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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251114
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20261117
DTSTAMP:20260429T052758
CREATED:20250930T202405Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260105T173108Z
UID:10003002-1763100000-1794808799@uniondocs.org
SUMMARY:A Symposium of Sorts: Radical Inquiries with the UNDO Fellows
DESCRIPTION:g
URL:https://uniondocs.org/event/a-symposium-of-sorts/
CATEGORIES:Screenings & Events
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260425T100000
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DTSTAMP:20260429T052758
CREATED:20260212T181130Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260408T175628Z
UID:10003031-1777111200-1778430600@uniondocs.org
SUMMARY:Critical Care:  The Documentary Clinic
DESCRIPTION:[vc_row][vc_column][vc_btn title=”Register!” style=”outline-custom” outline_custom_color=”#FFFFFF” outline_custom_hover_background=”#ADADCC” outline_custom_hover_text=”#0000CD” shape=”round” align=”center” css=”” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fairtable.com%2FappdVEm0GuHIuyDJF%2FshrotfkacOtCNAy0O”][vc_column_text css=””]Are you stuck or spiraling on a documentary project currently in development? Would some feedback and counsel from an experienced producer help take you to the next level? \nWe know that documentary filmmaking can be a lonely endeavor\, especially in the development and early production phase\, and sometimes we all need a little therapy particularly in a climate of increasingly scarce resources and support. Independent filmmakers are left alone to research\, develop\, write grants\, pitch and fundraise their project\, when this is the time when support\, constructive feedback and creative guidance can be the most transformative. We’re delighted to offer this intensive workshop to filmmakers in such a position\, providing a space for focused consultation with experienced creative producers who have best practices and experiences navigating the ever-changing landscape of independent documentary. \nOver three days\, emerging filmmakers will work closely with industry professionals and a cohort of peers to address the obstacles commonly faced by non-fiction practitioners working alone. Participants will have the chance to fortify their project’s framework\, to consider their filmmaking methodology\, clarify creative direction and adjust priorities for next steps. Together we’ll hone the craft of producing compelling teasers\, media samples\, loglines\, synopses\, and director’s statements with a focus on figuring out what to prioritize when shooting and what to look for when reviewing footage for producing these necessary materials. Our goal is to help participants identify areas in need of growth and provide tools to help answer creative and practical questions\, so participants can refine the scope and vision of the project\, and draw a roadmap for further development. \nThe first day of the workshop kicks off with individual 1-on-1 meetings with industry mentors\, who will provide tailored feedback and advice for each participant and their project. This day is proposed as a remote/in-person hybrid day\, allowing participants from out of town to participate online. After a 2 week gap\, giving participants the time to digest feedback and work on their project\, we’ll gather in person for a two-day intensive. On day 1 each participant will pitch their projects to the whole cohort. On the final day of the workshop the participants will be split into groups led by a mentor to guide them through a specific aspect of the development process\, adapted to the participant group and their needs.  \nParticipants will submit project materials ahead of the workshop in order for industry mentors to familiarize themselves with the project ahead of time. This workshop is tailored towards non-fiction filmmakers with an independent project between development and early production\, without a producer. Registration for this workshop will function on a first-come-first-serve basis\, potential participants will need to fill out a REGISTRATION FORM so we can ensure the submitted projects for the program are at the appropriate stage for this level of feedback and development. \nOnce we receive the completed form\, we’ll be in touch within 72 hours to confirm the eligibility of the project\, and will send on a registration link. Prospective participants are advised to please read the full schedule before submitting the form\, as accepted participants will be required to attend every session.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_separator color=”white”][vc_column_text css=””] \nWho is eligible? \n[/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”white”][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_column_text css=””]This workshop is designed for independent non-fictions filmmakers with a project in development or early production\, with no producer attached. We want to be sure that projects are at an appropriate stage\, so we are asking folks to fill a short REGISTRATION FORM before registering to join. \nWe will follow up with you once we review the form and send you a registration link with a payment portal and collect a short statement of interest and bio along with some informal project materials to share with instructors so they can get to know your work in advance. [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_btn title=”REGISTRATION FORM” style=”outline-custom” outline_custom_color=”#FFFFFF” outline_custom_hover_background=”#ADADCC” outline_custom_hover_text=”#0000CD” shape=”round” align=”center” css=”” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fairtable.com%2FappdVEm0GuHIuyDJF%2FshrotfkacOtCNAy0O”][/vc_column][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator color=”white”][vc_column_text] \nSchedule \n[/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”white”][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=”WEEK 1\nSaturday April 25th (in-person/remote hybrid) – 1-ON-1s” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=””][vc_separator color=”white”][vc_column_text css=””]10:00am – 11:00am Welcome & workshop introduction  \n11:00am – 1:30pm 1-on-1 sessions (x5) \n1:30pm – 2:30pm LUNCH \n2:30pm – 5:00pm 1-on-1 sessions (x5)[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_custom_heading text=”WEEK 2\nSaturday May 9th (in-person) – PITCHING” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=””][vc_separator color=”white”][vc_column_text css=””]10:00am – 10:30am Welcome\, Introduction \n10:30am – 1:00pm Participants present/pitch work with the group and receive feedback (x5) \n1:00pm – 2:00pm LUNCH \n2:00pm – 4:30pm Participants present/pitch work with the group and receive feedback (x5) \n4:30pm – 5:00pm Wrap up discussion[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_custom_heading text=”Sunday May 10th (in-person) – GROUP WORK\, BREAKOUTS” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=””][vc_separator color=”white”][vc_column_text css=””]10:00am – 10:30am Introduction \n10:30am – 12:30pm FOCUSSED BREAK OUT GROUP  #1  \n12:30pm – 1:30pm Lunch \n1:30pm – 3:30pm FOCUSSED BREAK OUT GROUP  #2 \n3:30pm – 4:30pm Final thoughts\, conclusion \n4:30pm –  Happy hour[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_separator color=”white”][vc_column_text] \nBios \n[/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”white”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”161605″ img_size=”200×200″ css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Paul Dallas is a Toronto-born writer\, producer\, and director based in Brooklyn. He co-wrote the HBO docu-drama REALITY\, winner of a 2023 Peabody Award. Producing credits include the documentaries HALSTON (CNN Films/Amazon) and the 2024 NAACP Image Award winner INVISIBLE BEAUTY (Magnolia Pictures)\, both of which premiered at Sundance. He also produced the acclaimed indie comedy THE PLAGIARISTS\, a New York Times Critics’ Pick\, and he Co-producer of THE MISCONCEIVED (IFFR 2026). He served as archival producer on HBO’s ARMED ONLY WITH A CAMERA\, which is nominated for the 2026 Academy Award for Documentary Short. Paul’s latest short DIVISION premiered at True/False 2026 and was selected for New Directors/New Films 2026. His writing has appeared in Artforum\, BOMB\, Extra Extra Magazine\, Filmmaker Magazine\, IndieWire\, the Village Voice\, and he has programmed films for BAM Cinema\, the Guggenheim\, and Maysles Documentary Center. He is a 2025 MacDowell Fellow.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162297″ img_size=”200×200″ css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Su Kim is an Academy Award-nominated\, two-time Emmy and two-time Peabody Award-winning producer and executive producer known for her compelling nonfiction storytelling. Her acclaimed work includes Hale County This Morning\, This Evening (Oscar nominee)\, Free Chol Soo Lee (Emmy winner)\, Bitterbrush\, and Midnight Traveler (Emmy winner). Her films have premiered at top-tier festivals such as Sundance\, Berlinale\, Tribeca\, Telluride\, and the New York Film Festival\, and have been distributed by PBS\, Hulu\, The Criterion Channel\, Magnolia Pictures\, Cinema Guild\, and MUBI. Kim is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences\, BAFTA\, the Television Academy\, and the Producers Guild of America. She is a former Women at Sundance Fellow and the recipient of the 2022 Sundance Amazon Studios Nonfiction Producers Award. Her recent projects include Sansón and Me\, Suburban Fury\, and The Tuba Thieves\, continuing her dedication to bold filmmaking.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_text_separator title=”Details” color=”white” el_class=”h1″][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_tta_accordion style=”outline” shape=”square” color=”white” active_section=”8″ no_fill=”true” collapsible_all=”true”][vc_tta_section title=”Cost” tab_id=”1477608256642-4c32d845-e84384d0-801eac56-3cdc”][vc_column_text css=””]$475 regular registration.[/vc_column_text][/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Refund Policy” tab_id=”1477608441051-60d28267-92bf84d0-801eac56-3cdc”][vc_column_text css=””]The deposit is non-refundable. Should you need to cancel\, you’ll receive half of your registration fee back until April 11th. After April 11th\, the fee is non-refundable.[/vc_column_text][/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Technology Requirements” tab_id=”1477608488046-a8fa4720-501684d0-801eac56-3cdc”][vc_column_text]In order to keep costs down\, this workshop is a BYOL\, i.e. bring your own laptop. Students must be fully proficient using and operating their computers.[/vc_column_text][/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Registration & Cancellation Policy” tab_id=”1477612055387-51381642-d1c784d0-801eac56-3cdc”][vc_column_text css=””]To register for a workshop\, students must pay in full via card\, check\, or cash . After the early bird registration deadline of April 11th\, course fees are not refundable or transferable and any withdrawals or deadlines will result in the full cost of the class being forfeit. There will be no exceptions. To withdraw from a course please email info-at-uniondocs.org. \nIn the event that a workshop does not receive sufficient enrollment\, it may be canceled. Students will be notified at least 48 hours prior to the start of a cancelled workshop and will be refunded within 5 business days. If we reschedule a workshop to another date\, students are also entitled to a full refund. UnionDocs reserves the right to change instructors without prior notification\, and to change class location and meeting times by up to an hour with 48 hours prior notice.[/vc_column_text][/vc_tta_section][/vc_tta_accordion][/vc_column][/vc_row]
URL:https://uniondocs.org/event/critical-care-the-documentary-clinic-2026-04-25/
LOCATION:UnionDocs\, 352 Onderdonk Avenue\, 352 Onderdonk Avenue\, Ridgewood\, NY\, 11385\, United States
CATEGORIES:Workshops & Labs
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GEO:40.7099952;-73.9507576
X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=UnionDocs 352 Onderdonk Avenue 352 Onderdonk Avenue Ridgewood NY 11385 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=352 Onderdonk Avenue:geo:-73.9507576,40.7099952
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260430T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260430T193000
DTSTAMP:20260429T052758
CREATED:20260401T175345Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260427T160812Z
UID:10003055-1777577400-1777577400@uniondocs.org
SUMMARY:This Girl's Nervy:  Films by Jennifer Reeves
