Tony-Winning Producer Mara Isaacs Launches Documentary Anthology I FEEL MYSELF TO BE PART OF SOMETHING

Tony Award-winning producer Mara Isaacs (Hadestown, Gypsy) has announced the launch of I Feel Myself to Be Part of Something, a bold new documentary anthology exploring how the arts shape, uplift, and define communities across the United States.

The project, developed in collaboration with acclaimed filmmakers Sara Terry, Lou Pepe, Kahlil Hudson, Melanie D’Andrea, and Margaret Byrne, comprises five feature-length films that spotlight the transformative power of the arts in distinct American locales, from rural Montana to urban Chicago.

Each film will debut through a Community First Distribution Model, ensuring its premiere takes place in the very communities featured on screen. Following those local premieres, the films will be available, free of charge, to arts organizations and community centers nationwide, complete with toolkits for guided discussion and local engagement.

“For years, we've relied on statistics to prove the value of the arts, but numbers alone can't capture what it means to truly feel their impact,” said Isaacs. “I believed that storytelling, real stories, from real communities, could make that case in a way data never could. That’s how this project was born.”

Co-producers Sara Terry and Lou Pepe echoed Isaacs' vision:

“With the launch of these first five films, we know we’re just scratching the surface. This anthology will serve as a lasting narrative record of how the arts build resilience, identity, and humanity in communities nationwide.”

2025 Premieres

The Feeling of Home

Directed by Sara Terry
Set in White Sulphur Springs, MT, this film centers on the Red Ants Pants Music Festival, which has become an economic and cultural lifeline in a town of fewer than 1,000 people.

Community First Premiere: July 24, 2025 at the Strand Theatre, White Sulphur Springs

We Lift Each Other

Directed by Lou Pepe
Spotlights Black Box Dance Theatre and its movement-based work with U.S. military veterans, illuminating how dance can provide connection, healing, and visibility.

Community First Premiere: Veterans Day 2025, in collaboration with RiverRun Film Festival

2026 Premieres

Growing Leaders

Directed by Kahlil Hudson
Focuses on a youth-centered arts program in Española, NM, that is fostering leadership, creativity, and hope in the face of generational adversity.

A Vision of the Future

Directed by Melanie D’Andrea
Follows Oakland muralist Rachel Wolfe-Goldsmith, whose public art transforms cityscapes into bold calls for justice, equity, and collective memory.

The Wisdom of Community

Directed by Margaret Byrne
Explores the In[HEIR]itance Theater Project and its powerful model of co-creating plays with South Side Chicago residents to address pressing local issues and foster civic healing.

Creative Team and Funders

I Feel Myself to Be Part of Something is produced by Mara Isaacs, Sara Terry, and Lou Pepe, with Dana Goldberg serving as co-producer. Executive producers include Thomas M. Neff and Christine Schwarzman.

The project is supported by Octoverse Media, The Ford Foundation, Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts, the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation, and a network of private donors.

To view a first look at the project’s opening sequence, click here.