We are incredibly excited to present Lana Wilson’s short-form series, A Cure for Fear, on Halloween night. Join us as we explore fear, modern medicine, and psychology on what’s sure to be a spine-tingling, hair-raising, fear-exploring, fun, evening! Following this spooky screening, Wilson will be in attendance for a conversation after the program with Producer Shrihari Sathe and Topic’s Jeff Seelbach.

As always, the UNDO bar will be serving some terrifyingly tasty refreshments, but if we have any ghosts in attendance they’ll have to go elsewhere because we don’t serve spirits. And if you’re done with tricks and need another treat, Lana is also leading the workshop, Flaws And All: Character Studies In Documentary  that starts November 1st. Learn all about forging characters that connect with an audience from her and an esteemed lineup of guest instructors!

Neuroscientist Dr. Merel Kindt has discovered a cure for phobias using common medication. It’s a brief but intense exposure to the patient’s fear, followed by taking a single pill. 24 hours later, the fear is gone. From animal phobias to PTSD, the potential impact is both profound and dazzlingly complex. A Cure for Fear goes inside Dr. Kindt’s radical treatments as she explores the ethically treacherous grounds of curing our most human ailment.

Lana Wilson is an Emmy Award-winning and two-time Spirit Award-nominated director, writer, and producer.

Her most recent film, The Departure, about a punk-turned-priest in Japan, was critically acclaimed for being a poetic, profound, and moving exploration of what makes life worth living. The Departure premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2017, played at festivals around the world, and was nominated for the 2018 Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary.

Wilson also works in episodic and short-form filmmaking. She directed A Cure for Fear, a short-form web series that premiered at the Camden International Film Festival in 2018 and will screen at SXSW in 2019. A Cure for Fear recently launched on First Look Media’s Topic.com. Wilson also wrote and produced the premiere episode of the National Geographic documentary miniseries I Am Rebel (2016).

Wilson is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She has been awarded artist fellowships from the Sundance Institute, MacDowell, Yaddo, and Film Independent, and was named to DOC NYC’s inaugural “40 Under 40” list. She is a recipient of the 2019 Chicken & Egg Award. Wilson has taught master classes and workshops at UnionDocs and DCTV, and was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Pratt Institute.

Wilson’s work has been supported by the Sundance Documentary Fund, the Tribeca Film Institute, ITVS, the Bertha Foundation, Artemis Rising Foundation, the Educational Foundation of America, Chicken & Egg Pictures, the International Documentary Association, Candescent Films, Women in Film, the Independent Feature Project, Film Independent, and the New York State Council on the Arts, among other institutions.

Previously, Wilson was the Film and Dance Curator at Performa, the New York biennial of new visual art performance.

She holds a BA in Film Studies and Dance from Wesleyan University, where she graduated with honors.

Jeff Seelbach oversees non-fiction shorts and features at Topic – the entertainment studio and streaming service from First Look Media. Recent projects include Pahokee, directed by Patrick Bresnan and Ivete Lucas (Sundance 2019); Black 14, directed by Darius Clark Monroe (Sundance 2019 & Topic.com); A Cure For Fear, directed by Lana Wilson (SXSW 2019 & Topic.com); and XY Chelsea, directed by Tim Travers Hawkins, with EP Laura Poitras (Tribeca 2019 & Showtime). Jeff oversaw short doc production and helped to launch AJ+, the innovative digital network from Al Jazeera, and he spent four years working on the PBS international documentary series Wide Angle, including Overseas Press Club-winner Heart of Jenin. Jeff graduated from Northwestern University with majors in Film and Political Science, where he was also a Music Director at WNUR-FM, the largest student-run radio station in the U.S.

Shrihari Sathe is an Indian filmmaker and producer. Sathe is a 2013 Sundance Institute Creative Producing Fellow.His feature directorial debut,1000 Rupee Note (Ek Hazarachi Note), won the Special Jury Award and Centenary Award for Best Film at the 2014 International Film Festival of India and has received over 35 awards. He was a member of the jury at the 2017 Miami International Film Festival.Shrihari Sathe received the Piaget Producers Award 2019 as part of 34th Independent Spirit Awards.

Sathe is the recipient of the 2016 Cinereach Producer Award. He is a Trans Atlantic Partners fellow – 2013 and Cannes Producer’s Network fellow – 2014, 2015, 2016.[3] His selected short film credits include Breaking the Chain, Golden Palm Award winner at Mexico International Film Festival (2010), First Day of Peace, Grand Jury Prize winner at Slamdance Film Festival (2010) and Off Season, a BAFTA (2010) nominee. Sathe is a member of the Producers Guild of America, Indian Motion Picture Producers Association and Film Writers Association (India).