Been Here Stay Here
Been Here Stay Here is a quiet, immersive portrait of a place long used as a symbol, but rarely heard on its own terms. Set on Tangier Island—a centuries-old evangelical fishing community in Virginia's Chesapeake Bay—the film eschews the tropes of conventional climate storytelling. There are no experts, voiceovers, or statistics. Been Here Stay Here invites audiences to sit with the lived reality of a community facing the slow erosion of its land, not through spectacle or alarm, but through faith, memory, and daily life.
Credits and Cast
Producers: Giorgio Angelini. Ryan Harrington, Nicole Shipley, & Jaden Levitt
Director: David Usui
Cinematography: David Usui & Peter Steusloff
Editing: Elizabeth Rao & David Usui
Sound: Mike Regan
Music: James William Blades
Shooting Format: Digital
Director’s Biography - David Usui
David Usui is a documentary filmmaker and cinematographer based in Brooklyn, NY. His work has appeared in the NY Times, PBS, ITVS, The Atlantic and VICE. He co-directed In Transit, a feature length documentary with acclaimed filmmaker Albert Maysles, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and won the Special Jury Prize. In 2009, he co-founded Lost & Found Films, producing documentary and commercial content with brands, ad agencies, broadcasters and NGOs. David studied philosophy and environmental studies at Western Washington University and is currently an adjunct professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.