Farah Qureshi, Author at New York Women in Film & TelevisionNew York Women in Film & Television

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Seohee Lee

Welcome to NYWIFT, Seohee Lee! Seohee is a filmmaker, content curator, and marketer working at the intersection of storytelling, cultural exchange, and audience engagement. Based in New York, she works at the Korea Creative Content Agency New York Center, where she leads international marketing strategies and content-driven programs connecting Korean creative industries with global audiences. Her work spans promotional video direction, film program curation, and large-scale cultural collaborations with institutions such as the Korean Cultural Center New York and the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea. Seohee holds an M.F.A. in Film Directing and an M.A. in Arts Management from Carnegie Mellon University. Drawing on both creative and strategic experience, she focuses on enhancing the global reach of cultural storytelling and fostering cross-border dialogue through media and programming. In our interview, Seohee Lee discusses her journey as a filmmaker and content curator, her work in international cultural programming, and the projects she hopes to explore next.

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Jessica Heyman

Welcome to NYWIFT, Jessica Heyman! Jessica is the Founder and Director of Art for Film, a Brooklyn-based company that connects the art world with the film and television industry by providing high-quality, legally cleared artwork for productions. A New York City native, Jessica studied at Barnard College before pivoting from work in social justice and education to the film industry, where she recognized a gap in the market for cleared artwork in New York productions and went on to found Art for Film. Since launching the company in 2006, she has built Art for Film into a trusted resource for set decorators and creative teams, representing a diverse roster of more than 100 artists and placing artwork in thousands of films, television shows, and commercials, including Succession, Mean Girls, and Only Murders in the Building. In our interview, Jessica discussed her path in the film and art worlds, her commitment to artist advocacy, and lessons from building a women-owned business.

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Chicava Roslyn Tate

Welcome to NYWIFT, Chicava Roslyn Tate! Chicava is a burlesque artist, actor, producer, and leading scholar of Black women in burlesque. For more than 15 years, she served as Creative Producer of New York City's Brown Girls Burlesque, developing political and theatrical shows across the United States and internationally. She holds an MFA from Goddard College, where her studies focused on Black burlesque herstory, Taoism, and sacred sexuality. Chicava’s work spans performance, film, and scholarship, including directing The Skin I’m In, co-writing and directing Becoming Betty Page, and developing the docu-series Black Bombshells, which explores the history and cultural legacy of Black women in burlesque and pinup. As an actor, she has appeared in Chock Full Till Empty, Nicole Franklin’s Title VII, and Spike Lee’s film She Hate Me. In our interview, Chicava reflected on her creative journey, the overlooked history of Black women in burlesque, and the projects she is developing to preserve and celebrate this cultural legacy.

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Rachel Fleit

Welcome to NYWIFT, Rachel Fleit! Rachel is a writer, director, and producer known for her intimate, character-driven storytelling across documentary and narrative film and television. With a background in fashion and business, Rachel brings both creative sensitivity and an entrepreneurial mindset to her work, balancing artistic vision with thoughtful leadership. Rachel directed the acclaimed documentary Introducing, Selma Blair and has helmed projects including Bama Rush and Sugar Babies, each reflecting her commitment to emotional honesty and layered storytelling. Her latest award-winning documentary, The Slightest Touch—which follows the extraordinary friendship between Emma Fogarty, who lives with epidermolysis bullosa, and actor Colin Farrell—has been acquired by HBO Documentary Films and is slated to premiere later this year on HBO Max. In our interview, she reflected on building trust with her subjects, navigating personal and cultural storytelling, and the creative directions she’s most excited to explore next.

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Carol Welter

Welcome to NYWIFT, Carol Welter! Carol grew up in the United Kingdom, steeped in classical theatre, before crossing the Atlantic in 1977 and making the United States her home. Trained on the English stage from girlhood, she spent years acting and directing before discovering that writing was her true creative playground. Through Masters-level workshops and decades of artistic exploration, she turned her talents toward stage plays, screenplays, and poetry—crafting stories that blend imagination, humor, and heart. A woman who has worn more hats than a Shakespeare festival costume rack, Carol has directed, designed, and shaped productions from the ground up. Now a spirited senior storyteller, she writes across continents and galaxies, drawn to tales of transformation, unlikely heroes, and tender love stories. In our interview, Carol reflects on her journey from the stage to the page, the themes that inspire her work, and the new projects she’s most excited to share.

