Doors 7:30p
Program 8:00p

UnionDocs
352 Onderdonk Ave
Ridgewood, NY

We’re so honored to bring a dynamic program of audio and short film work from our fantastic friends at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies on the occasion of their 50th year anniversary.

We have always shared many goals, ambitions and community members with the wonderful community that is under the umbrella of the Maine College of Art & Design in Portland, Maine where thousands of accomplished writers, photographers, filmmakers, radio reporters and podcast creator have spent time and then went on to work at nearly every news and storytelling outlet that you can imagine.

The evening will highlight recent stories from alums, pieces that exemplify Salt’s legacy of immersive and ethical longform documentary work. These stories take us through many lovable and emotional milieu: from a Dungeon Puppet Slam, to a journey with a North Maine Woods guide on his last moose hunt of the season, or through a somber breaking of the silence that addresses a regional trauma, and all the way to a owl research station in Downeast.

We’re so happy to have several of the Salt filmmakers and audio producers in the house to introduce and share some short reflections on their work and the evolving forms of documentary today. We invite Salt grads to convene, and collide with the past and future of UNDO.

Come through!

Program

Welcome to King Friday’s Dungeon by Destiny Arturet

15 mins, 2022

Welcome to King Friday’s Dungeon shares the stories of three puppeteering acts as they brace for the challenge of preparing for King Friday’s Dungeon Puppet Slam at Mayo Street Arts in Portland, Maine.

Night Owls by Sam Moore

12 mins, 2022

Night Owls follows migrating saw-whet owls as they are observed at a research station in Downeast Maine.

This Moose Might Survive by Andrew Schwartz

11 mins, 2020

Maine guide Dave DeMerchant leads clients into the North Maine Woods for his last moose hunt before the season ends—it was a particularly strange time for DeMerchant, a guide of more than three decades. Just a few weeks prior, he had received some unsettling news.

Fourteen Names by Marina Henke

10 mins, 2021

In 1936, 14 school children died over the course of one summer in Lubec, Maine. The tragedies cast a long shadow over the town and for years nobody spoke about the deaths. That is, until Vicki Reynolds Schad, a descendant of two of the children lost that summer, decides to help break the silence.

Program Duration: 48 mins

Bios

Destiny Arturet loves exploring stories about niche hobbies, small communities, and collective interests. She discovered her love for documentary film in 2018 and took some time to pivot from her professional work in nonprofit media to filmmaking, finding herself at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies in 2022 where she earned a Graduate Certificate in Documentary Studies. Currently, she’s an Impact Producer at Aubin Pictures, a nonprofit documentary film production company in New York City for filmmakers and activists that’s run by filmmakers and activists. Her short documentary film Welcome to King Friday’s Dungeon was an official selection at the Camden International Film Festival 2023. Destiny holds an M.A. from NYU in Global Women’s Studies and is a member of Brown Girls Doc Mafia.

I’m Marina Henke, an audio producer, reporter and writer based in Brooklyn, NY. Currently, you can find me at Pineapple Street Studios. Previously I’ve worked at places like Gimlet Media and the independent studio, LRM Works where I produced Shameless Acquisition Target. In my past life, I was a middle-school teacher (who taught podcasting).

I’m Andrew Schwartz , a journalist, audio producer, editor, and fact checker with a focus on labor, religion, and political movements. I currently cover religion for the Chattanooga Times Free Press. My work has appeared in The New Republic, Mother Jones, In These Times, High Country News, Dissent, The Baffler, Chicago, The Outline, and on NPR member stations. I’ve previously worked as a contributing social media editor at The New Republic, and as a general assignment reporter with the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, a local newspaper in Washington State. I also do freelance editing and fact checking, and I am the editor of Mangoprism, which publishes essays, criticism, and fiction by emerging writers.

Sam Moore is a writer, photographer and filmmaker raised in New England. He spent several years as an itinerant wildlife biologist, and working with plovers, loons, and tortoises developed his appreciation for the fragility of ecosystems and the constant stewardship required to keep them whole. Sam holds a BA in Photography and Environmental Studies from Tulane University, as well as a MS in Environmental Studies from the University of Oregon.

Isaac Kestenbaum is a veteran audio producer and journalist. He is the co-founder, along with Josephine Holtzman, of the production company Future Projects; Along with James Dommek, Jr, they created the award-winning true crime podcast Midnight Son for Audible Originals, and their new podcast Alaska Is the Center of the Universe, came out in early November. Isaac has reported extensively on climate change in Alaska, and his work has been funded by the Arctic Circle Foundation and the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting.
He is the former Production Manager at the national oral history and radio project StoryCorps. Honors include a Peabody Award, a duPont Award, two Online News Association awards and an Alaska Broadcasters “Goldie” Award.