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Kuwaiti born, London bred, and American educated, Hind Al-awadi earned a BA in Psychology and Communications from UPENN. With a penchant for film, she moved back to the Middle East after graduation to rediscover her roots and participate in an infantile film industry with growing infrastructure in the region. Though she has been dabbling in creating her own short films, with a recent collaboration featured in the Gulf Film Festival, she’s attending The New School for more formal training.
Elise Bialylew has a strong interest in the perennial questions of existence, mortality and life purpose. At medical school she held the brain of a cadaver in her hands and wondered how the multitude of human emotion and thought could be contained within a kilogram of white and grey matter. Throughout her training in medicine she has traveled the landscape of human stories, both within and without the hospital walls. From the rustic streets of Havana, along the devastated shores of post-tsunami Sri-Lanka, to the rhythmic drumming in the shanty towns of West Africa, Elise is constantly fascinated by the universal struggle of humankind and inspired by stories of hope and survival. While working in the psychiatric wards of Melbourne she discovered that as Mark Twain declared: "Truth is stranger than fiction." She is in New York to pursue her passion for documentary film in a city full of hopes, dreams and psychotherapists.
India Bourke’s name exists as an exotic misnomer. Instead, Devonshire cream teas and hunt-breakfasts constituted a full-filling childhood. Then a BA in History and English at Oxford introduced Pimms and port into this taste of England. In fact, the prospect of living in the Big Apple is the largest excursion to date out of the above cultural menu - hopefully it will develop an insatiable appetite for experimentation. While the New School is certain to drag her out of the dim, dust-filtered light of Oxford's Gothic libraries into twenty-first century contemporaneity, she has a suspicion that it will be stories that draw on the past as much as the present that might grab her attention.
Having grown up in New York City, Zach Fox attended college at Lehigh University, which provided reprieve from pavement and concrete, as well as providing a BA in Political Science and Social Psychology. Included in that BA was a year spent studying the Politics of Northern Ireland, at the University of Ireland, Galway. In Ireland, Zach traveled the country and developed a love for rolling green hills and sheep, both absent from his youth. Having spent the previous four years working in television in New York, he looks forward to working on projects with no predetermined end. He lives in Brooklyn.
After studying film and television in Barcelona and Prague, David Gutierrez has been working for the past three years as a director and editor of a variety of audiovisual projects, including documentary film, television, theatre video and commercials. His most important work as a director is a thirty minute documentary film called "Playground," which tells from an observational perspective the small stories that take place in a little square in Barcelona. Among his works as an editor, "Utopia 79," "The Movement" and "Hollywood at War" are the most remarkable in the documentary field.
Born and raised in New Jersey, Rodger T. Holst relocated to New York after university to pursue a career in law. After a year spent helping to defend depraved corporations as a paralegal, he came to The New School in an effort to achieve a more altruistic existence - albeit a less lucrative one - as a documentary filmmaker. In 2006 he graduated with honors from West Chester University with a BA in Literature and a minor in Film Criticism. During his tenure as an undergraduate he was an editor and writer for the university's newspaper. As a musician he has recorded three albums since 2001 and performed with his band for the past several years. He currently lives in Brooklyn where he rides his bicycle everyday.
Born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Veronica Medina always knew she would be working in communications. With that in mind, she went to a high school focused on advertising, where she received a prize as best RTVC (radio, TV and cinema producer). After that, she started an undergraduate program in film and, while most of her friends enjoyed the warmth and beautiful beaches of the city, she was engaged in making movies to show the social diversities within the universe around her. She then realized the power of working with film as a catalyst for change. Once graduated, she enrolled in a graduate level program in cultural journalism, which fomented her ideology as an artivist (artist and activist), and conceived the documentary as the instrument to turn these ideals into materials. When she heard about the Documentary Studies program at The New School, she knew this would be the perfect opportunity to acquire the knowledge she needs to transform the world through the lens of a camera.
Matt Reynolds was born in Lyons, New York, the peppermint capital of the world. As a boy, he dreamed of becoming a rock star. At 22 he set out for the Adirondack Mountains, guitar in hand. While looking for a woodshed to practice in, he met a waitress with an accent, and proceeded to Bratislava, Slovakia, to report for an English-language newspaper. For the next decade he covered ex-communist middle Europe for two dozen publications, among them, Slovak Spas: Health and Beauty Walks and The New York Times. In 2007, he took a job writing about Polish bonds, then returned to upstate New York, where he finally embarked on a project close to his heart, a documentary about Buffalo wings.
