NYWIFT Program Recap: Alison Klayman’s Flower Punk
"Flower Punk," Alison Klayman’s film recently released on The New Yorker documentary site, delights visually and aesthetically with the bonus of illuminating Japanese cultural traditions regarding the natural world. We recap our conversation with Alison following the NYWIFT screening of the film.
READ MOREAll In: The Fight for Democracy – A Conversation with Lisa Cortés (Part II)
The second part of Christina Kiely's two-part interview with All In: The Fight for Democracy co-director Lisa Cortés, conducted on Zoom in anticipation of her participation at the NYWIFT 2020 Creative Workforce Summit: Documentary Makers, Industry and Funders in Conversation next week.
READ MOREAll In: The Fight for Democracy – A Conversation with Lisa Cortés (Part I)
All In: The Fight for Democracy is the essential new documentary the LA Times called “an eloquent history lesson on voting rights.” Co-directed by Lisa Cortés and Liz Garbus, the film tells the painful history of voter suppression in America as it traces the story of gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams and her 2018 run in Georgia. Oscar-nominated producer NYWIFT Member Lisa Cortés (Precious, The Apollo, Remix: Hip Hop X Fashion) joined NYWIFT Board Member Christina Kiely to discuss All In: The Fight for Democracy, why it matters so much right now, how they pulled it off during the pandemic, and why Stacey Abrams’s story needed to be the spine of the film – apart from the fact that we love her.
READ MORECynthia’s Picks: All In, WFPF Submissions, Production Resumes
All In: If you haven’t seen All In: The Fight for Democracy yet on Amazon, do it – it’s a must-see, especially now. Filmmakers Liz Garbus and NYWIFT member Lisa Cortes examine the history of voter suppression and the activists who fight for the rights of U.S. citizens. WFPF Submissions: The NYWIFT Women’s Film Preservation...
READ MOREKavery Kaul’s Long Way from Home Explores Bias through the Eyes of High School Students
Hailed by historian Robin Kelley as “one of the most powerful and inspiring documentaries of our era,” NYWIFT member Kavery Kaul’s Long Way from Home is the moving and provocative story of three remarkable girls entering ninth grade at top schools steeped in bias towards race, class, and culture. Though the film was made nearly 15 years ago, the issues still resonate in today’s climate of racial injustice and civil unrest. Kavery sat down to discuss how she put together this incredible portrait and what – if anything – has changed in our culture in the years since.
READ MORERecap of Denise Ho: Becoming the Song Virtual Event with Sue Williams
Filmmaker Sue Williams has a love affair with the city of Hong Kong. So when a friend introduced her to the Cantopop superstar Denise Ho, she knew she had the subject of her next film. But, what happens when current events upend the planned story arch of your film at the end of production?
READ MOREOlympia Premieres Online July 9th
The feature length documentary, Olympia, celebrating the life and career of Academy Award-winning actress Olympia Dukakis, will have a national LIVE streaming premiere in North America on July 9th at 8pm ET, followed by a Q&A, with a special premiere screening in Greece and Europe at 1pm ET on July 10th and an exclusive ‘virtual cinema’ release beginning Friday, July 10th.
READ MORE“Call Your Mother” Panel: Top Takeaways
Leah Curney looks back on her favorite humorous - and heartfelt - moments from NYWIFT's "Call Your Mother" comedy panel.
READ MORETop Takeaways – NYWIFT Talks: Filmmakers and Activists discuss the Black Lives Matter movement, their life’s work, and hope for the future.
In solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, NYWIFT Talks recently brought together a vibrant panel of award-winning women filmmakers and activists dedicated to fighting systemic racism to discuss their work and the social justice revolution of today.
READ MOREDocumentary Storytelling with Sound Design – Top Takeaways
Sound design in the secret sauce that adds that magical third dimension to media projects. Well-designed audio is so seamless that it is often overlooked because it so beautifully integrates with the visuals. In our recent NYWIFT program, a panel of sound design experts explained how their craft can transform documentary storytelling.
READ MORENYWIFT Member Crystal R. Emery’s THE DEADLIEST DISEASE IN AMERICA Screens May 7th
Intended to reduce systemic negligence creating barriers of access to health care, Producer/ Director Crystal R. Emery will livestream her documentary film, The Deadliest Disease in America on Thursday, May 7, 2020 at 7PM ET on Streamyard, YouTube and Facebook Live – with a special film introduction by Broadcast Journalist Soledad O’Brien.
READ MORETop Takeaways: Preserving Your Mental Health During Challenging Times
As a director and producer, NYWIFT board member Kathryn O'Kane is a planner and she's used to solving problems. The biggest challenge she's finding during the COVID-19 crisis is that there’s not enough information to be able to plan. She attended the NYWIFT “Mental Health and Career Sustainability in the Doc World” panel because to learn how producers can come to terms with that and how to relax into the uncertainty of the moment when it goes against our nature. She offers her top takeaways.
READ MOREDeath Row Stories Season 5 Features Work of Six NYWIFT Members
Season 5 of Death Row Stories premieres this Sunday, April 19 at 8 PM ET/CT on HLN. Told by current and former death row inmates, each episode of Death Row Stories seeks to unravel the truth behind a different capital murder case and poses tough questions about the U.S. capital punishment system. This season, the series features work by six NYWIFT members.
READ MOREShifting the Conversation: Mental Health and Career Sustainability in the Doc World
Living in survival mode and keeping it all together for their crew and subjects is what documentary filmmakers are good at, but it often comes at great costs to their own mental health and physical well-being. Member Janine McGoldrick offers a recap of NYWIFT's recent panel on mental health in the doc world, and how some leaders are starting to shift the conversation to address what was once a taboo subject.
READ MOREWhat’s in Your Toolkit: Sarah Barker
NYWIFT Member Sarah Barker is an accomplished and passionate producer with a decade of experience turning ambitious ideas into award-winning television and live events. Oh, and she also happens to be an astrophysicist! Yes, that's right: she is an astrophysicist, science communicator, and science-advocate, committed to enthusing people about learning. Sarah does this by creating engaging factual television, and enthralling live events. Sarah shared with us what she keeps in her toolkit, here on Earth...
READ MORECynthia’s Picks: Latinx Representation, Kasi Lemmons, The Kingmaker
Latinx Representation: Good news – the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media has partnered with Universal Filmed Entertainment Group to pilot its “Spellcheck for Bias” digital tool, this time in order to help increase Latinx representation onscreen. Kasi Lemmons: 2019 NYWIFT Nancy Malone Directing Award honoree Kasi Lemmons writes in Variety about why she...
READ MOREPennhurst: A Story that Needed to be Told
NYWIFT member Jodie Alexandra Taylor's documentary Pennhurst, which screens at the Member Screening Series on February 25th, was inspired by her visit to what remains of one of the largest and oldest institutions for the intellectually and developmentally disabled. One chapter of the story ended when the institution closed, but the fight for equitable treatment and representation for the disabled continues to this day. Making the movie inspired a fervent commitment on Taylor’s part to continue that dialogue and, in so doing, change the future narrative. Taylor sat down with us to discuss the film and its potential impact.
READ MORECynthia’s Picks: WFPF Award, DOC NYC, Kathryn Hahn
WFPF Award: Major congratulations to NYWIFT’s Women’s Film Preservation Fund (WFPF), which received the Archivist’s Round Table of Metropolitan New York’s 2019 Outstanding Support of Archives award last week. The award recognizes an individual or organization for notable contributions to archival records or archives programs through political, financial or moral support. DOC NYC: There are more...
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