DESCRIPTION:[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text css=””]Doors 7:30p\nProgram 8:00p\nTickets $12[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]UnionDocs\n352 Onderdonk Ave\nRidgewood\, NY[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/JuTE3RfmqWI” css=””][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_column_text css=””] \nWe’re thrilled to celebrate the release of a long-awaited Blu-ray collection and to spend the evening immersed in the fiercely tactile\, deeply personal cinema of Jennifer Reeves! \nReleased in December 2025\, When it was Blue: Jennifer Reeves Selected Works 1992–2022 arrives as a vital gathering of Reeves’ singular body of work\, and we’re honored to mark the occasion with a program of shorts spanning her practice\, moving across decades\, formats\, and states of transformation. For this special presentation\, we’ll be screening the shorts in a hybrid format\, presenting the shorts half on 16mm and half digitally\, creating a rare opportunity to experience Reeves’ work across the very material conditions that shape it. \nWorking primarily in 16mm\, Reeves approaches filmmaking as a materially intensive\, almost alchemical process\, where the image is not just captured but physically altered\, distressed\, and reimagined. Across these films\, Reeves’ work pulses with emotional immediacy\, tracing interior landscapes shaped by memory\, perception\, and the body. Themes of mental health\, feminism\, and ecological precarity emerge not as fixed subjects\, but as shifting conditions that are felt\, embodied\, and in flux. \nWe’re so excited to share this program with first-time viewers and longtime admirers alike. Join us for this special screening. Media artist\, writer and educator Melissa Friedling will guide us in conversation with Jennifer following the program. \nCome through! \n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_separator][vc_column_text] \nProgram \n[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_column_text css=””] \nThe girl’s nervy\n[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]16mm\, 5 min\, 1995[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_column_text css=””] \nWe are going home\n[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]16mm\, 10 min\, 1998[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_column_text css=””] \nFear of Blushing\n[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]16mm\, 5.5 min\, 2001[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_column_text css=””] \nLandfill 16\n[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]16mm\, 9 min\, 2011[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_column_text css=””] \nStrawberries in the Summertime\n[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]16mm-HD\, 16 min\, 2013[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_column_text css=””] \nColor Neutral\n[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]16mm\, 3 minutes\, 2014[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_column_text css=””] \nPigment-Dispersion Syndrome\n[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]16mm-2K\, 6 minutes\, 2022[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_column_text css=””] \nGirls Daydream about Hollywood\n[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]16mm\, 4 min\, 1992[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_column_text css=””] \nConfiguration 20\n[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]16mm\, 11.5 minutes\, 1994[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_column_text css=””] \nProgram Duration: 70 mins \n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column offset=”vc_hidden-lg vc_hidden-md vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs”][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_single_image image=”147742″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text] \nWatch the conversation between Presenter1\, Presenter2 and Presenter 3 on the UnionDocs’ Membership hub. \n[/vc_column_text][vc_btn title=”Watch” style=”outline-custom” outline_custom_color=”#ffffff” outline_custom_hover_background=”#adadcc” outline_custom_hover_text=”#0000cd” shape=”round” align=”center” css_animation=”bounceIn”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_separator][vc_column_text] \nBios \n[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162420″ img_size=”full” css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Brooklyn film artist Jennifer Reeves (b. 1971\, Sri Lanka) has made 25+ filmworks to date\, from experimental shorts and features to multiple projection performances scored by live music. Reeves’ visceral 16mm film works immerse viewers in intricate\, unfamiliar cinematic territory. They investigate themes of mental health and recovery\, feminism and sexuality\, and the beauty and decay of the natural world. A Blu-ray collection of 10 of her films will be released by Re:Voir Video late in 2025: “When it was Blue: Jennifer Reeves Selected Works 1992 – 2022”. The collection will be available for streaming in 2026. \nReeves started her life as a film artist in 1990 at Bard College under the tutelage of Peggy Ahwesh\, Peter Hutton and Adolfas Mekas. Since 1990 Reeves has shot\, written\, edited\, created optical effects\, and designed the soundtracks of her film works: a veritable one-person production unit. Her singular cinematic works push the boundaries of film with optical printing anddirect-on-film techniques that involve painting on\, sewing\, and burying 16mm film. \nReeves premiered her most recent feature-length work\, a dual-projection film performance of THE GLORIA OF YOUR IMAGINATION\, at Berkeley Art Museum Pacific Film Archive in October 2024. She adapted THE GLORIA OF YOUR IMAGINATION into a single-channel Experimental Documentary to debut at the 51st Seattle International Film Festival in 2025. With support from residencies at Atelier 105 in Paris and Yaddo in New York\, Reeves wrote\, directed\, and edited the project. Reeves has also presented “GLORIA” at Light Matter Film Festival\, Arkipel International Documentary and Experimental Film\, New Horizons Film Festival in Polandand Vassar College. In November\, THE GLORIA OF YOUR IMAGINATION will screen at Kasseler Dokfest in Germany\, and it will be featured at an international conference with Jennifer as a presenter “Misogyny Then and Now: Implications for Psychoanalytic Perspectives” co-sponsored by the Washington Baltimore Center for Psychoanalysis and the Committee of Women and Psychoanalysis of the International Psychoanalytic Association. This September\, Reeves debuted her latest dual-projection work\, LIFE IN DECAY\, in a collaborative performance with the Iranian Sound Artist Farzané at Conflux Festival 2025. \nReeves’ many film awards include a FIPRESCI prize at the Berlinale\, The Barbara Hammer Feminist Filmmaker Award at Ann Arbor Film Festival\, Best New York Narrative Feature at Tribeca Film Festival\, Outstanding Artistic Achievement at Outfest\, and a nomination for the Someone to Watch Award at The Independent Spirit Awards. Comprehensive retrospectives of Reeves’ work have been hosted by the New Horizons Film Festival in Wroclaw\, Poland\, the San Francisco Cinematheque\, Berlin’s Kino Arsenal\, and Anthology Film Archives in New York City.  Reeves’ work has screened broadly\, from the Rotterdam\, New York\, Sundance and Toronto International Film Festivals to the Museum of Modern Art\, the National Gallery in D.C.\, the CCCB in Barcelona and at art cinemas and universities worldwide. Reeves has collaborated with celebrated composers including Farzané\, Zeena Parkins\, Marc Ribot\, Elliott Sharp and Skúli Sverrisson. Her multiple-projection films with live music have been performed from the Sydney Opera House\, Berlin International Film Festival\, to RedCat in Los Angeles and the Wexner Center in Ohio. \nReeves has two long-form film projects underway. She is editing CELIA\, SHE SAID\, an experimental feature focused on Cuban revolutionary Celia Sanchez and her connections to other international revolutionary women. The project was supported by a Princess Grace Awards Special Project grant. FLYING ISLANDS OF THE NIGHT is a medium-length 16mm dual-projection work about the islands of the world\, lively creatures from sea and sky\, and the wilderness inside. The project was inspired by a play with the same title\, written by the poet James Whitcomb Riley\, Reeves’ great\, great uncle. \nReeves has taught film and animation courses at The Cooper Union School of Art since 2005. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”157125″ img_size=”full” css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Melissa Friedling is a media artist\, writer\, and educator interested in the jumbled layers of media histories.  Much of her work begins with found or ‘happened upon’ media that prompts an excavation of the marginalized and sometimes metaphysical narratives contained within them. Her films and videos have been exhibited internationally at venues including Barbican Centre (London\, UK)\, Tribeca Film Festival (NY)\, PS1 MoMA (NY)\, Athens Institute for Contemporary Art (ATHICA)\, Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center (Buffalo)\, Art Space (New Haven)\, Microscope Gallery (NY); New Orleans International Film Festival\, Ann Arbor (MI)\, Atlanta Film Fest. Select honors include grants from the New York Foundation for the Arts and the New York State Council for the Arts\, a Fulbright Award\, and residency fellowships from Yaddo\, MacDowell\, and International Studio and Curatorial Program.  Melissa is also the founder and owner of Slouch Productions.  She lives in Brooklyn and teaches at The New School in New York City.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column offset=”vc_hidden-lg vc_hidden-md vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs”][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_separator][vc_column_text] \nFrom the Event \n[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_media_grid style=”pagination” items_per_page=”1″ element_width=”12″ arrows_design=”vc_arrow-icon-arrow_01_left” arrows_position=”outside” arrows_color=”white” loop=”yes” item=”136647″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1777306004467-f76dbc69-6511-8″ include=”147747\,147746\,147745″][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][/vc_column][/vc_row]
URL:https://uniondocs.org/event/this-girls-nervy-films-by-jennifer-reeves-2026-04-30/
LOCATION:UnionDocs\, 352 Onderdonk Avenue\, 352 Onderdonk Avenue\, Ridgewood\, NY\, 11385\, United States
CATEGORIES:Screenings & Events
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/gif:https://uniondocs.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/JennReevesgif.gif
GEO:40.7099952;-73.9507576
X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=UnionDocs 352 Onderdonk Avenue 352 Onderdonk Avenue Ridgewood NY 11385 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=352 Onderdonk Avenue:geo:-73.9507576,40.7099952
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260501T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260503T133000
DTSTAMP:20260429T052758
CREATED:20260302T133030Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260425T210446Z
UID:10003037-1777629600-1777815000@uniondocs.org
SUMMARY:An Audience Yet to Come:  Projective Documentary  and The Essay Film
DESCRIPTION:[vc_row][vc_column offset=”vc_hidden-lg vc_hidden-md vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs”][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46T0dWTytwA” css=””][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]“You didn’t know\, and couldn’t know\, and didn’t care\, safe in your pram”\n— A Diary for Timothy (1945)\, Humphrey Jennings \nWhen we make a documentary\, we rarely know who will ultimately watch it. Films travel through time\, across contexts and generations. They may be seen years—or decades—after they are made. So how do we speak to or project to an audience we cannot know? \nIn this workshop\, essay filmmaker\, critic and scholar Kevin B. Lee (Transformers: The Premake\, Afterlives) will explore this idea of “projective documentary”\, asking  how filmmakers address audiences that are distant\, unknown\, or yet to come. A pioneer of the desktop documentary and a master of the essay film form\, Kevin will guide participants through ways of thinking about documentary as a conversation across time. \nEssay films often speak directly—to a person\, a community\, a future viewer\, or even to someone who may never respond. This act of address allows filmmakers to reflect on the present while imagining how it might be understood in the future. What does it mean to document our moment with viewers we cannot yet see? And how might the way we speak shape how that future understands us? \nAcross three days of artist talks\, screenings\, and feedback sessions\, participants will examine different ways documentary filmmakers have addressed their audiences—from wartime letter-films to contemporary desktop documentaries. Together we will think about how voice\, form and structure can help create films that endure beyond the moment in which they are made. \nThe workshop will revolve around questions such as: \nWhat does it mean to make a film for someone who cannot respond? \nWho gets to speak—and who is spoken for? \nHow might we represent the present for viewers in the future? \nDo we ever truly know who our films reach? \nWhat forms work best when addressing an unseen or unknown audience? \nHow might emerging technologies\, including generative AI\, change how we imagine the future viewer? \nWhat happens when images are generated rather than captured? \nJoining Kevin for the workshop is a group of invited filmmakers\, thinkers and researchers working across moving-image practice. Film scholar Jane Gaines will bring a historical approach to projective documentary. Filmmaker Gala Hernández López will join remotely to discuss how AI and digital culture shape her approach to documentary and essay filmmaking. And Lynne Sachs will walk participants through her extensive experience with the essay form. Participants will also be encouraged to share their own work in the context of a creative feedback session with Kevin. \nRegister below\, spots are limited. Hope to see you there![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_text_separator title=”Details” color=”white” el_class=”h1″][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_tta_accordion style=”outline” shape=”square” color=”white” active_section=”8″ no_fill=”true” collapsible_all=”true”][vc_tta_section title=”Who is eligible?” tab_id=”1477608256488-ac7d3d1a-ae9084d0-801ebd47-97fc”][vc_column_text css=””]Open to everyone\, though the workshop setting is best suited for filmmakers\, film producers\, journalists\, curators and media artists. \nGive us an idea of who you are and why you are coming. When you register you will be asked for a short statement of interest that should briefly describe your experience and a film project (it would be great if you have a project in progress that you would present to the group during the work-in-progress critique sessions)\, plus a bio. There’s a spot for a link to a work sample (and CV\, which would also be nice\, but is not required).