Since time weighs more than space, Hee Jin Shim believes that choosing between The Beatles and the Rolling Stones to be as complicated as Quantum Theory. Her likes include Ben & Jerry's, Anne Marie Borlind, Tom's Toothpaste, Jason, Ricky's, highly caffeinated coffee, leaving books unfinished and going back to sleep. * She is not sponsored by any of these companies.
Ivana Todorovic was born and raised in Belgrade, Serbia, a country that has changed
its name repeatedly throughout the years due to various political upheavals. She holds a BA in Anthropology with additional diplomas in Peace Studies and New Politics. She has also participated in the Ateliers Varan film workshop in Belgrade. Every documentary film she has made is designed as a tool for social change in Belgrade. "Everyday Life of Roma Children from Block 71" was presented at various international film festivals and received the award for Best Short Film at the Human Rights Film Festival in Montreal. It is used in educational programs in NGOs worldwide, and the family depicted in the film is currently receiving humanitarian aid. "Rapresent," a film about a 19-years-old homeless graffiti artist, is in post production. Coming as a ‘street fighter’ to New York, she is extremely excited about her new, challenging life.
Francisco Vargas is originally from Chile, but has been in New York since 1985. He came to the U.S. to study at The New School (BA/MA Media studies) and is now faculty at the Art Institute of New York City, where he teaches video production. As faculty, he always encourages students to follow their dreams. The knowledge he will gain in the documentary program also will help him to encourage students with similar goals. His latest work includes segments for Center Media at the LGBT Center of New York City. "Out at the Center" is a monthly half-hour TV Show air by Manhattan Neighborhood Network. His main focus in documentary is human rights.
CARLOS BARBOT screened "Rattus," his Doc Studies final project, at this year's Palm Springs International Shortfest and at the New York City Short Film Festival.
STINE EXLER has been the script supervisor and assistant to the director on the feature film “Horizon,” and is currently editing a documentary series for Mediagroup Inc
BIBI FADLALLA is currently working as a journalist for a daily Dutch news show called “Dichtbij Nederland.” Her doc short “Stars in His Eyes” was screened at the Blacksoil International Hiphop Film Festival in December 2008.
SARAH FRANK is an assistant multimedia producer at Newsweek.com. Her film "In Bed with a Mosquito" won the 2008 CMJ CineMinis short film competition for best short documentary.
WILLIAM GALLAGHER is working as a Casting Scout for a History Channel documentary directed by Aaron Lubarsky. He is also assistant editing a project about a rap group from Sierra Leone trying to make it big in the U.S., and is working for Academy Award Nominated filmmaker Marshall Curry on his new film, "Racing Dreams," as Post-Production Manager.
"Knock on Wood," RON GRUNHUT’s documentary about percussionist Valerie Naranjo, was recently selected to be shown at the 2009 Africa World Documentary film festival in St. Louis and Barbado- this coming after the film's 2008 screenings at the Woodstock and Big Apple film festivals. Ron is an Associate Editor on "Unfinished Spaces," an Ajna Films production about the completion of Cuba's "forgotten" National Art Schools and is working on a documentary about unorthodox approaches to health care.
SUE HAGEDORN (Nurstories, LLC) and TIJANA PETROVIC's (Class of 2007), “Holding the Line,” about 900 nurses who struck against their employer, Appalachian Regional Healthcare, won Best Appalachian Short in the Southern Appalachian International Film Festival and was an official selection by Through Women's Eyes Film Festival in Sarasota, FL. Sue is filming a story about Block Island (RI)'s only nurse for over 50 years. She and Tijana are busy making a film for the Florida Nurses' Association about Advanced Practice Nurses.
CORINNE MANABAT's "Excuse My Gangsta Ways" has gotten distribution from Third World Newsreel, and will be screening this year at MoMA's Documentary Fortnight in February, and at San Francisco Int'l Asian American Film Festival in March. The film with its own discussion guide will been circulating around academia and grassroots organizations including Hunter College, Association for Asian Studies in Chicago, and Locus Arts in San Francisco in reaching out to at risk youth. Corinne is currently in the research & development phase for her next documentary idea about her grandfather, a former labor union organizer in the Philippines and WWII veteran and is in post production for a documentary short, "Lupita" (working title) about a NYC street performer who dances with mannequins, which was shot back in 2004.
JANET NAKANO is Editor and Associate Producer of a feature film called "Klaus Pierre: Diary of an Action Star", a comedy in post-production. She is currently living in France researching her next documentary film about Champagne and the region told through the story of one small champagne house that struggled to stay in business.
