When she was 8 years old, Ellie Walton was interviewed on the Sophie's Parlor radio show on station WPFW in Washington, DC. That experience revealed to her the potential and power of telling a story to a large audience. Her love of hearing people tell their stories and using those stories to connect and inspire communities has become her life's work, making documentary films that use story to bring people together, inform them and move them to become more engaged in their own circles. As is written in the bio on her web site, “Ellie believes that art as a whole, and film in particular, has the power to reveal injustice, celebrate our humanity, transform perspectives and make a better future irresistible”.

Drawn to film for its capacity to show the complexity and depth of life, as opposed to the categorized and flattened ways with which people tend to perceive each other, Walton uses her medium to reveal the trials and triumphs of both ordinary and extraordinary people, often blurring the distinction between the two. “I love interviewing and filming people”, she says, noting that, “Sometimes things come out on camera that otherwise wouldn't be seen or heard”. She continues, “I like to tell stories, and I like for the telling to be beautiful. I want my films to bring out playfulness and beauty”.

The collection of stories Walton has already captured on film would be a great story on their own. From UK prisons to St. Elizabeth's Psychiatric Hospital in Washington, her subjects also include a graduate school dissertation inspired film about the role of guerilla radio stations in the process of bringing a new government to power in Guatemala. This being a topic she knew well from first hand experience as an employee at one of the stations. “I just wrote to the person who was in charge of the station and they told me to come on down there and participate”, Walton remembers. “Radio was a powerful tool for recruiting and inspiring people in their overthrow of a government who had been put in place by corruption and buying votes”.

Some of her recent projects include, “Ground Water”, a short film featuring the poetic voices of young people from Southeast Washington, DC, and a promotional video for the Scattergood Friends School in Iowa. To date she's released two full length feature films. "Chocolate City",  exploring the gentrification of Washington DC, and "Igual Que Tu", which takes you through the week in the life of immigrant day laborers. She and co-director, Tanisha Christie are currently in the final editing stages of a feature film called, “Walk With Me”, which documents the work of women in Chicago and Washington, DC, who use theatre to reach out to marginalized communities.

One of the women featured in “Walk With Me”, is Rebecca Rice, Walton's mentor and godmother, who passed away several years ago. Walton recalls, “She was a ground breaker in the area of using theatre as a tool for social change, and yet nothing had been written about her work. I felt like it was important to tell her story”. “Walk With Me” also allows viewers to see how Rice's vision and legacy is now being carried out by two who follow in her footsteps, Lisa Biggs and Anu Yada. Fundraising efforts are underway to help finish the production and begin the distribution process. More information about the film, and opportunities to participate and donate may be found here: www.walkwithmethemovie.com/ .

Walton finds creativity easy to come by. “I'm very inspired by the positive ways in which my work is received by audiences”, she says, “and I'm constantly excited by new stories”. She also finds that working in collaboration with others keeps her on her toes creatively. “If I have any problem at all, it's probably overcommitting”, she says with a tired smile that reveals recent late nights in the editing suite. Walton also gives one month every summer to leading teens from her community on a wilderness experience, in addition to staying involved in community action in her Washington, DC hometown. “I'm hoping to be able to find the balance between juggling projects I need to do commercially with all of the projects that I want to pursue as an artist”, she continues, “I would also like to someday create a space for many artists to collaborate together to make an even greater impact”.

Select videos by Ellie Walton may be seen at elliewalton.com.