[/vc_column_text][/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Cost” tab_id=”1477608256642-4c32d845-e84384d0-801ebd47-97fc”][vc_column_text css=””]$295 early bird registration ends on April 21\, 2026. \n$350 regular registration.[/vc_column_text][/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Refund Policy” tab_id=”1477608441051-60d28267-92bf84d0-801ebd47-97fc”][vc_column_text css=””]The deposit is non-refundable. Should you need to cancel\, you’ll receive half of your registration fee back until April 21.  After April 21\, the fee is non-refundable.[/vc_column_text][/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Technology Requirements” tab_id=”1477608488046-a8fa4720-501684d0-801ebd47-97fc”][vc_column_text css=””]No animation software is required for participation in this workshop. \nIn order to keep costs down\, this workshop is a BYOL\, i.e. bring your own laptop. Students must be fully proficient using and operating their computers.[/vc_column_text][/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Registration & Cancellation Policy” tab_id=”1477612055387-51381642-d1c784d0-801ebd47-97fc”][vc_column_text css=””]To register for a workshop\, students must pay in full via card\, check\, or cash . After the early bird registration deadline of April 21\, course fees are not refundable or transferable and any withdrawals or deadlines will result in the full cost of the class being forfeit. There will be no exceptions. To withdraw from a course please email info-at-uniondocs.org. \nIn the event that a workshop does not receive sufficient enrollment\, it may be canceled. Students will be notified at least 48 hours prior to the start of a cancelled workshop and will be refunded within 5 business days. If we reschedule a workshop to another date\, students are also entitled to a full refund. UnionDocs reserves the right to change instructors without prior notification\, and to change class location and meeting times by up to an hour with 48 hours prior notice.[/vc_column_text][/vc_tta_section][/vc_tta_accordion][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_message message_box_style=”solid” style=”square” message_box_color=”orange”]Please note: Participants are accepted on a first-come\, first-serve basis.[/vc_message][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_text_separator title=”Schedule” color=”white” el_class=”h1″][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=”Friday\, May 1st” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=””][vc_separator color=”white”][vc_column_text css=””]10:00am – 10:30am Welcome & intros  \n10:30am – 12:30pm Intro session with Kevin B. Lee \n12:30am – 2:00pm Lunch \n2:00pm – 4:00pm Session with Jane Gaines \n4:00pm – 4:30pm Wrap Up Discussion with Kevin additional exercises / discussion[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_custom_heading text=”Saturday\, May 2nd” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=””][vc_separator color=”white”][vc_column_text css=””]10:00am – 10:30am Warm up\, inspiring references\, case studies \n10:30am – 12:30pm Session with Lynne Sachs \n12:30am – 2:00pm Lunch \n2:00pm – 4:00pm Remote Session with Gala Hernández López \n4:00pm – 4:30pm Wrap Up Discussion with Kevin\, additional exercises / discussion[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_custom_heading text=”Sunday\, May 3rd” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=””][vc_separator color=”white”][vc_column_text css=””]10:00am – 12:30pm Creative work-in-progress session with Kevin \n12:30am – 1:30pm Wrap-up discussion and final thoughts[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_custom_heading text=”Each day follows this general structure\, with some minor variations and substitutions:” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/6″][vc_column_text]10:00a[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”5/6″][vc_column_text]Warm up\, inspiring references\, case study\, eye training.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/6″][vc_column_text]10:30a[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”5/6″][vc_column_text]Presentation by guest speaker + individual work-in-progress critique[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/6″][vc_column_text]11:45a[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”5/6″][vc_column_text]Discussion[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/6″][vc_column_text]12:30p[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”5/6″][vc_column_text]Share / Discussion / Exercise[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/6″][vc_column_text]1:00p[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”5/6″][vc_column_text]Lunch (on your own)[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/6″][vc_column_text]2:00p[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”5/6″][vc_column_text]Presentation by guest speaker + individual work-in-progress critique[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/6″][vc_column_text]3:15p[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”5/6″][vc_column_text]Discussion[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/6″][vc_column_text]4:00p[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”5/6″][vc_column_text]Workshop Exercise + Critique[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/6″][vc_column_text]5:00p[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”5/6″][vc_column_text]Wrap Up[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_text_separator title=”Bios” color=”white” el_class=” \n“][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”161747″ img_size=”full” css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Kevin B. Lee is the Locarno Film Festival Professor for the Future of Cinema and the Audiovisual Arts at Università della Svizzera italiana (USI). A filmmaker and media researcher\, he has produced nearly 400 video essays exploring film and media. His award-winning film Transformers: The Premake introduced the “desktop documentary” format. His recent work includes the feature film Afterlives (2025)\, which premiered at the BFI London Film Festival and DocLisboa. He co-leads the Swiss National Science Foundation research project “The Video Essay: Memories\, Ecologies\, Bodies”. Lee is a 2018 Sundance Institute Art of Nonfiction Grantee and has screened his work at the Museum of Modern Art\, Berlinale\, and International Film Festival Rotterdam.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”161748″ img_size=”full” css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Gala Hernández López is an artist\, filmmaker and researcher. Her interdisciplinary practice combines filmmaking with the creation of video installations\, performances\, and publications. More specifically\, her work critically analyzes new modes of subjectivation produced by computational capitalism. She examines the imaginaries circulating in virtual communities\, the desires conveyed by disruptive technologies\, and new reactionary techno-utopias as shared fictions that populate our collective unconscious. Her works are based on research\, combining materialist analysis with poetry\, intimacy\, and dreams with the aim of dissecting fantasies of unlimited techno-scientific control over reality. Her work has been presented at international festivals and institutions such as Cannes\, Berlinale\, Rotterdam\, IDFA\, DOK Leipzig\, Cinéma du Réel\, Curtas Vila do Conde\, IndieLisboa\, Berlinische Galerie\, Palais de Tokyo\, Sarajevo Film Festival\, Vancouver Film Festival\, Festival du Nouveau Cinéma\, Camden Film Festival\, Courtisane\, transmediale\, Kurzfilmtage Winterthur\, FRAC Île-de-France\, among others. Her film La Mécanique des fluides won the César for Best Documentary Short Film in 2024. She regularly gives workshops\, lectures\, and talks at venues such as Beaux-Arts de Marseille\, Freïe Universität\, Kunsthochschule Kassel\, Filmuniversität Babelsberg Konrad Wolf\, Beaux-Arts de Paris\, The Photographers Gallery\, Locarno Film Festival\, Harvard University\, Goldsmiths University of London\, University of British Columbia and University of Michigan.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”161929″ img_size=”full” css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Jane M. Gaines is Professor Emerita of Literature and English\, Duke University and currently Professor of Film\, Columbia University. She is the author of three books\, Pink-Slipped: What Happened to Women in the Silent Film Industry? (University of Illinois\, 2018)\, Contested Culture: The Image\, the Voice\, and the Law (North Carolina\, 1991)\, and Fire and Desire: Mixed Race Movies in the Silent Era (Chicago\, 2001). In 2018\, Prof. Gaines received the Society for Cinema and Media Studies Distinguished Career Award and in 2023\, an Honorary doctorate from University of Stockholm. A founder of the Visible Evidence conference on documentary\, she continues to publish on documentary activism\, intellectual property in the internet age\, the history of piracy\, and has critiqued the “historical turn” in film and media studies as “What Happened to the Philosophy of Film History?” and “Eisenstein’s Absolutely Wonderful\, Totally Impossible Project\,” in Sergei M. Eisenstein: Notes for a General History of Cinema. Forthcoming is What Happened?: Documentary Media and the Dilemmas of Historical Time. The online resource\, Women Film Pioneers Project\, published by the Columbia University Libraries\, launched as a pilot project in the future of publishing in 2013.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”161935″ img_size=”full” css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Lynne Sachs is a filmmaker and poet living in Brooklyn\, New York. She has produced over 50 short and feature-length films. Sachs creates cinematic works that defy genre through the use of hybrid forms and cross-disciplinary collaboration\, incorporating elements of the essay film\, collage\, performance\, documentary and poetry. Her films explore the intricate relationship between personal observations and broader historical experiences. With each project\, Lynne investigates the implicit connection between the body\, the camera\, and the materiality of film itself. Lynne discovered her love of filmmaking while living and studying in San Francisco. During this time\, she produced her early\, experimental works on celluloid which took a feminist approach to the creation of images and writing— a commitment which has grounded her body of work ever since. Lynne’s films have screened at MoMA\, Wexner Center for the Arts\, New York Film Festival\, Sundance\, Punto de Vista\, and DocLisboa. Retrospectives of her work have been presented at Museum of the Moving Image\, Ambulante\, Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema\, Cámara Lúcida\, China Women’s Film Festival\, Cork Int’l Film Festival\, Costa Rica Int’l Film Fest\, and Oberhausen. In 2021\, Edison and Prismatic Ground Film Festivals honored her body of work in the experimental and documentary fields.  Tender Buttons Press published Lynne’s Year by Year Poems in 2019\, and Punctum Books published Hand Book: A Manual on Performance\, Process and the Labor of Laundry written by Lynne and playwright Lizzie Olesker in 2025.  In 2026\, the San Francisco International Film Festival and the Berkeley Art Museum/ Pacific Film Archive gave Lynne their annual Persistence of Vision Award which honors “filmmakers whose achievements go beyond the boundaries of the traditional film form.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row]
URL:https://uniondocs.org/event/an-audience-yet-to-come-projective-documentary-and-the-essay-film-2026-05-01/
CATEGORIES:Workshops & Labs
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/gif:https://uniondocs.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/gif.gif
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260501T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260501T193000