ALEXIS NEOPHYTIDES is finishing her MA in Media Studies at The New School. She has screened her film, "Coney Island's for the Birds," at The Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, The Oxford Film Festival, The Beverly Hills Shorts Film Festival, The Big Apple Film Festival and The Coney Island Film Festival.
CAMILLE PARK is co-producing a documentary with filmmaker Bent-Jorgan Perlmutt of "Lumo" that tells the story of elderly veterans who fought in Cameroon's war of independence against the French. She continues her work for the series POV | American Documentary in their production department.
ADELE PHAM works as a video editor in New York, and is currently collaborating on two documentary and narrative film projects. Visit adelepham.com to view more of her work. Her short documentary “Parallel Adele” is an official selection of the following film festivals: APAture: A Window on the Art of Asian Pacific Americans (2008), Slant 9: Bold Asian American Images (2008), Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival (2008), Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival (2008), 9th Annual Chlotrudis Short Film Festival (2009), San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (2009). “Parallel Adele” is distributed by Third World News Reel.
CHLOE WALTERS WALLACE is currently working as a Research Assistant on an untitled documentary about Bob Marley, directed by Jonathan Demme. Her short documentary project, created in the program, screened at the 350th Harlem Anniversary celebration, the St. Clair Bourne Tribute Film Festival.
ERIN CLARKE’s short documentary, “Woman With Cats,” was broadcast on the Documentary Channel from September 2008 to February 2009. Her current project, “Of Self and Home: Portraits of Queer Youth” is an experimental documentary artwork created with queer-identified youth who have experienced homelessness, and combines painting, video, stories and discussion into an art installation (to be exhibited June 2009 at a Toronto gallery). She is currently pursuing an MFA in Documentary Media at Ryerson University in Toronto.
MEGHNA DAMANI founded Treasure Tower Films, LLC and most recently won the 'special jury award' for her film "Hearts Suspended" at the Jeevika Film Festival. The film is currently traveling across India. It was also a semi-finalist at the Migrations Film Festival's online competition and screened in Montreal and Calgary as part of the Calgary International Film Festival. Early this February her film will be featured on the "Here and Now" show on NPR and be up for sale. She is currently in production for her next film "Home" (working title).
TED FISHER screened "Notebook on Santas and Elves" at Antimatter Underground Film Festival in September; recently screened other films at Dokufest International Documentary and Short Film Festival, HotDocs Canadian International Documentary Festival, Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, and NY Short Docs; and continues to edit and produce The New York Times "Frugal Traveler" series, winner of the 2008 Webby Award in the Travel Category.
JENNIFER LYNN JONES is currently a second-year doctoral student in the Communication and Culture program at Indiana University, Bloomington. She is working on a documentary about the meanings of home and a dissertation on media and the obesity crisis.
MARGARET GALBRAITH’s short film “Krumbs” screened at the 350th Harlem Anniversary celebration, the St. Clair Bourne Tribute Film Festival. She is presently working to direct and produce her first documentary film since graduating from the New School. She will be traveling to Barcelona, Spain later this month for further research and development of this new project.
TINA GRAPENTHIN has been working as an Assistant Editor on documentaries with filmmakers such as Judith Helfand (“Everything’s Cool”
) and Marshall Curry (“Street Fight”).
MAYA MUMMA is in her last semester in the Media Studies MA program. She is completing her thesis documentary, which looks at the changing nature of New York City neighborhoods through an examination of houses of worship. She is also currently assistant editing a feature documentary for Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington that chronicles the lives of a battalion of US soldiers during their year-long deployment in Afghanistan.
ANDREA NUGENT is making a film about her terminally ill father.
MEREDITH PATTEN is returning to NYC after living in Trinidad where she was a criminal justice researcher, filmed training videos for the police service and produced videos for start up companies. She is looking forward to further combining my research and documentary skills.
TIJANA PETROVIC, together with SUE HAGEDORN (08), is wrapping up "Holding the Line," a documentary about Appalachian Nurses on strike, struggling with the same fight their miner fathers and husbands took on for the past century. She is starting a new project about street kids in Denver and is working on a series of educational videos for various Nurses' Organizations.
LAURA VAN SCHENDEL just graduated from the MA Media Studies program and is currently working as a producer and assistant editor on a feature length documentary about the restaurant Florent in NYC's Meatpacking District. Her documentary short "Florent" was shown at various festivals including Newfest and NYC Shorts Festival.
ANTHONY WEEKS is an MFA candidate in Documentary Film and Video at Stanford University. He created the black and white 16mm film "Second Hand Dolls", a story about a 70-year-old ballet dancer and a woman who sells and rents used mannequins, in the fall quarter. Anthony is currently in production on a short video documentary about competitive eaters.
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