Award-winning filmmaker and Point Loma High School graduate Nicole Opper will be cast into the spotlight this week when her film, “Off and Running,” makes its San Diego premiere Monday, Feb. 15 at the San Diego Jewish Film Festival. The film screens at 8 p.m. at the AMC Theater La Jolla, 8657 Villa La Jolla Drive. Tickets are $13.25. “I always love visiting San Diego and coming home,” said Opper, who currently lives in New York. “It really does feel like a homecoming each time the wheels touch the ground and I see the palm trees and smell that fresh air.” When Opper touches down in San Diego, she will first engage in what has become a tradition with her brother — eating a Santana’s burrito on the beach. But Opper misses more than just the food from her hometown. “It’s just such a big part of me,” Opper said. “I have a really strong network of friends and family in San Diego that I love to come and visit.” “Off and Running” is a coming-of-age documentary with Brooklyn teenager Avery Klein-Cloud at its center. The film follows Klein-Cloud, an African-American girl with Jewish lesbian adopted parents, as she tries to reach out to her birth family. “That decision catapults her into a whole exploration of race and identity and family that really, in some ways, turns her life upside down,” Opper said. “The film becomes about the struggle of getting back on one’s feet when something like that occurs.” Opper’s 76-minute film has won multiple awards, including best documentary at QFest in Philadelphia and at the Writers Guild of America’s SilverDocs, the latter of which she shared with Klein-Cloud at the ceremony. Opper said the film has been successful because the audience can sympathize with each of its characters. “That’s the greatest success, that the film doesn’t really prioritize one person’s point of view over another,” Opper said. “It’s just trying to give you a lens into the entire story without passing judgment on it.” While directing and producing “Off and Running,” Opper said she knew the film would not be completely objective because of her relationship with Klein-Cloud and those close to her. For her, the challenge was how involved she would become. “The real question for me was not how I remain objective, but how I avoid projecting my wishes and dreams onto the story and just step back and listen and learn from it,” Opper said. “That was really an ongoing challenge that I negotiated all throughout production.” Opper’s coming attraction — which is still in the works — is “Ipoderac,” a documentary about a home for abandoned children in Puebla, Mexico. Opper has a personal connection to the home, spending a summer there when she was 18. “It’s built like a family and it’s run like a family, with the educators playing parental roles and the boys learning to treat each other and regard each other as brothers,” Opper said. “That’s what really sets it apart and makes it special. It’s not an institution that you’re just kind of waiting your time out in. It’s a familial experience.” Those interested in learning more about “Off and Running” or “Ipoderac” can reach Opper by e-mail at [email protected]. Opper said she is also accepting donations to offset the cost of producing “Ipoderac.”