Daphne Russell

I’m a lifelong educator and truth-seeker who spent over 35 years in the classroom. What began as a search for better reading strategies eventually pulled me beyond theory and into the lived reality of education—where I saw firsthand that the issue wasn’t a lack of skill, but a loss of belief. Students weren’t failing to read because they couldn’t. They were carrying the weight of stories—both explicit and unspoken—that told them books weren’t for them.

I developed a literacy method not to teach reading, but to untangle it—to help people unlearn the idea that they’re “not readers” and reconnect with books as mirrors of their power and humanity.

The Book of Abel is an extension of that mission. After decades in the classroom, I realized that stories about teachers often miss the point. They place the transformation in the teacher’s hands, instead of showing what really saves a student: the moment they see themselves in a story, and choose to save themselves.

That’s the story I’m committed to telling.

Unique traits: I took a decades-long career in literacy education and turned it into a screenplay—not to teach reading, but to evolve literacy itself using Einstein's philosophy, "You can’t change a system using the same energy that created it." That’s why I turned to the arts. The Book of Abel reframes literacy as a deeply emotional, identity-shaping experience—and uses cinema to change how books are seen, not just how they’re taught. While most education films focus on teaching skills, this story is about awakening selfhood through reading. It shifts the focus from instruction to transformation. It does this by: Showing that the problem isn’t illiteracy—it’s disconnection Making books feel like mirrors, not punishments Positioning reading as a quiet act of rebellion against systems that suppress identity Using a banned book not just as a plot device, but as a symbol of emotional access This isn’t just another classroom story. It’s a literacy revolution disguised as a screenplay. And at its core is my deeper mission: To use storytelling to bring the arts back into schools—not as an afterthought, but as the way we help students reclaim their voice, their identity, and their place in the world. I’m not here to teach reading. I’m here to redeem it—through film.