Rachel Clara Reed

Rachel Clara Reed is an independent documentary filmmaker who gravitates towards intimate stories that challenge common narratives around identity, migration, and culture. A member of BGDM, BIPOC Doc Editors, Across The Cut, and the Video Consortium, she is currently editing her second feature documentary. Her first feature doc, What We Carry, follows an asylum-seeking family from Honduras as they navigate the daily joys and grief of setting up life in a new place, while facing the trauma they carry with them.

Her work experience includes shooting and editing documentaries, non-fiction television and multimedia packages. Her work has taken her to Sudan, Somalia, Somaliland, Uganda, Tanzania, and India, and from Kakuma Refugee Camp in northern Kenya to small Afro-Mexican towns in Veracruz. She contributes to outlets including The New York Times, The Guardian, Atlas Obscura, BBC, CNN, Al Jazeera English, News Deeply and Pacific Standard Magazine.

Her film Somali Night Fever, published on The Guardian, tells the story of Somalia’s golden era of music through the stories of two former bandmates and best friends who lost touch during the country’s civil war. It was long-listed and given a special mention at the 2020 One Media Awards and has over 1 million views.