DTSTAMP:20260429T052758
CREATED:20260401T185424Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260413T184453Z
UID:10003046-1777663800-1777663800@uniondocs.org
SUMMARY:Portals In Between
DESCRIPTION:[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text css=””]Doors 7:30p\nProgram 8:00p\nTickets $12[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]UnionDocs\n352 Onderdonk Ave\nRidgewood\, NY[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column offset=”vc_hidden-lg vc_hidden-md vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs”][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_video link=”https://vimeo.com/851422192″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_column_text css=””]We’re delighted to join with Airtime and Speciwomen to present PORTALS IN BETWEEN\, a pair of short films that dance with hybridity to experiment with time\, memory and the concept of home. \nWe invite Aslı Baykal’s Darkroom (2023) and Kim Torres’ Solo la Luna Comprenderá (2023) into a lyrical conversation that reimagines the transportive potentials of our everyday surroundings: nature\, water\, corn fields\, windows\, children’s games\, red lights\, stars and the moon. \nThese works invite the audience to the makers’ open archives that unfold alongside their making\, bringing viewers into process as it develops. \nAs part of this responsive approach\, we are inviting a third film into the program\, shifting from a singularly selected viewing experience toward a community gathering where the boundaries between maker and audience are more porous\, and the night is positioned more as an evolving encounter. \nIn the collective spirit in which both films were made\, the team behind this night decided to put forth an open call to find an additional short film that may continue and expand their dialogue. Please find the prompt below and submit a film to join the lineup if you are inspired and feel like your work is a part of this conversation. \nWe invite you to join us for this expansive program that offers how imagination builds resilience and to join the conversation that these films begin. \nSpecial thanks to program partners for tonight. Airtime\, and Speciwomen. This program is organized in conjunction with the Magnet Residency\, a funded artist-in-residence program hosted by Speciwomen welcoming artists from outside of New York to spend time and make work in the city.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator][vc_column_text css=””] \nOpen Call Prompt \n[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][vc_column_text css=””]We invite you to submit a film to be screened for this evening! \nWe’re requesting submissions for a hybrid film that offers a portrait of home that constructs an alternate reality to reimagine time and memory. \nPlease fill the form here to share your work for consideration: SUBMIT FILM \nMax runtime 30 min. | Deadline April: 18th | Selected films will receive a $50 honorarium for their inclusion in the program.\n[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_separator][vc_column_text] \nProgram \n[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_column_text css=””] \nSolo la Luna comprenderá / The Moon Will Contain Us by Kim Torres\n[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]18 min\, 2023\, Costa Rica\, U.S\, 16mm[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]In the small coastal town of Manzanillo\, Costa Rica\, filmmaker Kim Torres enlists the local teens and adolescents to share their stories\, lies\, and fantasies on the cusp of a cataclysmic event. Playing amid ruins and wreckages\, and voicing their boredom at the lack of change\, Manzanillo’s children engage in a collective fabulation\, finding strategies for building a new world from the old. \n— NYFF Programming team.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_column_text css=””] \nDarkroom by Aslı Baykal\n[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””] 14 min\, 2023\, Turkey\, U.S\, 16mm[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]At the modern-day crossroads of Turkey and Syria\, the ancient city of Istasyon is taken over by children with cameras. Through their gaze\, they transform cinder block villages into portals and roam freely across abandoned train tracks to Sirkhane Darkroom\, an oasis of red light and pomegranate trees\, where their images are born. Darkroom is an experimental and celebratory portrait of Istasyon’s youth and their capacity to forge an alternate reality within a conflict zone. Embedded in 16mm film\, a co-creation between the film crew and these photography students is a reverence for the mysterious power and intimacy of analog image-making.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_column_text css=””] \nProgram Duration: 74 mins \n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column offset=”vc_hidden-lg vc_hidden-md vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs”][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_single_image image=”147742″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text] \nWatch the conversation between Presenter1\, Presenter2 and Presenter 3 on the UnionDocs’ Membership hub. \n[/vc_column_text][vc_btn title=”Watch” style=”outline-custom” outline_custom_color=”#ffffff” outline_custom_hover_background=”#adadcc” outline_custom_hover_text=”#0000cd” shape=”round” align=”center” css_animation=”bounceIn”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_separator][vc_column_text] \nBios \n[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162321″ img_size=”full” css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Kim Torres is a Costa Rican filmmaker. Through light\, gesture\, and atmosphere\, her work investigates questions of transformation and becoming. Working across fiction and non-fiction\, her films shift in form\, drawing poetry from the natural world while forming deep connections with diverse communities and landscapes. Her films have screened at Festival de Cannes\, Locarno Film Festival\, New York Film Festival\, San Sebastian International Film Festival\, New Directors/New Films at MoMA and Lincoln Center\, and the Eye Filmmuseum. She was a Guest Artist at CalArts University (2022)\, a Berlinale Talents participant (2023)\, and an alumna of the Locarno Filmmakers Academy (2024).[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162329″ img_size=”full” css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Aslı Baykal is a Turkish filmmaker and visual artist based in New York\, working between documentary and experimental forms\, often blending personal narratives with collective memory. She holds a BFA in Film & TV from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Her short film Darkroom (2023)\, co-created with children from the Sirkhane Darkroom photography workshop along the Turkish-Syrian border\, premiered at MoMA Doc Fortnight and screened internationally at festivals including Visions du Réel (Doc Alliance nominee for Best Short Documentary)\, Camden IFF\, Ji.hlava\, and Dokufest. She has collaborated with musical artists such as Sampha\, Nick Hakim\, Nourished by Time\, and Karen O. Her work has been featured in MIT Press\, Taschen\, and Harvard Design Magazine. In 2018\, she founded the Airtime Screening Series\, later expanding into Airtime Online\, a global hybrid platform focusing on curated screenings and artist collaborations.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column offset=”vc_hidden-lg vc_hidden-md vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs”][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_separator][vc_column_text] \nFrom the Event \n[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_media_grid style=”pagination” items_per_page=”1″ element_width=”12″ arrows_design=”vc_arrow-icon-arrow_01_left” arrows_position=”outside” arrows_color=”white” loop=”yes” item=”136647″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1774984485090-35c4d0de-5a15-6″ include=”147747\,147746\,147745″][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator][vc_column_text css=””] \nAbout \n[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]About Speciwomen & Magnet Residency\nSpeciwomen is a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts organization committed to giving space to women and LGBTQIA+ artists for retreat\, research\, and making.  \nMagnet is a funded artist-in-residence program hosted by Speciwomen welcoming artists from outside of New York to spend time and make work in the city. Our commitment is to provide a supportive environment where artists can delve into their work with unencumbered time\, developing their practice and fostering relationships.  \nAbout Airtime\nAIRTIME is an artist-run film initiative dedicated to reimagining how we experience the moving image. Founded in 2018 as a pop-up screening series and expanded in 2023 with an experimental online global platform\, it presents artists whose work pushes form and opens new ways of seeing and feeling. The initiative works closely with artists\, valuing collaboration and dialogue throughout the process.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
URL:https://uniondocs.org/event/2026-05-01-portals-in-between/
LOCATION:UnionDocs\, 352 Onderdonk Avenue\, 352 Onderdonk Avenue\, Ridgewood\, NY\, 11385\, United States
CATEGORIES:Screenings & Events
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/gif:https://uniondocs.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/gif-2.gif
GEO:40.7099952;-73.9507576
X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=UnionDocs 352 Onderdonk Avenue 352 Onderdonk Avenue Ridgewood NY 11385 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=352 Onderdonk Avenue:geo:-73.9507576,40.7099952
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260502T171500
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260502T171500
DTSTAMP:20260429T052758
CREATED:20260401T185658Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260423T141635Z
UID:10003060-1777742100-1777742100@uniondocs.org
SUMMARY:Whispers in May
DESCRIPTION:[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text css=””]Program 5:15p\nTickets $15[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text css=””]American Museum of Natural History\n77th Street Between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue\nNew York\, NY 10024[/vc_column_text][vc_btn title=”Get Tickets” style=”outline-custom” outline_custom_color=”#FFFFFF” outline_custom_hover_background=”#ADADCC” outline_custom_hover_text=”#0000CD” shape=”round” css=”” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amnh.org%2Fexplore%2Fmargaret-mead-festival%2Fwhispers-in-may|title:tickets|target:_blank”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column offset=”vc_hidden-lg vc_hidden-md vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs”][vc_video link=”https://vimeo.com/941430034?share=copy” css=””][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_column_text css=””]We’re delighted to partner with the American Museum of Natural History\, Yu & Me Books and Nooks & Crannies to co-present the NYC premiere of WHISPERS IN MAY by Dongnan Chen! \nIn China’s majestic Liangshan Mountains\, 14-year-old Qihuo has just had her first menstruation\, marking the start of a traditional coming-of-age ritual. With her parents away as migrant workers\, she and two friends set out on a road trip to buy a ceremonial skirt. Winner of the prestigious DOX:AWARD at CPH:DOX 2026\, Whispers in May blurs documentary and fiction\, inviting Qihuo to be the protagonist of her own adventure as she leaves childhood behind. \nDonngan Chen will be in attendance for a conversation following the screening. Come through![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_separator][vc_column_text] \nProgram \n[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_column_text css=””] \nWhispers in May by Dongnan Chen\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_column_text css=””] \nProgram Duration: 95 mins \n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column offset=”vc_hidden-lg vc_hidden-md vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs”][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_single_image image=”147742″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text] \nWatch the conversation between Presenter1\, Presenter2 and Presenter 3 on the UnionDocs’ Membership hub. \n[/vc_column_text][vc_btn title=”Watch” style=”outline-custom” outline_custom_color=”#ffffff” outline_custom_hover_background=”#adadcc” outline_custom_hover_text=”#0000cd” shape=”round” align=”center” css_animation=”bounceIn”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_separator][vc_column_text] \nBios \n[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”154762″ img_size=”full” css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Dongnan Chen陈东楠\, currently based in Shenzhen China\, probes into the nuanced interplay between freedom and dilemma on the peripheries of the social fabric. Her portfolio includes shorts Sound of Vision 声音的颜色\, The Trail From Xinjiang 偷\, 14 Paintings 历历如画\, and the feature Singing in the Wilderness 旷野歌声\, which have received important backing from Sundance Institute\, IDFA Bertha\, Xining First\, Field of Vision\, DMZ etc\, and went on to get Emmy nomination\, and selected by IDFA\, IFFR\, Sundance\, New Director/New Films\, HotDocs…and were broadcasted on NHK\, POV\, KBS\, PTS. Dongnan is a graduate from New York University and a fellow of IDFAcademy and Sundance story and edit lab.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row disable_element=”yes”][vc_column offset=”vc_hidden-xs”][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_separator][vc_column_text] \nFrom the Event \n[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_media_grid style=”pagination” items_per_page=”1″ element_width=”12″ arrows_design=”vc_arrow-icon-arrow_01_left” arrows_position=”outside” arrows_color=”white” loop=”yes” item=”136647″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1776953779506-292c1ed3-42f4-6″][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][/vc_column][/vc_row]
