Class of 2010

Lauren Belfer left the land of strip malls and pornography in Los Angeles’s San Fernando Valley to pursue a degree in Cinema Studies at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Four years and a variety of films later, she entered the nonprofit sector as a community organizer, helping neighborhoods preserve their historic structures. Despite this switch, her movie-making dreams were impossible to ignore, and she longed to translate each landmark into a detailed visual study. While at The New School, she looks forward to continuing her explorations of the city, camera in hand, and hopes to find time between classes to bike in Brooklyn and improve her baking skills.

Jenile Brooks was born and raised in Detroit but moved to Washington, DC to attend Howard University. The quintessential Gemini, she opted for film while her practical twin was compelled to study finance. After a lecture with Spike Lee, Jenile decided to trade in her business suit for a camera and set out for “LA LA” land. Jenile’s choice to work in production came full circle when she landed her first job in Los Angeles working for Spike Lee’s company, 40 Acres and A Mule. She moved to New York where she freelances as a producer; she has worked for Showtime, MTV Networks, E!, BET, The Food Network, and WE.

Cathy Chiarello began cutting documentary films in a sweaty shop overlooking Times Square twenty years ago, when Times Square was still sleazy and documentaries were shot on 16mm and edited on flatbed editors. She later earned a Masters in Education from Harvard and worked as a media journalist, educational technology producer, and curriculum writer, recently developing a documentary film and theory curriculum for high school students. She has taught documentary filmmaking skills to students in New York City schools through the Educational Video Center and screened this work at The Paley Center for Media. Drawn to finding the extraordinary in the ordinary, Cathy seeks out the poetic moments in everyday life that highlight our shared humanity, capturing life as it is while considering how it might be better.

Jeremy Scott Cohan began making "films" at 18 when he discovered credit cards. Raised on Long Island, his father told him a career in film was suicide. Shortly thereafter he chose to pursue his studies at The School of Visual Arts in New York City where he worked on independent films and TV. Upon graduating, Jeremy was hired to make a film for a skateboarding company and spent nearly two years traveling, shooting, and babysitting. After an exhausting editing job and other freelance work, Jeremy  quit telling other people's stories. He hopes to once more enjoy life as a poor college student, significantly increase his credit score, and most importantly, make things that matter to him.

Maureen Doll is a native of Madison, Wisconsin, where she completed a BA in journalism in 2007. Her favorite documentaries include Blue Vinyl, The Corporation, and War Dance. She is interested in using documentary film to explore questions of religious identity, feminist history, and the fascinating bits of human life that don't quite fit into mainstream rhetoric.

Stephane Goldsand is originally from Mexico City, was raised in a dual French-Mexican environment, and has been a New Yorker for the past decade. He holds a BA in International Relations and an MBA in Media Management; he has worked in various areas of business ranging from strategy to publishing. Stephane remains a genuine Etruscan at heart and is constantly looking for opportunities to let creativity flourish, portray stories that need to be heard, and contribute to bringing about social progress.

Lea Hjort Mathiesen was born and raised among full beards and liberal mindsets in Copenhagen and bottle-fed on social engagement and passionate political discussion. Teaching in a public school with 85% immigrant children, Lea gained a unique perspective on Western culture versus Islamic traditions that fueled her career in journalism, which has evolved from producing for radio to hosting her own debate show on national television. Despite her privileged position, Lea longed to find a tool to examine the big picture and contemplate the details. Disguised in a Jallabia in a Brooklyn Mosque to direct her first film, she found that tool in documentary filmmaking.

Sarah Hoida was born and raised in Montreal and is a first-generation Canadian whose mixed origins sparked a love of travel and a lifelong curiosity about the diversity of the human experience. During her BA in Social Anthropology, Sarah focused on human rights and development issues, and she began to see film as a powerful educational and advocacy tool. Compelled to share stories of marginalization encountered during subsequent work in international development, Sarah pursued a graduate degree in journalism, exploring different aspects of film, broadcast, and print forms. For Sarah, documentary film is the most engaging and creative medium to explore themes related to cultural diversity and social justice. She comes to The New School inspired by New York’s visual and cultural landscape.

Emily Margaret MacKenzie was born into a family that couldn’t agree on a name. When she went to get her passport at 16 she discovered her name was “baby.”  You can call her Emily or Margaret. She grew up in Santa Barbara and enjoyed a childhood spent among tide pools, mountains, and library books. At 18 she went to Italy and spent her life savings learning the language. She moved to the Hudson Valley to study anthropology at Bard College. Then she headed back to Naples dodging traffic, eating pizza, and studying Italian, which she confesses is “still not so good.”  She is interested in documentary film as an extension of anthropology, using it to create a more dynamic and accessible ethnography. She is fond of dancing, cooking, and celebration.

Californian Selena Rhine was raised in a family of talkative activist lawyers. With the need to get a word in edgewise and a penchant for adventure, Selena attended five different universities, which took her all over the country and around the world, eventually landing her in New York with a BFA. She is interested in the maintenance of sincerity and authenticity, the subtleties of human emotion, and working with people who have survived trauma. Selena has come to see documentary film as a way to combine her interests in art making and the preservation of human dignity.

Jon Vatne was born and raised in Trondheim, Norway, and earned a BA in Digital Media Technology at Gjøvik University College. After learning about the technical systems the media world is built upon, he worked as a video journalist at the local television station. A one-man team producing different news stories each day, Jon found his technical education came to good use. He has worked as a photographer and editor in Trondheim, producing news and sports stories for TV2, the biggest commercial television station in Norway. He is looking forward to making unbelievable movies from the real world–documentaries—which he believes is the most interesting, demanding, and gratifying form of journalism.

Maartje Wegdam was born and raised in the Netherlands. Before going to university, she worked and traveled in Central America. She then attended The University of Amsterdam for a Master’s degree in News and Information with minors in International Relations and Japanese. Maartje lived and studied in Tokyo for a semester, where she developed skills in eating with chopsticks and singing karaoke. Upon graduation she worked as a video journalist at a public broadcasting company and directed various short movies. Her short lego-animation Crossing Borders won a creativity award at the Fairfood Film Festival. She decided to switch again to student life to gain more profound knowledge about her passion, documentary film.

Babette Wielenga decided she had done enough studying after high school and went to work for a Japanese stock broker. After two years she had had enough of numbers and became a nanny in Westchester, which was a great experience. At 22, Babette was ready to return to school for a BA in Journalism at the Hogeschool van Utrecht, Amsterdam. After graduation she went to the University of Amsterdam for an MA in American Studies. During this time she worked as a part-time secretary at an international law firm as well as a freelance journalist for local newspapers. Needing change, she moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she worked for an NGO in micro finance and a Dutch travel agency. Here she realized documentary makers are the new muckraking journalists of the 21st century. She hopes The New School will help her tell stories that need to be told, stories of those who are not able to speak for themselves.

Carolina Zuniga grew up in the port city of Talcahuano, Chile. Ten years ago, photography transformed her life when she realized that her job should be connected to the permanent record. Her work as a journalist–for historic documentary TV programs, reality documentary formats, political campaigns, and field production–has allowed her entry into more than a hundred homes in different places and social classes in Chile, dialoguing with people about their quotidian life, but also about their fears, sorrows, and reminiscences. Her goal as a documentary maker is to interact with individuals, be moved by them, and release humanity’s ddeepest feelings. She hopes to continue in the MA program next year.