A new episode of the podcast First Online with Fran, hosted by NYWIFT member Fran McGarry, is now streaming. In the new episode, “BAB On 3 Productions: Acknowledging Our Authentic Selves” Fran sits down with Jennifer Pyle, Carla Kelly, and Gina Dobson to discuss their comedy series BAB On 3. Listen now.
Launching 2023, Climate ChangeTheatR brings the joy of puppets and music to the very immediate and serious topic of climate change. Filmmaker and NYWIFT Member Nancy Cohen-koan and Composer Dave Ogrin illuminate the growing problems of peril to our planet through the performances of singing, homemade puppets. Tongue-in-cheek and often ironic, these quick TikTok and Instagram vignettes illustrate the growing issues on our planet and offer solutions on how to deal with them through the antics of characters from Moses and Pharoah to Barbie and Ken. Please help CCT by following their show and practicing green think. Follow them on TikTok and Instagram.
The 20th Annual Santiago Álvarez “in Memoriam” International Documentary Film Festival will take place in Santiago de Cuba from March 3-8. The festival is named for, and honors, the groundbreaking documentary work done by Cuban filmmaker Santiago Álvarez, one of the founders of ICAIC, the Cuban film institute. This year’s Festival is dedicated to independent documentary filmmakers in the U.S. and will feature a special showcase of films by 14 U.S. and Puerto Rican filmmakers. The showcase has been co-curated by NYWIFT Member Pam Sporn. Learn more.
We Don’t Dance for Nothing, produced by NYWIFT Member Huilin Katrina Chen, is now streaming on Prime Video, Tubi in the US, and Vimeo on Demand worldwide. We Don’t Dance for Nothing is an experimental doc and a photo-montage love letter to the Filipina Domestic Workers of Hong Kong. This visual recreation of true memories shared by this community of 400,000 women (millions globally) follows one woman’s plan to run away. Captured on Super-16 amidst Hong Kong Protests, it blends stills with motions to highlight the passionate Street Dancing of these marginalized women, and touch upon LGBTQ+ themes, issues of Workers’ Rights, and Hong Kong’s changing political landscape.
Strangers to Peace, a documentary from NYWIFT Member Laura Angel Rengifo, is now available to stream on AT&T U-Verse, DirecTV, Dish Network, Amazon, iTunes, Apple TV, Vudu, Google Play, and YouTube Movies. This documentary takes viewers on a journey to Colombia and delves into the stories of three former child soldiers as they attempt to rebuild their lives after leaving the Colombian Conflict. The film received the NYWIFT Excellency in Documentary Directing Award at the New York Latino Film Festival. Learn more and stream the film.
Tickets are available for the 11th Annual Winter Film Awards International Film Festival. The festival includes 73 awesome films, 9 engaging discussion panels and career-building professional development workshops and super-fun parties at venues throughout NYC! The festival will run Feb 16-25. Learn more and purchase tickets. Enter code WFA23GRP20 for 20% off tickets.
The pilot episode of Drama Mama News, a new web series from NYWIFT member Cathleen Campbell is now on YouTube. Drama Mama News takes a serious and satirical look at today’s issues from a Black woman’s point-of-view. This show isn’t only for Black women: It’s thought-provoking, funny and inspiring. Watch now. Cathleen is currently crowdfunding for the web series – see more information in the Crowdfunding section below.
The filmmakers of Calendar Girls are hosting a screening of the film at The Swedish Residence in NYC. The love of dance and glitter bonds an unlikely group of 60+ women in Florida. But under the veil of fake lashes and unicorn horns lurks the deeper truths of what aging women face within society. Sisterhood, love, loss, all come into play in this uplifting film about trying to age on your own terms. The evening follows with a discussion led by Hilary Brougher and the Swedish director duo Maria Loohuvud and Love Martinsen. The film will screen at The Swedish Residence 600 Park Ave (64th and Park) on Feb 15 at 7pm ET. RSVP to aviva.neuman@gov.se by Feb 6.