URL:https://uniondocs.org/event/whispers-in-may-2026-05-02/
LOCATION:Lefrak Theater\, 200 Central Prk W\, New York\, 10024\, United States
CATEGORIES:Screenings & Events
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/gif:https://uniondocs.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/gif-1.gif
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260507T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260507T193000
DTSTAMP:20260429T052758
CREATED:20260402T051045Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260421T151554Z
UID:10003056-1778182200-1778182200@uniondocs.org
SUMMARY:New Kingston
DESCRIPTION:[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text css=””]Doors 7:00p\nProgram 7:30p\nTickets $12[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]UnionDocs\n352 Onderdonk Ave\nRidgewood\, NY[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column offset=”vc_hidden-lg vc_hidden-md vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs”][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_video link=”https://vimeo.com/851422192″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_column_text css=””] \nWe’re thrilled to present a special screening of New Kingston\, the filmmaking debut of artist Kevin Bewersdorf\, followed by a conversation between Bewersdorf and filmmaker James N. Kienitz Wilkins. As UNDO continues to exist in a state of construction — building\, rebuilding\, and reimagining our space — we’re especially excited to share a film that dwells so thoughtfully within the rhythms and meaning of that process. We’re grateful to James for introducing us to this quietly resonant work. \nThe film premiered at Rockaway Film Festival\, where it was described as: \n“Handmade with appreciation for little details\, artist and polymath Kevin Bewersdorf’s filmmaking debut patiently documents the rhythms of his work building and repairing houses in upstate New York. Filmed entirely on his iPhone with music he composed himself\, New Kingston moves through the seasons with deep affection for the people in his community in a refreshingly understated portrait of craftsmanship and the satisfaction that comes from a job well done.”\n— Rockaway Film Festival \nJames N. Kienitz Wilkins first encountered New Kingston at Rockaway. At his suggestion\, we’re delighted to share the following reflection he wrote about the film: \n“I caught Kevin Bewersdorf’s New Kingston at last year’s Rockaway Film Festival\, where it screened before my own feature\, which was then still under construction. While our movies couldn’t be more different in execution and worldly expectation\, it was instantly apparent why they’d been paired back-to-back: Aside from their interest in artists turned laborers\, they share a feeling of having been made despite themselves\, simultaneously ‘virtual’ (in a few senses of the word\, including almost or nearly but not completely\, and invoking its root\, virtus\, in their nearly religious approach to work) yet defined by physical limits. New Kingston\, in particular\, offers a vision (a documentary? an essay? an ode?) of the artist pausing during his day job\, not to imagine the movie he could be making under more ideal conditions\, but rather to continue making the movie already in the making\, which is to say life.”\n— James N. Kienitz Wilkins \nFilmed entirely on an iPhone and scored with Bewersdorf’s own music\, New Kingston unfolds across seasons in upstate New York\, tracing the quiet rhythms of building\, repairing\, and living. \nCome through![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_separator][vc_column_text] \nProgram \n[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_column_text css=””] \n\nNew Kingston by Kevin Bewersdorf\n\n[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]2025\, US\, 84 min.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column offset=”vc_hidden-lg vc_hidden-md vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs”][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_single_image image=”147742″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text] \nWatch the conversation between Presenter1\, Presenter2 and Presenter 3 on the UnionDocs’ Membership hub. \n[/vc_column_text][vc_btn title=”Watch” style=”outline-custom” outline_custom_color=”#ffffff” outline_custom_hover_background=”#adadcc” outline_custom_hover_text=”#0000cd” shape=”round” align=”center” css_animation=”bounceIn”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_separator][vc_column_text] \nBios \n[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162515″ img_size=”full” css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Kevin “Kev” Bewersdorf is an artist living in New Kingston\, NY.  Presently focused on home repair and cooperative farming\, his past endeavors include the early internet websites Maximum Sorrow and Spirit Surfers.  He has acted in and contributed the musical score to films of the “mumblecore” movement including Hannah Takes The Stairs and Computer Chess.  His 2020 album Faded Glory is available on all music streaming services.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162516″ img_size=”full” css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]James N. Kienitz Wilkins is a filmmaker and writer based in NYC. He is a long-time contributor to UnionDocs programs\, notably as an UNDO Fellow from 2019-20. His newest feature\, The Misconceived (2026)\, has its U.S premiere as the opening night selection of the Museum of Moving Images’ First Look festival on April 23. It opens for a theatrical run (on 35mm) at Anthology Film Archives this May.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column offset=”vc_hidden-lg vc_hidden-md vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs”][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_separator][vc_column_text] \nFrom the Event \n[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_media_grid style=”pagination” items_per_page=”1″ element_width=”12″ arrows_design=”vc_arrow-icon-arrow_01_left” arrows_position=”outside” arrows_color=”white” loop=”yes” item=”136647″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1775746447873-013509db-9394-2″ include=”147747\,147746\,147745″][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][/vc_column][/vc_row]
URL:https://uniondocs.org/event/new-kingston-2026-05-07/
LOCATION:UnionDocs\, 352 Onderdonk Avenue\, 352 Onderdonk Avenue\, Ridgewood\, NY\, 11385\, United States
CATEGORIES:Screenings & Events
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/gif:https://uniondocs.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/NEW_KINGSTON_hand.gif
GEO:40.7099952;-73.9507576
X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=UnionDocs 352 Onderdonk Avenue 352 Onderdonk Avenue Ridgewood NY 11385 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=352 Onderdonk Avenue:geo:-73.9507576,40.7099952
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260508T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260508T193000
DTSTAMP:20260429T052758
CREATED:20260402T051400Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260422T145318Z
UID:10003058-1778268600-1778268600@uniondocs.org
SUMMARY:We're Sick to Death of All This Nonsense: Saffron Time
DESCRIPTION:[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text css=””]Doors 7pm\nProgram 7:30p\nTickets $15[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]UnionDocs\n352 Onderdonk Ave\nRidgewood\, NY[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column offset=”vc_hidden-lg vc_hidden-md vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs”][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_video link=”https://vimeo.com/851422192″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_column_text css=””]Welcome to another round of our multimedia series combining live performance\, reading\, sound and image selected by poet Christine Larusso & writer and curator Rachael Rakes: We’re Sick to Death of All This Nonsense. It’s not ekphrasis. WS2DOATN is a live series merging words\, sounds\, and moving images\, intended to reframe—or unframe—what constitutes the poetic\, the time-based\, the time-less\, the urgent and endurant in art and discourse. \nIn May\, well be thinking about: Saffron Time. \nThe autumns of weeping and fasting and winters of weeping and praying fold time into season-smeared forget-mes. The erstwhile early crocuses blooming before they will have a chance to live\, the chrysanthemum perennial. Our eyes water while gorging on turmoil or being subjected to turmoil\, or surviving or “surviving.” Trying to know how to continue\, to land on land. Together. \nFine. \nPlanting bouquets of images\, lines\, hearts\, and mourning and vengeance\, this season’s WSTD brings together presentations from a few of those who mention flowers anyway\, whose tears don’t dry. Including readings and presentations by Jhani Randhawa\, Sampson Starkweather\, and your hosts CL&RR\, a screening of THE GARDEN AMIDST THE FLAME by Natasha Tontey\, plus vocal performance by Amirtha Kidambi\, and whatever else we want. Come through!\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_separator][vc_column_text] \nProgram \n[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_column_text css=””] \nOpening from hosts Rachael Rakes & Christine Larusso\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_column_text css=””] \nReading from Jhani Randhawa\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_column_text css=””] \nThe Garden Amidst the Flame by Natasha Tontey\n[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]27’42”\, 2022\, Colour\, 16:9 format\, Audio format stereo in Tontemboan\, English\, and Melayu Minahasa with English and Indonesian subtitle burnt.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]Garden Amidst the Flame continues Tontey’s ongoing research into the ancient knowledge\, technologies and cosmology of the Minahasa\, an Indigenous nation in the North Sulawesi province of Indonesia. In this most recent work\, Tontey emphasises core Minahasan cultural beliefs in the all-encompassing equilibrium between the human and non-human. Drawing on her experience of the Karai ceremony\, which grants Minahasan warriors an armour of invincibility\, the artist seeks to establish a queering approach towards gender\, youth and ecology.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_column_text css=””] \nVocal Performance by Amirtha Kidambi\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_column_text css=””] \nReading from Sampson Starkweather\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column offset=”vc_hidden-lg vc_hidden-md vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs”][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_column_text css=””] \nNgüru Ka Williñ (The Fox And The Otter) by Seba Calfuqueo\n[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]4 min\, 2022[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]The early 20th century fable “The Fox and the Otter\,” from the Historia y Conocimiento Oral Mapuche: Sobrevivientes de la campaña del desierto y ocupación de la Araucanía (1899–1926)\, tells the story of a homoerotic relationship between two animals – a fox and an otter\, both males – where anal penetration is seen as an offense to masculinity. This 3D animated video proposes a new version of the fable\, where its protagonist is a transgender vixen who\, by means of its charms\, achieves to attract the otter\, unsettling colonial constructions about desire and heterosexuality and allowing to break these paradigms and create new cosmologies.