Happy Earth Day! Women directors make inroads at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival: “Twenty-six feature films, about a quarter of the total to be presented during the two-week festival, are by women directors, including the first feature film by a female Saudi filmmaker shot entirely in her country.” Check out the full article on Reuters.
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NYWIFT Member Kelcey Edwards found her way into documentary filmmaking through Iron Gate Studios, a nonprofit gallery and artist workspace she cofounded in her early twenties in Austin, Texas. At the time, she was making small narrative films alongside many other Austin-based filmmakers involved in the “mumblecore” scene; her first film, Letter, screened at SXSW in 2006. Since cameras and equipment were always present in the gallery, she began interviewing many of the artists who visited the space. Over time, the habit of recording conversations and documenting artists’ lives became a steady part of her practice. That interest eventually led her to pursue an MFA in Documentary Film at Stanford and later to move to New York, where she continued developing their work. About a decade later, she directed The Art of Making It, a feature documentary about the art world, which won the Audience Award at SXSW in 2022. It’s currently available on most streaming platforms. Kelcey’s films have received support from the MacArthur Foundation, Sundance, and Tribeca Film Institute, among others, have been broadcast internationally, and have screened at top-tier festivals including SXSW, Berlinale, and Hamptons International. In our interview, Kelcey discussed her teaching philosophy, approach to filmmaking, and upcoming projects.
READ MOREMeet the New NYWIFT Member: Courtney DeStefano
Welcome to NYWIFT, Courtney DeStefano! Courtney grew up in a small town, where she spent hours devouring old movies and pouring through every indie-film magazine she could get her hands on. She graduated with a BFA in Film & Television from NYU Tisch School of the Arts before embarking on her editing career where she worked with clients like CBS, Bravo, Showtime, BET, NatGeo, Discovery & TLC. She’s spent the last several years dividing her time between chasing after her three young sons and hiding in her home office to write. Her work has been recognized by the Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards, PANO Network, Hollyshorts and the PAGE Awards, among others. In our interview, Courtney discussed her small-town inspirations, how editing informs her writing and directing, and her latest short film.
READ MORENYWIFT Member Spotlight: Kathryn O’Kane
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READ MOREMeet the New NYWIFT Member: Sonia Malfa
Let's give a warm welcome to new NYWIFT member Sonia Malfa! Inspired by nature and myth, Sonia Malfa is a writer/director who creates visually poetic films that draw from her Puerto Rican-American roots. From music video and commercials to documentary and narrative film, her directing work has been featured in Tribeca Festival, AdAge, Vogue Italia, and won both Webby and Clio Awards. Sonia is currently in development on her narrative feature debut, It's Always Sunni, which was selected for the Gotham Project Market and Film Independent’s Fast Track. Most recently, Sonia was selected for the NALIP/Netflix Woman of Color Film Incubator and the Actors Studio Directors Unit. In our interview, Sonia discusses her deep connection to nature, commercial projects, the importance of creative community, and her road trip film - with a twist!
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