Written by Kimberly Winter Stern for the July 2010 issue of 435 South Magazine.

Sue Vicory decided to become a documentary filmmaker in less than a minute.

Gone in 60 seconds was what Vicory calls the first half of her life; she was ushered into the second half with a creative clarity that would catapult her to the core of the human soul.

Sound dramatic? What Vicory has accomplished on filmmaking's bumpy road since 2002 is certainly stuff that directors make into documentaries. The Stilwell resident already has a compelling and poignant film under her belt, with another one in the rigorous final stages of editing; that piece will be submitted to the Sundance Film Festival in September.

Vicory, who still commutes three days a week to work in her family's Nevada, Mo.- based company, W. F. Norman, is vivacious, ambitious and determined. She's completed two marathons, raising $5,000 for a homeless shelter running a third; reared two daughters with her husband of 32 years, Jay; and has logged a decade of urban volunteer work in Kansas City. She launched a non-profit called "My Power of One" following her first film with the intent of helping people realize they can positively impact someone else's life.

"I'm a human being attached to my projects," explains Vicory. "I put my fingerprint on them and then give them to the world."

Understanding what makes Vicory so vigorously embrace her life is central to why she is passionately inspired to make movies that transform viewers.

"When our last daughter left in 2002 and Jay and I were empty-nesters, I knew I wanted to pursue a personally meaningful project," says Vicory. "I had worked in the family business since my father died in 1987. I wanted to do something that would make a difference in my lifetime."

That’s when Vicory had her epiphany; she was Googling "film schools" in an instant. The renowned New York City Film Academy popped up with a one-week boot camp; she enrolled in the fall 2002 session and E-blasted friends and family to tell them of her decision.

"My oldest daughter, a playwright, nudged me when I hedged a bit before paying the second half of the tuition," says Vicory.

During her whirlwind experience in New York, Vicory's assignment was to write, direct, film and edit a three-minute non-dialogue, black-and-white piece—in one week. She traipsed the city's subways and streets and completed "The Anniversary Dinner," a poignant short about a man who sets a dinner table for two every year on his wedding anniversary, with only one chair occupied. The film closes with him placing flowers on his beloved wife’s grave.

"That fall I celebrated my anniversary with Jay," says Vicory. "It seemed like a natural extension of my life."

Vicory, a self-professed independent movie addict ("Crash" is a favorite) went on to purchase equipment and attended a Washington D.C. editing school over Mother's Day weekend in 2003. That learning curve proved invaluable—Vicory was the only student in the class.

"Essentially I had a private tutorial," laughs Vicory.

Vicory's next logical step was to make a film. The subject that immediately presented itself to the burgeoning filmmaker turned out to be what Vicory calls her "truth."

"Homelessness," recalls Vicory. "I wanted to do a film about homelessness."

Capitalizing on relationships she made during her volunteer work, Vicory scheduled lunch with a friend, the executive director of reStart, a Kansas City homeless shelter.

Doors started opening, the project's energy blossomed and Vicory spent the next three years filming homeless people from Harlem to Las Vegas, from Washington D.C. to Kansas City. She went into her editing suite with 40 powerful hours of footage and premiered "Homelessness & the Power of One" on September 10, 2005—10 days following the Katrina disaster. The film was shown to a standing-room-only audience, received 18 ovations and raised $30,000 that night for four non-profits.

"The film has raised $200,000," says Vicory, adding that UMKC shows the movie to students every month. "It teaches compassion."

Vicory discovered a monumental lesson prior to filming. She challenged her own perception of homeless people, turning the camera on herself before she looked through the lens at a world much different from her comfortable Johnson County lifestyle.

"During my self-interview I asked a fictional homeless person, 'Can you read?'" says Vicory. "My first thought about the homeless was that they couldn't read—which is why they were in that predicament."

A truth became crystal-clear to Vicory: Her soul was reflected in every single man, woman and child who lived on the street, under bushes, in shelters. She could be that homeless person.

Vicory won a prestigious Women in Film/ General Motors Emerging Filmmaker Grant following her film's debut. She and a group of six filmmakers were exposed to the who's who of Hollywood for 10 days, getting an insider's glimpse of the industry.

Vicory's second project, "Kansas City Jazz & Blues: Past, Present & Future" had a sneak peek at the Gem Theater at 18th and Vine in Kansas City in May. The film features hundreds of KC musicians and is the product of three years of intense work by Vicory to capture the extraordinary talent that personifies the city's prolific jazz history— and to educate people about its importance.

"When I started editing I had 150 hours of footage and 40-plus interviews," says Vicory, who personally finances her work. "Marilyn Maye, Kevin Mahogany, David Basse, Bobby Watson and other professionals who contribute to our great city's musical heritage."

Vicory learns in November if Sundance accepts the film. Regardless of the outcome, Vicory knows her next project will continue in the tradition of the first two.

"We all live in our own worlds, skipping our way through life without digging," says Vicory. "My films will continue digging."

In Vicory-speak, that means building a virtual bridge between perception and reality.