Remember This will screen at The Quad in NYC and Laemmle Theaters in Santa Monica. In a virtuoso solo performance, Academy Award-nominee David Strathairn portrays Jan Karski in Remember This, a genre-defying true story of a reluctant World War II hero and Holocaust witness. After surviving the devastation of the Blitzkrieg, Karski swears allegiance to the Polish Underground and risks his life to carry eyewitness reports of war-torn Poland to the Western world, and ultimately, the Oval Office. Escaping a Gestapo prison, bearing witness to the despair of the Warsaw ghetto and confronted by the inhumanity, Karski endures unspeakable mental anguish and physical torture to stand tall in the halls of power and speak the truth. NYWIFT Advisory Board member Harlene Freezer is the Co-Executive Producer and NYWIFT member Beth Levison is the Consulting Producer.
The film will screen at The Quad in NYC beginning Jan 27. Learn more and purchase tickets.
The film will screen at Laemmle Theaters in Santa Monica beginning Feb 3. Learn more and purchase tickets.
Honoring Eric Bentley: A Centennial Tribute Concert, produced by NYWIFT Member Karyn Levitt, will screen at New Plaza Cinema at Macaulay Honors College. Eric Bentley is one of the most respected theater critics, playwrights, editors and translators of our time. For his 100th birthday, a galaxy of stars honored him at Broadway’s legendary Town Hall. This unique film captures their tributes highlighting Bentley’s influential contributions which changed how theater is understood and performed. The historic evening featured the participation of Tony Kushner, Austin Pendleton, Harold Bloom, James Shapiro, Edward Mendelson, Phillip Lopate, Louise Kerz Hirschfeld, Michael Paller, and Roger Copeland, and was emceed by Michael Riedel. The film will screen Jan 28 at 12:30pm ET. Actor, director, and playwright Austin Pendleton and filmmaker Karyn Levitt will lead an audience discussion about Eric Bentley’s last influence, following the screening. Learn more and purchase tickets.
Move When the Spirit Says Move: The Legacy of Dorothy Foreman Cotton, a film from NYWIFT Member Deborah C. Hoard, will have its world premiere at the Pan African Film Festival in LA. Dorothy Foreman Cotton was a bold and highly effective civil rights leader, who educated thousands in their citizenship rights and inspired generations of activists with her powerful freedom songs. The only woman on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s executive staff, Dorothy was a charismatic, courageous and consistently overlooked key player in the Civil Rights Movement, whose freedom schools, freedom songs and inspiring messages of the power within us all are profoundly needed today. Learn more.
Tickets are available for the 11th Annual Winter Film Awards International Film Festival. The festival includes 73 awesome films, 9 engaging discussion panels and career-building professional development workshops and super-fun parties at venues throughout NYC! The festival will run Feb 16-25. Learn more and purchase tickets. Enter code WFA23GRP20 for 20% off tickets.
NYWIFT Member Lisa Romagnoli‘s short film How To Open A Clam, is now streaming online. The film, after completing its 2021-22 festival run, during which it played at the Woods Hole Film Festival, the Coney Island Film Festival, the New Faces New Voices Festival, and was a semi-finalist in the Rhode Island International Film Festival is on Vimeo. This comedic drama is about a young man (Adam) and his two friends, who are on a weekend beach trip at Adam’s family house. But after a clamming expedition, Adam becomes frustrated by his inability to open a clam, and his growing obsession threatens to destroy friendships. Watch now.
A new episode of the podcast First Online with Fran, hosted by NYWIFT member Fran McGarry, is now streaming. In the new episode, “Janet Stilson: Shiny Objects Exposed”, Fran sits down with fellow NYWIFT Member, journalist and writer Janet Stilson, to discuss Janet’s novel The Juice. Listen now.
NYWIFT Member Kristin Reiber Harris is the recipient of a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts. The grant will fund Reiber Harris’s Life’s in the Balance – a series of drawings documenting various ecosystems in a New York City Park. These new drawings will be a continuation of the body of work she has created for over 50 years to celebrate and explore the interdependence of all life, all in the context of sacred geometry. Reiber Harris has her work available for purchase on Amazon and Artsy. Learn more.
Darwin Fick will screen at the Museum of the Moving Image as part of the Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival. When a famous author develops writer’s block, an unusual option arises. The short film was co-produced by and stars NYWIFT Members Eve Austin and Kristin Samuelson. The screening will take place Dec 16 at 8pm ET. Learn more and purchase tickets. Enter code PKD2022 for discount.
