Light & Shadow

Three high rise apartment buildings are under construction.

Joan is a committed, warm-hearted social worker and psychotherapist who works with derailed teenagers. In the documentary 'Joan's Boys' we see her efforts to help two of these kids -15 year old Alaa and Adil from a Moroccan family- to get back on track. The twins drop out from school, play violent video games all day and fight among each other about who can hold the PlayStation controller. In the midst of the heat they incidentally hit their mother, who goes knock-out on the floor. The boys are placed in custody. Can Joan save her boys by playing on their conscience? Or is her 'soft' approach deemed to fail? And what about Joan herself? Does her work with these kids replace her own unfulfilled child-wish?

The streets of Latin-america's big cities are crammed full of cars. Justified by poor public transportation or having chosen isolation, people drive one car each. Outside, a diversity of urban characters take the traffic light, a mere traffic control device, and turn it into their own meeting place.

A history of muscular women from Henry II's mistress, Diane de Poitiers, to the present, suggests the passionate intertwining of personal fantasy and history characteristics.

'Debutante' is a documentary film that explores why young women still bow to society. Debbing is a rite of passage, designed to bring a young woman into adulthood. The film follows the experience of high school senior, Cassidy Cloninger who joins a debutante class in her home town of Cary, North Carolina. She participates in a six months regime leading up to the Cary Debutante Ball Society's gala. Cassidy's an athlete, a star on her school's swim team, and at first is dubious about being a debutante. It's going to cost several thousand dollars and plenty of time and effort. It involves exhaustive shopping for the perfect dress, formal photograph sessions, throwing and attending formal parties and learning the ropes of proper attire, manners and decorum. There will be many hours of dancing lessons for her, her dad, her date and the 16 other Cary Debutantes who she doesn't always get along with. All of this is to prepare for the big 'Cinderella' night of the Cary Debutante Ball in December, 2007.

From early on, Jim Hoy was involved with the Symphony in the Flint Hills that helps bring attention to preserving the tallgrass prairie near Clements, Kansas. He and countless other Kansans are working to protect this picturesque part of our landscape so that the next generation would be able to enjoy its beauty.