SARAH FRANK (filmmaker) was born in Detroit in 1983. She earned a B.A. in journalism from Michigan State University and recently completed the Graduate Certificate in Documentary Media Studies at The New School. Before coming to non-fiction filmmaking, Sarah worked as a newspaper reporter and photographer. It was on a long cross-country drive that she decided to merge her passions for writing and image-making and move to New York to pursue documentary filmmaking. "In Bed with a Mosquito" is her first documentary short. Sarah hopes to continue making non-fiction films about extraordinary characters. She currently lives in Brooklyn, NY.
BETTY BRASSELL (main character) was born in Wrens, Georgia in 1930. In 1954, Betty moved to New York City with her two children, Linda and Steve. It was not until retirement that Betty became active in her local community, Manhattan’s Lower East Side, a hot spot for activists. In 2005 along with about a dozen other grandmothers Betty tried to enlist into the U.S. Army to protest the war in Iraq. They were promptly arrested but later acquitted of all charges. Issues dearest to Betty include: public housing; ending the occupation in Iraq; preventing attack on Iran and North Korea; decolonization of Puerto Rico; LGBT rights. She has two children, one grandson and one great-grandson. She currently lives in Manhattan.