How My Grandmother Won WWII, a 6-part podcast series from NYWIFT Member Enid Zentelis, is now streaming everywhere you find podcasts. A granddaughter’s journey to discover the truth about her Hungarian Jewish grandmother’s covert work for the British Special Operations during WWII. What does it look like when fascism turns your country upside down? How do you fight bigotry and hatred when hopelessness and apathy have set in? Learn more and listen now.
Nkosi Eclipsed, a short documentary from NYWIFT Members Candice Delevante and Tamara Daley, is now available to stream via PZAZ.TV. The documentary follows the saga of Nkosi Gray-El, and his journey before, throughout, and after incarceration. By rediscovering an early childhood practice, Nkosi uses yoga to help his fellow inmates endure intense physical, mental, and emotional suffering behind bars. Learn more.
A brand-new, special episode of podcast I Was Never There is available to stream! In this series, take a trip into the countercultural movements swirling through West Virginia in the 1970s and 80s. NYWIFT Advisory Board President Jamie Zelermyer and her mother Karen investigate the shocking disappearance of their friend Marsha “Mudd” Ferber and explore her evolution from suburban housewife to back-to-the-land hippie to drug-dealing bar owner. As mother and daughter venture deeper into the mystery of Marsha’s disappearance, the two process their own history: Jamie reflects on her nontraditional upbringing and Karen reckons with the joyful and complicated consequences of her decisions. Listen now.
Around the Sun Podcast, co-produced by NYWIFT member Suzanne Ordas Curry, is available to stream. Looking for something new to listen to? How about a series of fun, engaging and thought-provoking short stories? Around the Sun Podcast, the popular podcast series is back for a second season starting October 2022 with new episodes throughout the fall. It stars iconic and well-known actors from stage and screen. Created by Brad Forenza and presented via the Broadway Podcast Network, you’ll hear fictional stories (under 10 minutes) about love, relationships, coming of age, identity, retirement, life choices, sustainability, and even a few aliens. Learn more and listen.
The Tollbooth, a film by NYWIFT Member Debra Kirschner, is now streaming on Tubi. The film follows a struggling painter as she makes her way through her first year out of art school in this comic exploration of a Jewish family’s life in Brooklyn. Watch now.
A Tree of Life: The Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting, a documentary produced by NYWIFT Member Susan Margolin, is now streaming on HBO Max. The film, an HBO original documentary from Emmy-winning director Trish Adlesic and executive producers Michael Keaton, Billy Porter, and Mark Cuban, and featuring an original song by Idina Menzel, premiered Oct 26 on HBOMax. On October 27th, 2018, a gunman opened fire inside a Pittsburgh synagogue, killing eleven people as they prayed, in what would become the deadliest antisemitic attack in American history. A Tree of Life: The Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting is a deeply personal portrait of the survivors, victims and family members, who share their harrowing first-hand accounts of the impact of the shooting on the community. The film is rooted in a community in the aftermath of a violent attack, as they work to rebuild and heal. Learn more.
Monk Arsenije, directed by NYWIFT Svetlana Cemin, is streaming on Prime Video UK. Monk Arsenije, once a Belgradian cult figure from the ’80s who has been living as a monk for the past 30 years, is engaged in restoring and creating a spiritual and cultural center in the Monastery of Ribnica, central Serbia. Watch the film now. Svetlana was recently interviewed about the film at the Swedish International Film Festival. Listen now. Adam Fuss: A Landscape of Imagination, another film directed by Svetlana, is currently available to stream on Prime Video in both the UK and US!
When Love Hurts, directed and co-produced by NYWIFT Member Patience Okhuofu, will screen at CityPlex Cinema in Newark, NJ. When Love Hurts is a story that was inspired by the issues of immigration, child abuse, domestic violence, mental health, and trauma that plague our community. The screening will take place Nov 3. The event will begin with a red carpet at 6pm, followed by the screening of the film at 7pm prompt. After, there will be a Q&A session, ending with a brief video interview. Learn more and purchase tickets.