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column offset=”vc_hidden-lg vc_hidden-md vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs”][vc_single_image image=”147742″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text] \nWatch the conversation between Presenter1\, Presenter2 and Presenter 3 on the UnionDocs’ Membership hub. \n[/vc_column_text][vc_btn title=”Watch” style=”outline-custom” outline_custom_color=”#ffffff” outline_custom_hover_background=”#adadcc” outline_custom_hover_text=”#0000cd” shape=”round” align=”center” css_animation=”bounceIn”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_separator][vc_column_text] \nBios \n[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162776″ img_size=”full” css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Jhani Randhawa is an artist and independent scholar whose work interweaves experimental poetics and prose with video\, performance\, and archival photography in a study of cyborgian/monstrous dreamscapes and the entangled expressions of memory\, embodiment\, and agriculture as they bind the colonial to the contemporary postcolonial moment. Jhani’s debut collection Time Regime (New York: Gaudy Boy\, 2022) won the California Book Award for Poetry in 2023. Their hybrid writing has most recently appeared in Gulf Coast\, Little Mirror\, diode\, and the anthology A Mouth Holds Many Things: A De-Canon Hybrit-Literary Collection (Fonograf Editions\, 2024). Examples of Jhani’s collaborative social practice can be found in May We Gather: A National Buddhist Memorial Ceremony for Asian American Ancestors and Sutra and Bible\, an exhibition and anthology project coordinated between the Shinso Ito Center of Japanese Religions & Culture\, The Japanese American National Museum\, and Kaya Press. Jhani’s research\, writing\, and visual poetics have been recognized by UNESCO\, PEN America\, the museum of the Czong Institute of Contemporary Art (Gyeonggi-do\, SK)\, the Richard Bonney Literary Fund (Leicester\, UK)\, and fully funded residencies from Montalvo Arts\, Millay Arts\, and the Wormfarm Institute. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162777″ img_size=”full” css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Sampson Starkweather is a poet and does other stuff for money to pay rent and survive. He is the author of HONEY IN THE TAPE DECK: New & Uncollected Poems\, Slip on the Ski Mask of Night\, PAIN: The Board Game\, The First Four Books of Sampson Starkweather and over a dozen chapbooks from dangerous and/or defunct underground small presses. He is a founding editor of the anti-capitalist independent editor-run poetry press Birds\, LLC.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162799″ img_size=”full” css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Spanning free jazz\, punk\, electronic\, noise & South Asian music\, Amirtha Kidambi’s work challenges systems of power and the “decolonization and deconstruction of borders physical\, mental and musical”. Kidambi is a composer-improviser\, vocalist\, scholar\, educator and organizer\, leading the defiant protest jazz band Elder Ones. Based in Lenapehoking-Brooklyn\, Kidambi collaborates with Luke Stewart\, Darius Jones\, Mary Halvorson\, Maria Grand\, Rafiq Bhatia\, William Parker\, Muhal Richard Abrams\, Robert Ashley and other groundbreaking artists\, receiving praise from Pitchfork\, Wire Magazine\, NPR and touring internationally at Rewire\, SESC (Brazil) Unsound\, Big Ears and was recently a guest curator at Le Guess Who? festival in the Netherlands. As a composer\, she has scored the anti-colonial films of Suneil Sanzgiri\, exhibited at Brooklyn Museum\, MoMA and global film festivals. Central to her practice is her work as an organizer and educator\, working against oppression in all its forms and was the Working Artist Fellow for 2025 at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn\, hosting a new podcast called Outernational on music and liberation.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162778″ img_size=”full” css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Natasha Tontey (b\, 1989) is Minahasan artist based between Yogyakarta and Jakarta. Her artistic practice predominantly explores the fictional accounts of the history and myths surrounding ‘manufactured fear.’ In her practice\, she observes any possibilities of other futures that are projected not from the perspective of major and established institutions\, but a subtle and personal struggle of the outcasted entities and beings.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”161175″ img_size=”full” css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Christine Larusso holds a BA from Fordham University (Lincoln Center) and an MFA in Creative Writing from New York University. Her poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Bomb Magazine\, Volume\, the Colorado Review\, Wildness\, the Los Angeles Times\, the Literary Review\, Pleiades\, Court Green\, Narrative\, and elsewhere. She was a Producer for Rachel Zucker’s podcast\, Commonplace\, and was a co-founder of the Commonplace School. She lives in Los Angeles most of the time.\n \n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”152994″ img_size=”full” css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Rachael Rakes is a writer\, curator\, educator\, and researcher. She was recently the Artistic Director of the 12th Seoul Mediacity Biennale\, 2023. Currently Rakes is a Committee Member of the New York Film Festival\, an Editor at Large for Verso Books\, and a Contributing Editor for INFRASONICA.With Laura Huertas Millán and Onyeka Igwe\, she organizes the artistic research initiative on co-subjective encounters\, Counter-Encounters. From 2019–2022 she was the Curator for Public Practice at BAK basis voor actuele kunst\, Utrecht. Until 2019\, she was the Head Curator and Manager of the Curatorial Programme at De Appel in Amsterdam. Rakes teaches in the Artificial Times Masters department at Sandberg\, on Curating the moving image at Leiden University\, and taught recently for the Parsons School of Art\, Zine Eskola\, HKU\, KASK\, Eugene Lang College\, and Harvard University. Rakes is editor of the publications This\, Too\, Is a Map (2023\, Sema/[NAME])\, Toward the Not-Yet (2021\, BAK/MIT Press)\, and Practice Space (2019\, [NAME]/De Appel) and frequently publishes as a critic and essayist.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column offset=”vc_hidden-lg vc_hidden-md vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs”][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_separator][vc_column_text] \nFrom the Event \n[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_media_grid style=”pagination” items_per_page=”1″ element_width=”12″ arrows_design=”vc_arrow-icon-arrow_01_left” arrows_position=”outside” arrows_color=”white” loop=”yes” item=”136647″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1776869559535-9292eca9-03dc-5″ include=”147747\,147746\,147745″][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column offset=”vc_hidden-lg vc_hidden-md vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs”][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_separator][vc_column_text] \nFrom the Event \n[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_media_grid style=”pagination” items_per_page=”1″ element_width=”12″ arrows_design=”vc_arrow-icon-arrow_01_left” arrows_position=”outside” arrows_color=”white” loop=”yes” item=”136647″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1776869559536-11ecb906-f44e-6″ include=”147747\,147746\,147745″][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][/vc_column][/vc_row]
URL:https://uniondocs.org/event/were-sick-to-death-of-all-this-nonsense-saffron-time-2026-05-08/
LOCATION:UnionDocs\, 352 Onderdonk Avenue\, 352 Onderdonk Avenue\, Ridgewood\, NY\, 11385\, United States
CATEGORIES:Screenings & Events
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/gif:https://uniondocs.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/WSTDOATNgif.gif
GEO:40.7099952;-73.9507576
X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=UnionDocs 352 Onderdonk Avenue 352 Onderdonk Avenue Ridgewood NY 11385 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=352 Onderdonk Avenue:geo:-73.9507576,40.7099952
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260510T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260510T193000
DTSTAMP:20260429T052758
CREATED:20260402T210015Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260428T103935Z
UID:10003059-1778441400-1778441400@uniondocs.org
SUMMARY:Alchemy in the Archive
DESCRIPTION:[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text css=””]Doors 7:00p\nProgram 7:30p\nTickets $12[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]UnionDocs\n352 Onderdonk Ave\nRidgewood\, NY[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column offset=”vc_hidden-lg vc_hidden-md vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs”][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_video link=”https://vimeo.com/851422192″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_column_text css=””]We’re thrilled to welcome Anthony Banua-Simon to UnionDocs for an evening of cinema and conversation! We’ll begin with a screening of Banua-Simon’s recent found footage short WORLD ENTERPRISES and continues with an in-progress presentation of his feature The Pink Palace\, a project that expands from the themes introduced in the short. Through preliminary documentary footage\, archival video\, photos\, and research\, Banua-Simon will narrate the project to be produced in the coming year. \nThe Pink Palace is a documentary / fiction hybrid built from both historical archive and scripted scenes produced within unsanctioned and occasionally improvised contemporary settings. The film takes place at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Waikiki on Oʻahu. In a narrative alternating between 1939 and the current day\, the film follows the “Golden Man” (in mocking reverence to author James A. Michener)\, a mysterious public relations agent employed by shipping company and hotel owner\, Matson\, and tasked with creating and maintaining an ever-evolving construct of Hawaiʻi that caters to tourism and a growing U.S. military empire. The film links historical figures such as Georgia O‘Keeffe\, General Douglas MacArthur\, Hawaiian activist Sammy Amalu\, and Filipino actress Isabel Rosario Cooper in an absurdist plot among the real-life current day backdrop of hotel union strikes and the RIMPAC military exercises. \nThe Pink Palace is an extension of themes and histories examined in Banua-Simon’s documentaries Cane Fire\, The Experiment Station\, WORLD ENTERPRISES\, as well as his ongoing video essay series based on the book by Delia Caparoso Konzett\, Hollywood’s Hawaii: Race\, Nation and War. These projects are critical analyses that dissect existing materials and utilize oral histories and The Pink Palace will be extending this knowledge into the speculative realm\, resulting in an original work that can act as an exponent to further inquiry. \nCome through![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_separator][vc_column_text] \nProgram \n[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_column_text css=””] \nThe Pink Palace\n[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]In-progress feature length\, 45 min presentation[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]The Hawaiʻi of 1939 and today converge into a transhistorical blend of fiction and documentary film as a mysterious public relations agent residing in the Royal Hawaiian Hotel is tasked with maintaining the island’s unraveling image.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_column_text css=””] \nWORLD ENTERPRISES\n[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]14 mins\, 2026[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]In 1940\, on the dry westside of the Hawaiian island of Kauaʻi\, the Kekaha Sugar Company began a six-month mail-order film subscription with World Enterprises\, a distributor sponsored by the charitable trust and foundation of Castle & Cooke\, one of the “Big Five” sugar companies. Varied in style\, the films shared a common theme: American power taming lands and peoples of the “frontier” through extraction\, an encroachment justified by declared ideals of progress.  WORLD ENTERPRISES is a collage of radical possibilities sourced entirely from the original program screened for workers on their Sundays off from harvesting and processing sugarcane.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_column_text css=””] \nProgram Duration: 60 mins \n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column offset=”vc_hidden-lg vc_hidden-md vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs”][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_single_image image=”147742″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text] \nWatch the conversation between Presenter1\, Presenter2 and Presenter 3 on the UnionDocs’ Membership hub. \n[/vc_column_text][vc_btn title=”Watch” style=”outline-custom” outline_custom_color=”#ffffff” outline_custom_hover_background=”#adadcc” outline_custom_hover_text=”#0000cd” shape=”round” align=”center” css_animation=”bounceIn”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_separator][vc_column_text] \nBios \n[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162794″ img_size=”full” css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Anthony Banua-Simon is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and editor who’s a 2024 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow in Video/Film. He was also named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 2021 “25 New Faces of Independent Film” and DOC NYC’s 2022 “40 Under 40”. His debut feature documentary\, Cane Fire\, was an official selection of the 2020 Hot Docs International Film Festival as well as the 2021 MoMA Doc Fortnight and won “Best Documentary Feature” at the 2020 Indie Memphis Film Festival and the 2021 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. Cane Fire is distributed theatrically by Cinema Guild and was available to stream on The Criterion Channel. The film has received praise in RogerEbert.com\, The Wrap\, Jacobin\, Film Threat\, and Hyperallergic among several other outlets. \nHis short documentary about two former workers of the Domino Sugar Refinery\, Third Shift\, won “Best Short Documentary” at the 2014 Brooklyn Film Festival and was previously streaming on The Criterion Channel. He’s featured in The New York Times\, BOMB Magazine\, Screen Slate\, Pioneer Works Broadcast\, and HuffPost. \nAnthony attended The Evergreen State College and was a fellow at the UnionDocs Collaborative Studio Program. He taught film editing at The State University of New York at Purchase and was a member of the volunteer-run Spectacle Theater in Brooklyn\, NY. His current documentary project\, The Experiment Station\, has received support from both NYSCA and the Jerome Foundation. Occasionally\, he’s asked to list his favorite films (The Criterion Collection Top 10\, Grasshopper Film 10/10).[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column offset=”vc_hidden-lg vc_hidden-md vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs”][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_separator][vc_column_text] \nFrom the Event \n[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_media_grid style=”pagination” items_per_page=”1″ element_width=”12″ arrows_design=”vc_arrow-icon-arrow_01_left” arrows_position=”outside” arrows_color=”white” loop=”yes” item=”136647″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1777305610307-e3aed900-5675-8″ include=”147747\,147746\,147745″][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][/vc_column][/vc_row]
