Conference in St. Louis, MO — November 20-22, 2024

Emily Harrold

Director/Producer |
Pronouns: she/her

Emily Harrold is a documentary filmmaker from Orangeburg, South Carolina. Her films have screened at such festivals as the Tribeca Film Festival, DOC NYC, the Melbourne International Film Festival, and the Telluride Film Festival. Most recently, she produced and directed the feature documentary, WHILE I BREATHE, I HOPE, which won the documentary Audience Award at the 2018 New Orleans Film Festival and premiered on WorldChannel's AfroPop series in 2019. Harrold is also part of the team behind Discovery's TIGERLAND (Sundance 2019) and National Geographic's Ron Howard- directed REBUILDING PARADISE (Sundance 2020). She is currently working with Apograph Productions on an upcoming documentary film for PBS’s American Experience series. Harrold is a member of Film Fatales. She is a graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.


Presentations from Facing Race 2020

While I Breathe, I Hope

What does it mean to be young, black, and a Democrat in the American South? While I Breathe, I Hope follows South Carolina politician Bakari Sellers as he runs to become the first African American candidate elected statewide in over a century. The film begins by following Sellers as he makes his 2014 bid for Lieutenant Governor, through the Charleston Shootings, and during the removal of the Confederate flag in 2015. Through his experiences, this timely film offers audiences a window into the legacy of race in politics in the United States today.

Directed/Produced by Emily Harrold; Produced by Xuan Vu, Lauren Franklin, and Diane Robertson

Speakers: Emily Harrold, Xuan Vu, Lauren Franklin, Diane Robertson