NYWIFT Board Member Okema T. Moore recently ran creative and directed the new HERTAKE commercial for Lifetime. The commercial, airing on Lifetime for Hispanic Heritage Month, features art therapist Athena Castillo, and was produced by Octavia Pride for HollandWest Productions. Watch now.
A new episode of Mentors on the Mic, a podcast hosted by NYWIFT Member Michelle Miller, is now streaming. For the latest episode Michelle sits down with filmmaker Winter Dunn. Winter Dunn is an award winning producer, director and actress. She produced Numa Perrier’s debut feature film, Jezebel which premiered at SXSW 2019 and was awarded Best Narrative Feature at the American Black Film Festival that same year. Jezebel has been acquired by Ava DuVernay and is currently streaming on Netflix. Plus, NYWIFT screened Dunn’s short film Dear Mama at the Hamptons Film Festival Women Calling the Shots showcase earlier this month. Listen now.
Black Public Media presents their new short film series Be Heard: I Am Who I Say I Am. Commemorate LGBTQ History Month by watching the 3 part mini-series which explores stories around gender identity and affirmation. Whether you’re new to understanding the nuances of gender identity or have been advocating gender affirmation for years, check out BPM’s new short film series celebrating three feel-good stories of gender affirmation. The series is one of many BPM programs leading up to Transgender Awareness Week. Watch now on YouTube.
In Fidelity, a feature film executive produced by and starring NYWIFT Member Eve Austin, has cast Chris Parnell, Cara Buono, Dennis Haysbert in lead roles. Rob Margolies’ New York-set film follows a happily married husband who permits his terminally ill wife to sleep with their rock star neighbor. Read the Hollywood Reporter article
Invisible Demons is now streaming on MUBI. In the sprawling mega city of Delhi, the dangers of climate change are present, not future, for 30 million inhabitants fighting to survive. Invisible Demons explores the dramatic consequences of India’s growing economy, capturing a city in crisis, and our collective climate realities. This documentary is an unapologetically glaring but aesthetically stunning call to action for climate change. Watch the film and sign up for 30 days of free MUBI.
NYWIFT Member Jean Criss was recently interviewed for The Burn Podcast. Each week, April Stearns and the writers of Wildfire Magazine share their experiences of being diagnosed with breast cancer under 50. The Burn is about telling cancer stories like you’ve never read, or heard, before. Jean Criss is an author, digital media entrepreneur, festival and multimedia producer, tech innovator, post-surgical fashion designer, and a certified bra fitter. She was diagnosed with both Stage 0 and Stage 1 ductal breast cancer in her mid-40s. Since treatment, 15 years ago, Jean has had no evidence of disease. Today she reads her piece “My Million Dollar Boobs Led to a Million Words” from Wildfire Magazine’s 2022 “Money and Cancer” issue. April and Jean discuss transforming from patient to owning your own voice by sharing your story, advice for people who don’t consider themselves writers, and Jean’s entrepreneurial work turning pain into purpose by creating a line of post breast surgery bras. Learn more and listen now.
Hell of a Cruise, produced by NYWIFT Board Member Gretchen McGowan, is streaming on Peacock. The documentary feature tells the harrowing tale of a cursed cruise ship in the early days of COVID-19, from frightened passengers and an oppressed crew to venal corporate powerbrokers and hapless government officials. Watch now.
The African Desperate is now screening in select NYC theaters and is available to stream on MUBI. The riotous coming-of-age comedy from acclaimed artist Martine Syms, tracks one very long day for Palace Bryant (Diamond Stingily), a newly minted MFA grad whose final 24 hours in art school become a real trip. Through a hazy night-long odyssey from academic critiques to backseat hookups, The African Desperate sparkles with razor-sharp satire and vivid aesthetic invention. The film is currently screening at BAM and Quad Cinema in NYC. Learn more and watch now.
Simone Jackson from The J Lounge podcast recently sat down and interviewed producer, director, and NYWIFT Board Member Alex Cirillo. Step into The J Lounge where Simone has open discussions, on topics in entertainment, celebrity interviews, and first time recipes. Listen now.
The Only Woman In The World, by NYWIFT Member Debra Markowitz, is now available on Amazon Prime Video. The film follows an up-and-coming film director who is torn between forgiving the lover who broke her heart and risking it all for her leading man. Watch now.