URL:https://uniondocs.org/event/alchemy-in-the-archive-2026-05-10/
LOCATION:UnionDocs\, 352 Onderdonk Avenue\, 352 Onderdonk Avenue\, Ridgewood\, NY\, 11385\, United States
CATEGORIES:Screenings & Events
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/gif:https://uniondocs.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/gdif.gif
GEO:40.7099952;-73.9507576
X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=UnionDocs 352 Onderdonk Avenue 352 Onderdonk Avenue Ridgewood NY 11385 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=352 Onderdonk Avenue:geo:-73.9507576,40.7099952
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260515T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260517T133000
DTSTAMP:20260429T052758
CREATED:20260324T125314Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260417T213753Z
UID:10003045-1778839200-1779024600@uniondocs.org
SUMMARY:Beyond the Feed:  Expanding the Art of Audio Non-Fiction
DESCRIPTION:[vc_row][vc_column offset=”vc_hidden-lg vc_hidden-md vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs”][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46T0dWTytwA” css=””][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]After a period of commercial growth and seemingly endless interest and investment\, the last few years of the podcasting industry has seen a decline in opportunities for creators new and old. What could be seen as an industry in contraction can alternatively be thought of as an opportunity for artistic evolution. Join award winning podcast producer and documentary artist Mitra Kaboli for this 3-day workshop\, as she explores the new horizons of the contemporary audio documentary landscape. \nAlongside a select group of esteemed guests\, Mitra will guide participants through a world of sonic exploration\, in which audio work is conceived and considered within an expansive artistic framework. Elevated beyond its commercial value and leaving behind the podcast feed\, this workshop takes the audio documentary form and reaches for new possibilities in research\, format\, performance and distribution. We’ll be rifling through the rich lineage of podcasting and sound-based storytelling through sound to investigate what forms of audio presentation are available to sound artists and audio producers in the current landscape. \nThis workshop is intended to provoke out-of-the-box thinking\, inspire creativity and encourage an expansive approach to the potentials of audio techniques. Through a variety of hands-on activities\, artist talks and deep listening exercises\, we’ll be diving into questions like: what is the state of the podcasting industry and where can we go from here? How can we share and uplift our work beyond the podcast feed? What tools\, techniques and networks are available to sound artists and audio documentarians? What makes a story told through sound so compelling? \nThe workshop centers emerging and established artists from the intersecting worlds of sound art\, audio documentary and the podcasting industry\, and we’re lucky to be joined and guided by a few of them. Mitra Kaboli will be taking the lead\, guiding us over the bridge between our familiar podcast feed and the ever-expanding possibilities of sound-based documentary. Interdisciplinary artist Aaron Edwards will discuss multi-modal performance and field recording practices. Viv Corringham\, one of the foremost practitioners of the soundwalk\, will walk participants through her practice and the ideas that guide it. Composer\, vocalist and performance artist Gelsey Bell will share expert insight from years of research into vast artistic applications of the voice. Participants will also get the opportunity to share their own work in the context of a group discussion and feedback session\, hopefully leaving the weekend with tangible learnings and productive advice. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_text_separator title=”Details” color=”white” el_class=”h1″][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_tta_accordion style=”outline” shape=”square” color=”white” active_section=”8″ no_fill=”true” collapsible_all=”true”][vc_tta_section title=”Who is eligible?” tab_id=”1477608256488-ac7d3d1a-ae9084d0-801ebd47-97fc”][vc_column_text css=””]Open to everyone\, though the workshop setting is best suited for filmmakers\, film producers\, journalists\, curators and media artists. \nGive us an idea of who you are and why you are coming. When you register you will be asked for a short statement of interest that should briefly describe your experience and a film project (it would be great if you have a project in progress that you would present to the group during the work-in-progress critique sessions)\, plus a bio. There’s a spot for a link to a work sample (and CV\, which would also be nice\, but is not required).[/vc_column_text][/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Cost” tab_id=”1477608256642-4c32d845-e84384d0-801ebd47-97fc”][vc_column_text css=””]$295 early bird registration ends on May 5\, 2026. \n$350 regular registration.[/vc_column_text][/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Refund Policy” tab_id=”1477608441051-60d28267-92bf84d0-801ebd47-97fc”][vc_column_text css=””]The deposit is non-refundable. Should you need to cancel\, you’ll receive half of your registration fee back until May 5.  After May 5\, the fee is non-refundable.[/vc_column_text][/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Technology Requirements” tab_id=”1477608488046-a8fa4720-501684d0-801ebd47-97fc”][vc_column_text css=””]No animation software is required for participation in this workshop. \nIn order to keep costs down\, this workshop is a BYOL\, i.e. bring your own laptop. Students must be fully proficient using and operating their computers.[/vc_column_text][/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Registration & Cancellation Policy” tab_id=”1477612055387-51381642-d1c784d0-801ebd47-97fc”][vc_column_text css=””]To register for a workshop\, students must pay in full via card\, check\, or cash . After the early bird registration deadline of May 5\, course fees are not refundable or transferable and any withdrawals or deadlines will result in the full cost of the class being forfeit. There will be no exceptions. To withdraw from a course please email info-at-uniondocs.org. \nIn the event that a workshop does not receive sufficient enrollment\, it may be canceled. Students will be notified at least 48 hours prior to the start of a cancelled workshop and will be refunded within 5 business days. If we reschedule a workshop to another date\, students are also entitled to a full refund. UnionDocs reserves the right to change instructors without prior notification\, and to change class location and meeting times by up to an hour with 48 hours prior notice.[/vc_column_text][/vc_tta_section][/vc_tta_accordion][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_message message_box_style=”solid” style=”square” message_box_color=”orange”]Please note: Participants are accepted on a first-come\, first-serve basis.[/vc_message][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_text_separator title=”Schedule” color=”white” el_class=”h1″][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=”Friday\, May 15th” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=””][vc_separator color=”white”][vc_column_text css=””]10:00am – 10:30am Welcome & intros  \n10:30am – 12:30pm Intro session with Mitra Kaboli \n12:30am – 2:00pm Lunch \n2:00pm – 4:00pm Session with Aaron Edwards \n4:00pm – 4:30pm Wrap Up Discussion with Mitra additional exercises / discussion[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_custom_heading text=”Saturday\, May 16th” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=””][vc_separator color=”white”][vc_column_text css=””]11:00am – 11:30am Warm up\, inspiring references\, case studies \n11:30am – 1:30pm Session with Viv Corringham \n1:30am -3:00pm Lunch \n3:00pm – 5:00pm Session with Gelsey Bell \n5:00pm – 5:30pm Wrap Up Discussion with Mitra\, additional exercises / discussion[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_custom_heading text=”Sunday\, May 17th” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=””][vc_separator color=”white”][vc_column_text css=””]10:00am – 10:30am Warm up\, inspiring references\, case study\, ear training. \n10:30am – 12:30pm Creative session OR work-in-progress with Mitra \n12:30pm – 1:30pm Wrap Up Discussion with Mitra\, additional exercises / discussion[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_custom_heading text=”Each day follows this general structure\, with some minor variations and substitutions:” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/6″][vc_column_text]10:00a[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”5/6″][vc_column_text]Warm up\, inspiring references\, case study\, eye training.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/6″][vc_column_text]10:30a[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”5/6″][vc_column_text]Presentation by guest speaker + individual work-in-progress critique[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/6″][vc_column_text]11:45a[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”5/6″][vc_column_text]Discussion[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/6″][vc_column_text]12:30p[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”5/6″][vc_column_text]Share / Discussion / Exercise[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/6″][vc_column_text]1:00p[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”5/6″][vc_column_text]Lunch (on your own)[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/6″][vc_column_text]2:00p[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”5/6″][vc_column_text]Presentation by guest speaker + individual work-in-progress critique[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/6″][vc_column_text]3:15p[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”5/6″][vc_column_text]Discussion[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/6″][vc_column_text]4:00p[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”5/6″][vc_column_text]Workshop Exercise + Critique[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/6″][vc_column_text]5:00p[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”5/6″][vc_column_text]Wrap Up[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_text_separator title=”Bios” color=”white” el_class=” \n“][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162177″ img_size=”full” css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Mitra Kaboli is an award-winning audio producer\, sound designer\, and multimedia artist working professionally in radio and podcasting since 2012. Mitra was one of the original members of the Peabody Finalist podcast\, The Heart. Her work has been featured on ESPN’s 30 for 30 Podcasts\, the BBC\, Making Contact and NY Mag’s Tabloid. In 2022\, she hosted and produced the critically acclaimed podcast\, Welcome to Provincetown. Currently\, Mitra is an adjunct professor at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism and at Hunter College.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162178″ img_size=”full” css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Aaron Edwards is an interdisciplinary director\, story editor and writer working across text\, stage and narrative audio. His writing\, podcasting and performance work has appeared at places like BAM\, Lincoln Center\, the Brooklyn Public Library and the Tribeca Festival. He’s based in the Hudson Valley.