NYWIFT Blog

By Nicolette Page 

Meet Kelcey Edwards!

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. 

NYWIFT Member Kelcey Edwards

How did you come about NYWIFT? 

Honestly, I feel like I’ve always known about NYWIFT! Your organization is such a wonderful resource for women in our creative community. I can’t recall a time I didn’t know about it. My hope is that every woman in the New York film and television industries is aware of NYWIFT and the incredible work that you do.

NYWIFT Member Kelcey Edwards

Do you have a favorite project, one that felt particularly personal or transformative?

Over the past three years in my role as Assistant Professor of Film and Television at Hofstra University, I have had the opportunity to work closely with the next generation of emerging filmmakers and storytellers. With the university’s support, I’ve developed two new courses—one of which is a survey of women television showrunners—and, as the only full-time female professor in the television area, I have had the opportunity to mentor and advise many female students.

One of my students nicknamed me “the big sister of the comm school,” which is an honor I will cherish forever. I am always transparent with my students and do not shy away from the realities women in media face, including the fact that we have a long way to go to achieve equity, but above all, I emphasize that ALL of their stories matter, and that each of them brings a singular worldview that is worth exploring and sharing. 

While the production skills, theoretical frameworks, and workflows that they are acquiring are important, I remind them that collaboration and creative problem-solving are the skills that will sustain them throughout their careers. I try to create a safe space for them to take risks, make mistakes, learn and grow, and ultimately make authentic work they can be proud of. Finally, I encourage them to show up for each other today, because in doing so, they are creating a network of colleagues with the power to lift each other up, make space, and forge a more inclusive and equitable industry of tomorrow. 

How has being a woman in film shaped the kinds of stories you tell?

Well, being a woman is all I know, so it’s the lens through which I see the world. I’m a mother, a sister, a daughter, an ex-wife—I don’t think I could extricate these roles or any aspect of my womanhood from my storytelling. I once described my fiction as “stories about women in hard places.” Not to say that these were my stories, exactly, but they were stories inspired by women I’ve seen—some up close, some from a distance—women whose strength, vulnerability, compromises, and perseverance left a lasting impression on me.

Of course, if you look at my body of work, almost all of my films—and collaborations in general—have been with women. I co-produced the documentary Words of Witness with Mai Iskander, following a young female journalist during Egypt’s revolution. I also produced the documentary feature Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines with Kristy Guevara-Flanagan.

Most recently, I directed Salt, a narrative short about a mother and daughter confronting grief and dementia. The film was written, directed, and produced by women, featured a female cast, and—for the first time in my life—a nearly entirely female crew. As director, to look around on set and see a predominantly female crew—including the cinematographer, grip, gaffer, and sound recordist—was a powerful experience.

NYWIFT Member Kelcey Edwards

Your film, The Art of Making It, examines the art world’s ecosystem. How did that story come together, and what conversations did you hope to spark through it?

In 2018, I re-launched my old Austin gallery in New York as Iron Gate East, curating shows in both the city and the Hamptons. Through a colleague, I was introduced to my producer, who had just completed The Price of Everything, a documentary examining the upper stratosphere of the art world. I pitched her an idea about following a group of young artists navigating the “Wild West” of the art market—a “ground up” look at the art world ecosystem that we joked was “the other side of the rainbow” from her previous film. 

We began filming in 2019, continuing through the pandemic and capturing an unexpectedly vulnerable and reflective moment in the art world in which purpose, value, and labor were being reexamined. There are many ideas introduced in the film, but the central concern is about the well-being of the makers. The question at the heart of the film is: What are we—as a society—risking by not supporting the labor of those among us who are making work that challenges us to see the world—and ourselves—more honestly? To quote the artist Charles Gaines, who spoke with urgency on this matter in the film, “we need to rethink how we treat a discipline whose main purpose is to produce ideas, not consumer objects.”

What’s next for you? Any exciting projects on the horizon?

Yes—! I have been co-directing a feature documentary about a fascinating academic experiment (currently paused as a team member recovers from a medical issue). I’m also in late-stage production on a short documentary following a family who self-deported from New York to ensure their transgender son could continue to have access to gender affirming care.

I’m also in development on a television docuseries—so if any producers are looking for an exciting project to get involved with, my inbox is open… Finally, I’ll be at SXSW this year (can’t disclose why yet!) and I’m collaborating with a publisher on a textbook about ethics in documentary filmmaking…Whew!

NYWIFT Member Kelcey Edwards

Learn more about Kelcey Edwards via her website www.irongateeast.com and follow her on Instagram at @kelcey_edwards.

(All photos courtesy of Kelcey Edwards)