From first-time filmmaker and New Orleans native Edward Buckles, Jr., Katrina Babies offers an intimate look at the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and its impact on the youth of New Orleans. NYWIFT Board Member Audrey Rosenberg produced the Tribeca Festival award-winning film, which is now available to watch on HBO Max.
Sixteen years after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, an entire generation still grapples with the lifelong impact of having their childhood redefined by tragedy. New Orleans filmmaker Edward Buckles Jr., who was 13 years old during Katrina and its initial aftermath, spent seven years documenting the stories of his peers who survived the storm as children, using his community’s tradition of oral storytelling to open a door for healing and to capture the strength and spirit of his city. Katrina Babies details the close-knit families and vibrant communities of New Orleans whose lives were uprooted by the 2005 disaster. These American children who were airlifted out of the rising waters, evacuated from their homes to refugee-like centers, or placed in makeshift, temporary living situations, have been neglected. As families were tasked with reintegrating into new communities, having experienced loss, displacement, and lack of support from government officials, the children were left to process their trauma in a wounded, fractured city.
Two new episodes of the podcast First Online with Fran, hosted by NYWIFT member Fran McGarry, are now streaming:
“Joan Kane: Speaking Truth” – listen now.
“Emma Palzere-Rae: Raising Representation Awareness” – listen now.
Both episodes focus on theatre, how it heals, and covers issues of creativity and find one’s voice through the medium. If you would like to be interviewed for the podcast, contact Fran.
Now Let’s Talk Podcast, hosted by NYWIFT Members Vanessa Cordova-Corwin and Kathleen Kaan, has a new episode available to stream. Don’t miss this special episode, “Everything You Need to Know About Monkeypox.” Jason Cianciotto, VP of Communications and Public Policy for Gay Men’s Health Crisis, provides a comprehensive overview of this disease and explains all aspects of this public health emergency, including how to protect yourself and what to do if you think you have been exposed. Jason has also appeared on CNN and other news outlets. Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, anchor.fm, iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. Listen now.
I Was Never There, a podcast from NYWIFT Board President Jamie Zelermyer and her mother, Karen Zelermyer, is now available to stream on Apple Podcasts. Jamie and Karen created the podcast to investigate what happened to their friend Marsha Ferber who disappeared from Morgantown, West Virginia in 1988, when Jamie was 15 years old. One afternoon she went out to run an errand and she was never seen or heard from again. Jamie recently wrote a piece for Newsweek talking about Marsha’s disappearance. Read more and listen to the podcast.
The second season of Only Murders in the Building is now streaming on Hulu. Only Murders in the Building follows three strangers (Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez) who share an obsession with true crime and suddenly find themselves wrapped up in one. When a grisly death occurs inside their exclusive Upper West Side apartment building, the trio suspects murder and employs their precise knowledge of true crime to investigate the truth. Former NYWIFT Board Member Destiny Lilly served as a casting director on the new season. Watch on Hulu.
Andrea Dworkin: INTERVIEWS is available to watch on YouTube. The series of interviews with feminist icon, Andrea Dworkin, was produced, directed, and edited by NYWIFT Member Roberta Pyzel. Dworkin challenges us to rethink our most deeply imbedded ideas about the hierarchies of domination and submission that infuse our sexual, social and economic relationships. Her courageous commitment to elevating the voices of people, especially women, who are suffering, was born out of a deep compassion and a belief that another kind of world is possible… a world that disavows cruelty and embraces a truly egalitarian society. Watch now.
Slayer, a short film from NYWIFT Member Eileen McQueen, is available to watch on YouTube. Three friends, a shortcut, and a monster – Teesh, Monet and Yuko, give up on the bus and take a shortcut through Forest Park in Queens, NYC and they are determined to get to the other side, no matter WHAT gets in their way. Watch now.
Being Bebe, directed by NYWIFT Member Emily Branham, is now available to stream on Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video. Just in time for PRIDE, the award-winning doc film Being Bebe captures the incredible rise of the first ever winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race: the legendary BeBe Zahara Benet. The film intimately charts 15 years for the drag performer, an immigrant from homophobic Cameroon, first champion on iconic LGBTQ+ reality show RuPaul’s Drag Race and a leading artist celebrating Queer Black Excellence today. Learn more and watch.
