Mana Handel: An Unstoppable Voice
By Tori Rubloff
Mana Handel, 24, is a filmmaker and freelance video editor who lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. As a teenager in Gainesville, she was enthusiastic about theatre. The stage was her home – until that unexpectedly changed. At 13, a surgery mishap caused her to have permanent vocal paralysis, noticeably altering the sound of her voice. She became immediately self-conscious and anxious about how others perceived her. Fatefully, in her senior year of high school, she discovered TV Production. This newfound passion changed the course of her life for the better, allowing her to create and tell her own stories. Editor’s note: The responses have been edited for length and clarity.
Q: What does your job entail?
A: I have a freelance job at a media content company called Mass Appeal, and I’ve been there steadily for a year. It deals a lot with hip-hop artists, rap, graffiti, street culture and urban culture. At first, I was doing a lot of interviews for them, but now I get do so more creative stuff. I edit a lot of their YouTube videos and work with green screens during interviews. I like to make them look kind of crazy and trippy. It’s really fun because I can play around with different styles and be creative. It’s also cool that I get to branch out and do visual effects.
Q: Who is your favorite filmmaker and what do you respect about them?
A: I’ve always been enamored with Miyazaki. I love how he portrays really strong female characters, because I identify with that. He also involves tense moments with quiet moments. That really shows how a character is feeling. No one is just excited, or just sad, or just angry. Everyone has a range of emotions – that’s what being human is. And Miyazaki doesn’t just portray this through characters on screen – he tells it through the music and pacing.
Q: What role has creativity played in your life?
A: Being someone who’s from an artistic family – my mom’s an artist and my dad teaches film theory – it’s always been a big part of my life. I’m also someone who daydreams constantly; I have A.D.D. so I’m constantly side-tracked. It’s great to have an outlet, rather than just bundling ideas up in my head. I’m constantly all over the place with my ideas and imagination, so if I don’t let them out, they’ll eventually explode.
Q: How has your upbringing influenced the films you make?
A: My mom’s Japanese and my dad’s American, so I have a mixed cultural background. Growing up, it got confusing because not only did I definitely not look White, but also people would label me as Chinese and sometimes Mexican. People didn’t really know what I was, and they always wanted to label it. And they would love to assume. I involve my cultural experiences a lot in my work, because there are times it’s been frustrating. It’s frustrating when people can’t pronounce your name right because it’s not typical. And it’s frustrating when they’re weirded out by the lunch you bring to school because it’s not a sandwich or pizza – it’s a rice ball or curry. I like bringing these kinds of ideas up in my art because they bring an entirely new perspective, and when people watch my films, they’re exposed to it. That’s also why I’m a huge advocate for diversity in film, like bringing in women filmmakers and filmmakers of color, because they bring a different voice.
Q: How have you connected with the Japanese side of your identity?
A: I use chopsticks a lot and even follow the little superstitions that Japanese people have. Like, you can’t stick chopsticks straight up in rice, and I constantly tell my friends, “Don’t do that!” I also can’t have a north-facing bed because that symbolizes death… or something like that. I also take my shoes off in the house. A lot of White families don’t do that. But the most important thing is the food. That’s the one thing about Japanese culture that has stuck strongly with me because it’s really important in Japan. Food is everything. Every aspect of life revolves around food. Cooking Japanese food is also really meditative because you have to be respectful of it. And they make their food look cute and pretty. And when we were kids, my mom had a format for how she would lay out our food.
Q: What’s the happiest moment of your life so far?
A: I’ve got two main ones. The first is when I graduated from film school. It was really nice because all of my film buddies were there. We were so happy about the films we created and how successful we were in making them. And we felt like collectively, we created something. And our parents and teachers were so proud of us. We got kind of drunk at the after party too, so that was fun. The other time is when my thesis film won a really good award at a Florida film festival called Love Your Shorts. That made me feel really validated and I got a trophy too.
By Tori Rubloff
Mana Handel, 24, is a filmmaker and freelance video editor who lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. As a teenager in Gainesville, she was enthusiastic about theatre. The stage was her home – until that unexpectedly changed. At 13, a surgery mishap caused her to have permanent vocal paralysis, noticeably altering the sound of her voice. She became immediately self-conscious and anxious about how others perceived her. Fatefully, in her senior year of high school, she discovered TV Production. This newfound passion changed the course of her life for the better, allowing her to create and tell her own stories. Editor’s note: The responses have been edited for length and clarity.
Q: What does your job entail?
A: I have a freelance job at a media content company called Mass Appeal, and I’ve been there steadily for a year. It deals a lot with hip-hop artists, rap, graffiti, street culture and urban culture. At first, I was doing a lot of interviews for them, but now I get do so more creative stuff. I edit a lot of their YouTube videos and work with green screens during interviews. I like to make them look kind of crazy and trippy. It’s really fun because I can play around with different styles and be creative. It’s also cool that I get to branch out and do visual effects.
Q: Who is your favorite filmmaker and what do you respect about them?
A: I’ve always been enamored with Miyazaki. I love how he portrays really strong female characters, because I identify with that. He also involves tense moments with quiet moments. That really shows how a character is feeling. No one is just excited, or just sad, or just angry. Everyone has a range of emotions – that’s what being human is. And Miyazaki doesn’t just portray this through characters on screen – he tells it through the music and pacing.
Q: What role has creativity played in your life?
A: Being someone who’s from an artistic family – my mom’s an artist and my dad teaches film theory – it’s always been a big part of my life. I’m also someone who daydreams constantly; I have A.D.D. so I’m constantly side-tracked. It’s great to have an outlet, rather than just bundling ideas up in my head. I’m constantly all over the place with my ideas and imagination, so if I don’t let them out, they’ll eventually explode.
Q: How has your upbringing influenced the films you make?
A: My mom’s Japanese and my dad’s American, so I have a mixed cultural background. Growing up, it got confusing because not only did I definitely not look White, but also people would label me as Chinese and sometimes Mexican. People didn’t really know what I was, and they always wanted to label it. And they would love to assume. I involve my cultural experiences a lot in my work, because there are times it’s been frustrating. It’s frustrating when people can’t pronounce your name right because it’s not typical. And it’s frustrating when they’re weirded out by the lunch you bring to school because it’s not a sandwich or pizza – it’s a rice ball or curry. I like bringing these kinds of ideas up in my art because they bring an entirely new perspective, and when people watch my films, they’re exposed to it. That’s also why I’m a huge advocate for diversity in film, like bringing in women filmmakers and filmmakers of color, because they bring a different voice.
Q: How have you connected with the Japanese side of your identity?
A: I use chopsticks a lot and even follow the little superstitions that Japanese people have. Like, you can’t stick chopsticks straight up in rice, and I constantly tell my friends, “Don’t do that!” I also can’t have a north-facing bed because that symbolizes death… or something like that. I also take my shoes off in the house. A lot of White families don’t do that. But the most important thing is the food. That’s the one thing about Japanese culture that has stuck strongly with me because it’s really important in Japan. Food is everything. Every aspect of life revolves around food. Cooking Japanese food is also really meditative because you have to be respectful of it. And they make their food look cute and pretty. And when we were kids, my mom had a format for how she would lay out our food.
Q: What’s the happiest moment of your life so far?
A: I’ve got two main ones. The first is when I graduated from film school. It was really nice because all of my film buddies were there. We were so happy about the films we created and how successful we were in making them. And we felt like collectively, we created something. And our parents and teachers were so proud of us. We got kind of drunk at the after party too, so that was fun. The other time is when my thesis film won a really good award at a Florida film festival called Love Your Shorts. That made me feel really validated and I got a trophy too.