“If we can change the way one person views disability, that will feel like a success to me.”
— Allison Norlian
“Meandering Scars shows Erica’s scars entirely; she is a perfect subject because she’s so imperfect, highlighting the power of human-first storytelling.”
— Kody Leibowitz
By Valerie Milano & Juan Markos
Los Angeles, CA (The Hollywood Times) 6/26/25 – In Meandering Scars, which will have its world premiere at Dances with Films on Saturday, June 28th at 10:30 AM, co-directors Allison Norlian and Kody Leibowitz deliver a raw, unflinching, and deeply human portrait of mental health, disability, and resilience through the lens of one woman’s extraordinary journey.
The subject of their debut feature-length documentary is Erika Bogan, a Spartan and CrossFit athlete who sets out to summit Mount Kilimanjaro—not for fame or glory, but as a personal act of healing and advocacy. The mountain becomes more than a destination; it becomes a metaphor. As Norlian described in an interview with The Hollywood Times, “Climbing Kilimanjaro symbolized Erika’s ascent out of depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts, while literally representing the obstacles faced by many people with disabilities.”
Click below for our exclusive interview:
That dual symbolism lies at the heart of Meandering Scars—a title that speaks to both the emotional and physical wounds we carry, and the nonlinear paths to healing we all face. Norlian and Leibowitz, who co-founded their production company Birdmine in 2020, infuse the film with their journalistic roots and passion for social impact. “We realized that documentary filmmaking is just long-form journalism,” Norlian explained. “So, we wanted our first project to uplift someone from the disability community.”
From the start, the filmmakers saw Erika’s story as their launching point—both personally and professionally. “Allison called me right away and said, ‘Scratch the series idea; Erica’s story is our first film,’” Leibowitz recalled. What began as a modest reel-building exercise evolved into a four-year odyssey that took the crew from Zoom interviews to the high-altitude extremes of Africa, and back into Erika’s home life in Charlotte, North Carolina.
One of the film’s most gripping elements is its cinematography. Shot on Mount Kilimanjaro under harsh physical constraints—solar chargers, strict weight limits, and extreme altitude—the visuals are as breathtaking as they are intimate. The cinematography captures both sweeping landscapes and close, emotional moments that immerse the viewer in Erika’s physical and emotional climb.
Yet Meandering Scars refuses to be another triumph-over-adversity narrative. Instead, it carefully dismantles that trope. “We reject the ‘perfect subject’ trope,” Leibowitz said. “Erica’s imperfections—her struggles with mental health, her scars—make her the ideal protagonist.”
Indeed, the film doesn’t shy away from Erika’s darkest moments or the fragility beneath her strength. Her training injury and the COVID-19 Delta variant delayed the climb by a year, giving the filmmakers unexpected access to her life post-setback. As Leibowitz noted, “That reshaped the final 20 minutes of the film,” offering a layered and honest depiction of recovery that extends far beyond the summit.
Birdmine’s mission is boldly present in every frame: to challenge how disability is portrayed and understood. “Disabled people are whole people,” Norlian emphasized. “Climbing Kilimanjaro is just one chapter in her life.” In that spirit, Meandering Scars is not a film about a disabled athlete. It is a film about a human being with ambition, doubts, resilience, humor, and pain. It is universal and deeply personal all at once.
That sense of connection—across time, place, and identity—echoes through the film itself. Whether you’re a documentary enthusiast, a mental health advocate, or someone navigating your own meandering scars, this film will move you.
For more information, visit birdmine.com, meanderingscars.com, and follow @birdmindstories and @meanderingscars on Instagram and Facebook.
Verdict: ★★★★½ (4.5/5)
A stirring debut that climbs emotional heights as powerful as its physical ones. Meandering Scars is not just a documentary—it’s a reckoning with what it means to keep going.