Drown the Clown, starring NYWIFT Member Amy Renée Garcia, is now available to stream on Amazon Prime Video. Claire Sable (Amy Renée Garcia), who recently lost her daughter, Lily, in a drowning accident, struggles to cope and insists on preserving her daughter’s belongings; however, when Lily’s clown doll begins popping up in several places, Claire is spooked. For her performance in the film, Amy was awarded Best Actress in a Feature Film Award from the Culver City Film Festival (2020.) Watch now.
The Courtney Harmel Collection has been featured in the Global Image Works newsletter. Video artist, filmmaker and NYWIFT Member Courtney Harmel was a key player in New York’s downtown video scene, producing work that documented the ‘No Wave’ retail and performance culture of the mid-1980s. The performers and artists in her work include Joey Arias, Charles Busch, Alexis del Lago, Divine, John “Lypsinka” Epperson, Tony Frere, Keith Haring, Grace Jones, John Kelly, Tanya Ransom, Gerard Little, Ann Magnuson, Wendy Wild, John Sex, Andy Warhol, and Madonna. A program of her videos of performance and fashion from the 1980s in downtown New York was in the Club 57exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. Her work is in the museum’s permanent collection. Learn more.
Sneakerella, executive produced by NYWIFT Board Member Rachel Watanabe-Batton, will be available to stream on Disney+ next month! The movie, set in the avant-garde street/sneaker culture of New York City, follows El, an aspiring designer from Queens who works as a stock boy in the shoe store once owned by his late mother. With an overburdened stepfather and two mean-spirited stepbrothers coming between any opportunity that comes his way, a chance meeting with Kira King, the daughter of former NBA star/sneaker tycoon Darius King, may be the spark that ignites El as they bond over their shared love of sneakers. With help from his best friend and some “fairy godfather” magic, El finds the courage to pursue his dream. Sneakerella drops Friday, May 13 on Disney+. Watch the trailer.
NYWIFT member Julija Avramenko has created a video to raise awareness of the conflict in her home country of Ukraine. The video features Ukranian children asking the world to listen, to end this war, to stop the horror and suffering being inflicted upon the innocents which have nothing to do with the conflict. Julija has asked NYWIFT to share this video to give a voice to those most vulnerable, and to spread a message of unity, cooperation and kindness when it matters most. Watch now.
Lucy and Desi, a new documentary directed by Amy Poehler, is now streaming on Prime Video. Lucy and Desi explores the unlikely partnership and enduring legacy of one of the most prolific power couples in entertainment history. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz risked everything to be together. Their love for each other led to the most influential show in the history of television, I Love Lucy. The documentary features interviews with Lucie Arnaz Luckinbill, Norman Lear, Desi Arnaz Jr., Carol Burnett, and Bette Midler. NYWIFT Member Michele Spitz sponsored and produced the audio-description, and NYWIFT member Sara Bernstein was Executive Producer on the film. Watch the film.
Asking For It is now available on all major streaming and VOD platforms. After a small town waitress is sexually assaulted on a date, she meets Regina and Beatrice and is recruited into their vigilante group of badass women. Together they strive to take down a society overpowered by corrupt men and seek the ultimate revenge while getting their own version of justice. Asking For It was recently given the ReFrame Stamp, a distinction for projects that have demonstrated gender-balanced hiring. NYWIFT member Jendra Jarnagin was cinematographer on the film. Watch the trailer.
The LIBBY Show: Lunch with the Ladies is streaming on YouTube. The new online talk show, produced and hosted by NYWIFT member Suzanne Ordas Curry, aims to entertain, inform and inspire women “of a certain age.” To coincide with Black History Month Suzanne interviewed Dr. Francois Clemmons, the postman from Mister Roger’s Neighborhood who shared a pool with Fred Rogers in the iconic scene from the show. Dr. Clemmons also stars in the podcast Around the Sun, co-produced by Suzanne. Watch now.