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Belén Vilarrasa-Corriero

Welcome to NYWIFT, Belén Vilarrasa-Corriero! Belén is a Spanish-American documentary filmmaker making her directorial debut with Entre Las Paredes (Within the Walls), an intimate, feature-length project in development that follows her Abuela’s final days. Born and raised in New York City in a bilingual household, Belén brings a deeply personal lens to her work, believing that some of the most powerful stories live within our own families. Alongside her own projects, Belén works as an assistant director across narrative and commercial productions, where her focus, adaptability, and collaborative spirit help keep sets running smoothly. A graduate of the School of Visual Arts, she continues to grow her craft through diverse filmmaking experiences, driven by a dedication to emotionally resonant, visually compelling storytelling. In our interview, Belén reflects on documenting her family’s history, navigating grief and memory through film, and the projects she’s most excited to explore next.

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Nadia Voukitchevitch

Welcome to NYWIFT, Nadia Voukitchevitch! Nadia is an award-winning filmmaker with over two decades of experience across film, television, and branded content. She is the founder Nadia Films, a creative content production company and boutique agency that produces globally focused, multicultural, and multilingual work across media. Through Nadia Films and its newly launched division, The Creative Collective, Nadia brings together collaborative teams of creators to craft meaningful, commercially viable work rooted in powerful storytelling. Her projects often intersect with social impact, advocacy, and cultural history, reflecting a deep commitment to human rights, women’s voices, and education-driven narratives. In our interview, she reflects on her filmmaking journey, the responsibility of telling stories rooted in lived experience, and the projects she’s most excited to bring to life next.

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Erin Kelly

Welcome to NYWIFT, Erin Kelly! Erin is an entertainment insurance professional with a background in film and television production. A graduate of Loyola Marymount University with a degree in Film Production, she began her career working on documentary and television projects, including the feature documentary Knuckleball and CBS’s Entertainment Tonight. In 2016, Erin transitioned into entertainment insurance and now serves as Underwriting Manager for the Film/TV/DICE segment of the Entertainment Department at Intact Insurance Group. Based in New York City, Erin remains deeply connected to the industry as a self-described “film school kid” at heart and an avid moviegoer. In our interview, she shares insights on her journey from production to entertainment insurance, the risks facing today’s productions, and the lessons she’s learned along the way.

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Sun Roller

Welcome to NYWIFT, Sun Roller! Sun Roller is a Chickasaw creative and producer raised in Oklahoma and based in New York City. With a career spanning production design, art direction, project management, and large-scale leadership, Sun Roller brings a deeply intentional, intuitive approach to every project she touches—grounded in spirituality, connection to nature, and collaboration. Sun Roller has worked across film and television on projects including Reservation Dogs, I Saw the TV Glow, Poker Face and The Lowdown. In recent years, she has expanded her work into producing, with a focus on Indigenous-led stories and community-centered narratives. When she’s not on set or behind a computer, Sun Roller can often be found outdoors soaking up the Sun and enjoying time in nature with her elder pup, Wrigley, and her partner, Annie H. In our interview, Sun Roller reflects on her path into film and television, building a career across male-dominated industries, and the stories she’s most excited to bring to the screen next.

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Juleyka Lantigua

Welcome to NYWIFT, Juleyka Lantigua! Juleyka is an award-winning filmmaker, journalist, and the Founder of LWC Studios, a digital media studio dedicated to creating socially conscious storytelling for rising-majority audiences. As a filmmaker, she has executive produced multiple short films and documentaries, including the Peabody Award-nominated podcast series 70 Million through LWC Studios. A Fulbright Scholar with a Master’s degree in Journalism and an MFA in Creative Writing, Juleyka brings a multidisciplinary approach to storytelling—one that blends rigorous reporting with deeply human narratives across platforms.

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Bakhtawar Tagar

Welcome to NYWIFT, Bakhtawar Tagar! Bakhtawar is a Pakistani-Canadian documentary filmmaker and editor based in Brooklyn. Her work is rooted in amplifying marginalized voices through stories centered on indigenous land rights, environmental and human rights justice, decolonization, women's rights, and LGBTQ+ advocacy. A lifelong storyteller, Bakhtawar grew up devouring books, magazines, and news stories. In her 20s, witnessing the persecution of minority communities in Pakistan, while much of the world remained unaware, she felt a responsibility to bring these stories to light, with the hope of making the world a little more just, one story at a time. Bakhtawar’s short documentary Naaz, which follows her aunt, Dr. Farah Naz, a healthcare provider in a rural village in Pakistan working to keep her not-for-profit maternal health clinic open amid systemic and personal challenges, recently won Best Editing at the Delhi International Short Film Festival and is set to screen at the Athena Film Festival in New York City in March. In our interview, she discussed her journey into documentary filmmaking, her commitment to social justice storytelling, and the responsibility she feels toward the stories she tells.

Posts by: Farah Qureshi