An opportunity of a lifetime changed a Bronx woman’s life after getting the opportunity to direct the Netflix film “Becoming,” which documents former First Lady Michelle Obama’s book tour around the country. 

Nadia Hallgren is a filmmaker and cinematographer who grew up in Soundview. During the pandemic, she says it wasn’t the release she imagined, but that with everything that was going on in the world she was glad it could make people smile, laugh, feel, hope and feel seen. 

She says the outpour of love and feedback since the release has been tremendous. 

“A lot of people wrote 'I just had to look up your name after and I saw you look like me I saw you from the Bronx and I can't believe someone from the Bronx made this,' just kind of all of the things that you hope come out of a film like this and that it can really inspire people to believe that they can do anything because for me I think that's what I've proven to myself and so I think that's one of the real wonderful benefits that I've had from this experience at this time,” said Hallgren.