NYWIFT Member Nancy Cohen‘s new short play The Best is Yet To Come or Else is available to watch through the Library Equity Theatre of New York and on YouTube. The play, which Nancy wrote many years ago, was accepting to Library Equity’s Winter 2022 Virtual Play Festival and was shot in a few weeks at Nancy’s local pub. The short play stars fellow NYWIFT member Olivia Welch – who Nancy found and cast through the NYWIFT Member Directory! Watch the short play and make sure to check out the NYWIFT Member Directory whenever you’re looking to hire or connect.
Chocolate Road, the debut documentary feature from NYWIFT member Tanya Chuturkova, is available on VOD. Chocolate Road is a discovery of where chocolate comes from. Three renowned chocolatiers – Maribel Lieberman, Susumu Koyama and Mikkel Friis-Holm – take us through the process of craft chocolate-making, starting from the plantations, through the different stages of preparation of the beans and all the way to the final chocolate pieces. On their journey each of them finds how important it is to know the roots of their prime material – the cacao bean, and the social impact of the people involved in the chocolate production chain. Learn more and rent the film.
Around the Sun Podcast, from NYWIFT member Suzanne Ordas Curry (Co-Producer/PR), is available to stream. The episodic podcast, which was recently featured in Variety, is available through the Broadway Podcast Network and new episodes will drop until Thanksgiving. The podcast features the voices of Marsha Mason, Sally Struthers, BD Wong, Alysia Reiner, RHONJ Dolores Catania, Maureen Van Zandt, Vincent Pastore, Lilli Cooper, Veanne Cox and many more from stage and screen. Each episode tackles a social issue with warmth, humor and insight. Learn more.
A Case of Blue, from NYWIFT member Suzanne Ordas Curry (Co-Producer/PR) is available to stream. The independent feature film which stars Stephen Schnetzer (Homeland, Another World) and Anapurna Sriram (Billions, Feral) is being distributed by 1091 Media and is now available for rental or purchase on most major platforms. The film is about a retiree looking to figure out what he wants to do with his life, starting his quest with an art class in NYC. Learn more.
Neoyorquinos, a Spotify original podcast in Spanish, is the result of the collective effort and perseverance of five Latinx/Latin Americans. The executive producers, Carol Colmenares and Mariella Perez-Perez are proud NYWIFT members. “We had the opportunity to meet with several industry representatives, and Spotify’s curiosity was piqued” said Carol Colmenares, EP for Neoyorquinos. The podcast invites the audience to rediscover New York through the eyes of Latin American artists. Mariza Bafile’s writing evokes a poem, a love letter to New York where artists find meaning and inspiration. Directed by Flavia Romani, the soundscape of the city, the vibe and hustle is brought to life. Adding Estefania Giraldo’s melodious voice and the heartfelt stories of the featured artists, listeners will be transported to Williamsburg Beach or Bryant Park or perhaps they’ll recognize the characteristic sounds in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. “We are moved by a desire and a commitment to produce a quality podcast that anyone with an affinity to New York, can enjoy” said Mariella Perez-Perez Co-Executive Producer of Neoyorquinos. Neoyorquinos is produced by Viceversa Magazine and Timeline Digital. Listen for free on Spotify.
Lust Life Love, a narrative feature film written, produced, and co-directed by NYWIFT member Stephanie Sellars, is now available to stream on all major on-demand platforms. When a bisexual, polyamorous sex blogger falls madly in love with a monogamous man, she comes face to face with the frightening truth about herself. Sellars starred in the film alongside Jake Choi. Prior to distribution, Lust Life Love screened at five film festivals including Berlin Independent Film Festival (Best Romance Feature), Queens World Film Festival (Best LGBTQ Feature), and FilmOut San Diego LGBTQ Film Festival (Freedom Award). Learn more.
NYWIFT member Kimberly Singleton has launched a podcast version of her television show Consider It Blacklit. This show highlights films, television programs and stage plays featuring African Americans up front and behind the scenes. The podcast also discusses social issues related to these programs and how they impact our communities. Singleton interviews directors, writers, producers, actors, content creators, arts organization leaders and overall film/television/stage enthusiasts. The podcast is available on Brooklyn Free Speech Radio, Apple Podcast, Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeart Radio, Overcast, Castro, Castbox and Podfriend. New episodes are uploaded every Monday. Learn more and listen.