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162179″ img_size=”full” css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Viv Corringham (voice\, electronics\, field recordings) is a US based British vocalist and sound artist\, who has been described as “a vital force in improvised music since the late 1970s” (Corey Mwamba\, BBC Radio 3) and “a vocalist of stunning virtuosity” (Louise Gray\, The Wire). She makes concerts\, soundwalks\, workshops and installations. Her practice explores relations between voice\, place and walking\, responding with sung improvisations to both natural and urban soundscapes. Corringham has received international recognition and awards including two McKnight Composer Fellowships through the American Composers Forum. She is a certified facilitator of Deep Listening\, having played and studied with composer Pauline Oliveros. In 2024 this practice took her to Mexico\, Spain\, Germany and the Listening Academy in Hong Kong. Notable live performances have occurred in festivals at Queen Elizabeth Hall\, London\, Hong Kong Arts Centre\, Fonoteca Nacional de Mexico\, Issue Project Room New York and Tempo Reale Florence. Her recent album “Soundwalkscapes” (Vol. 1: January to June) on Flaming Pines label (Bandcamp’s Best Field Recordings 2024) has been well received. The Wire wrote that “Corringham voices the depth of place.” Her definitive contribution to sound art practice is the 20 year ongoing “Shadow-walks”\, which create layers of time and space\, combining recordings from shared and solo walks along the same path with her improvised sung response. They have occurred in 18 countries\, are taught in many sound art classes and have been the focus of articles in books and publications.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162180″ img_size=”full” css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Gelsey Bell (she/they) is a Brooklyn-based multidisciplinary performance creator\, composer\, and vocalist. Her recent works include the experimental opera mɔɹnɪŋ [morning//mourning] (2023)\, commissioned by the HERE Arts Center and presented in the Prototype Festival; Cairns (2020)\, a soundwalk for Green-Wood Cemetery; the musical one-act Archaeopteris (2025)\, commissioned by Wet Ink; and thingNY’s collaboratively written opera Mouthful (2024). She is the Co-Artistic Director of thingNY and Varispeed. She has released multiple albums\, including the recent mɔɹnɪŋ [morning//mourning]\, Skylighght\, and Heads Together. She has received awards from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts\, Opera America\, the Aaron Copland Fund for Music\, the Japan Foundation\, NYSCA\, and others. Performance highlights also include Dave Malloy’s Natasha\, Pierre\, & the Great Comet of 1812 (Broadway) and Ghost Quartet\, Robert Ashley’s Celestial Excursions and Improvement\, Darius Jones’s Samesoul Maker\, and others. She has a PhD in performance studies from NYU\, is part-time faculty and the program director for the Master of Music Performer-Composer program at the New School\, and has published articles in TDR/The Drama Review (for which she is a Contributing Editor)\, The Journal of Interdisciplinary Voice Studies (for which she is an Associate Editor)\, Tempo\, Performance Research\, and others.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]\n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row]
URL:https://uniondocs.org/event/beyond-the-feed-expanding-the-art-of-audio-non-fiction-2026-05-15/
CATEGORIES:Workshops & Labs
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://uniondocs.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/46064a16-770b-4991-8083-2a5ac1144b43_6000x4000.webp
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260605T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260605T190000
DTSTAMP:20260429T052758
CREATED:20260402T211539Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260416T185423Z
UID:10003049-1780686000-1780686000@uniondocs.org
SUMMARY:Emergent City
DESCRIPTION:[vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_separator color=”custom” accent_color=”#ffffff”][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_column_text css=””]We’re delighted to present an evening of cinema and conversation with Kelly Anderson and Jay Arthur Sterrenberg’s thrilling documentary Emergent City! \n“Emergent City is not a polemic\, nor does it fall into the “all sides” trap of equivocation. It’s curious and patient\, taking the time to understand its subject. It leaves enough wiggle room for the audience to make up its own mind\, a kind of nonfiction Rorschach test to help us illuminate how we really think about everything from housing costs to climate change.” \n— Alan Zilberman\, Washington City Paper \nVerité thriller Emergent City chronicles a critical period of transformation for the Sunset Park neighborhood in waterfront Brooklyn. Over the course of several years the film presents the intersections of multiple stakeholders and divergent interest groups as the plot known as Industry City changes owners and faces redevelopment and rezoning. Local council\, community members\, small business owners and large developers go head to head in this observational civic epic. Emergent City sheds light on power and process\, illuminating systems and giving viewers a front row seat to the public and private spaces where the city is shaped. The film explores the profound intersections of gentrification\, climate crisis and real estate development\, and asks how change might emerge from dialogue and collective action in a world where too many outcomes are constrained by money\, politics and business as usual. \nThe screening will be preceded by a presentation by directors Jay and Kelly\, joined remotely by producer Brenda Àvila-Hanna\, discussing the inception of the film\, where the idea came from\, initial encounters with the film’s subject and the original vision at the outset of the project. \nNote: We’re overjoyed that this year’s Documentary Fundamentals course is led by Kelly Anderson and Jay Arthur Sterrenberg! Emergent City will serve as a case-study for DOC FUNDAMENTALS\, our annual six session professional development series\, across all the sessions including RESEARCH & FINANCING\, VISUAL LANGUAGE\, ACCESS & FIELD WORK\, POST PRODUCTION and RELEASING your documentary. Each session features a range of exciting\, advanced and award-winning professionals from the field and many from this film who represent all aspects of producing a documentary feature. It is perfect as a primer or a way to refocus and rethink your project in today’s changing landscape! You can attend all sessions with a SERIES PASS or just tackle the hurdles where you need help with a single session.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator color=”custom” accent_color=”#ffffff”][vc_column_text] \nBuy a Series Pass \n[/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”custom” accent_color=”#ffffff”]$175.00Add to cart	\n			\n [vc_column_text css=””]DOCUMENTARY FUNDAMENTALS: A professional development series designed to give the emerging or intermediate documentary filmmaker an inside look at the filmmaking process from pre-production planning to post-production and distribution. Over the past few years\, UnionDocs has developed this ongoing program for documentarians that desire a better foundation for navigating the modern landscape of independent filmmaking. This six-part program takes place over the course of one weekend at UnionDocs. Buy a SERIES PASS ($175) or choose to attend individual sessions ($35/each).[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_separator color=”custom” accent_color=”#ffffff”][vc_column_text] \nInstructors \n[/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”custom” accent_color=”#ffffff”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162386″ img_size=”full” css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Kelly Anderson is a Sunset Park based documentary filmmaker whose most recent film is Rabble Rousers: Frances Goldin and the Fight for Cooper Square (w. Ryan Joseph and Kathryn Barnier). Her 2012 film My Brooklyn\, about the hidden forces driving gentrification\, was broadcast on PBS’ America ReFramed. Kelly produced and directed Every Mother’s Son (PBS\, 2004\, w. Tami Gold)\, about mothers whose children were killed by police\, which won the Tribeca Audience Award and aired on POV. She produced and directed Out At Work (HBO\, 2000\, w. Tami Gold)\, which premiered at Sundance. Kelly chairs the Department of Film and Media Studies at Hunter College (CUNY)[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162394″ img_size=”full” css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Jay Arthur Sterrenberg is a New York City based filmmaker\, editor and co-founder of the Meerkat Media Collective whose work has screened at Sundance\, Tribeca\, IDFA\, CPH:DOX and broadcast on PBS\, HBO\, Netflix & Hulu. \nJay’s two decade documentary editing career began with collaborations with DCTV’s Jon Alpert & Matt O’Neil on the HBO documentaries Section 60: Arlington National Cemetery (2008)\, Wartorn (2010) and Oscar nominated Redemption (2012). He also edited the Oscar shortlisted films Dark Money (dir. Kimberly Reed\, 2018) and After Maria (dir. Nadia Hallgren\, 2019) and a has had a long collaboration with filmmaking duo Shaul Schwarz & Christina Clusiau – Narco Cultura (Sundance 2013)\, Emmy-winning Trophy (CNN Films\, 2017)\, Emmy-nominated FLY (Nat Geo\, 2024) and the 2020 Netflix doc series Immigration Nation\, which won a Peabody Award and Best New Documentary Series at the Independent Spirit Awards. \nAs a director\, his films find cinematic ways to explore process & democracy. A believer in collective filmmaking\, he co-directed many independent films with the Meerkat Media Collective including Stages (2010)\, Consensus: Direct Democracy at Occupy Wall Street (2011) and Brasslands (2013). His solo directorial debut was the observational short film Public Money (POV\, 2018) which paved the way for the feature-length collaboration with Kelly Anderson: Emergent City (POV\, 2025).[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162393″ img_size=”full” css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Brenda Àvila-Hanna is a filmmaker and educator born and raised in Mexico City and currently based in Central California. Her films mostly focus on transnational stories\, spaces and identities. Brenda is a recent fellow for the Sundance Documentary Producing Lab\, Points North\, BAVC’s National MediaMaker\, NALIP and DocsMX. Brenda was in the inaugural cohort of DOC NYC’s “Documentary Industry New Leaders” and was a 2021 Rockwood/Just Films Fellow. She is a producer of the ITVS supported documentary EMERGENT CITY  (Dir. Kelly Anderson & Jay \nSterrenberg)\, which premiered at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival and aired nationally on PBS. Brenda is also a producer of the Sundance Institute supported HOW TO CLEAN A HOUSE IN TEN EASY STEPS (Dir. Carolina Gonzalez)\, currently in festivals. She is also a co-producer of American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez (Dir. David Alvarado)\, winner of the U.S. Documentary Audience Award and Festival Favorite Award at Sundance. Brenda received an M.A. in Social Documentation from UCSC\, where she teaches various storytelling courses. She is a Board Member of the Watsonville Film Festival.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row]
URL:https://uniondocs.org/event/documentary-fundamentals-how-it-started-2026-06-05/
LOCATION:UnionDocs\, 352 Onderdonk Avenue\, 352 Onderdonk Avenue\, Ridgewood\, NY\, 11385\, United States
CATEGORIES:Screenings & Events
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/gif:https://uniondocs.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/6gif.gif
GEO:40.7099952;-73.9507576
X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=UnionDocs 352 Onderdonk Avenue 352 Onderdonk Avenue Ridgewood NY 11385 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=352 Onderdonk Avenue:geo:-73.9507576,40.7099952
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260605T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260607T180000
DTSTAMP:20260429T052758
CREATED:20260402T210012Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260416T184619Z
UID:10003048-1780686000-1780855200@uniondocs.org
SUMMARY:Documentary Fundamentals 2026: Emergent City
DESCRIPTION:[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]Today’s documentary landscape is rapidly evolving with new avenues and pitfalls around every corner. DOC FUNDAMENTALS\, our annual six session professional development series\, responds each year to the changes we see in the field and is geared towards preparing emerging and mid-career independent filmmakers with all the nuts-and-bolts knowledge they need to complete a feature documentary. \nWe’re overjoyed that this year’s Documentary Fundamentals course is led by Kelly Anderson and Jay Arthur Sterrenberg\, the directing duo behind the observational documentary feature Emergent City\, a timely and unflinching insight into local politics and the political process. “The best New York City-based documentary in a decade” according to Hell Gate\, Emergent City is a masterclass in verite and participant management\, with incredible access to the multiple layers of a local story with far reaching resonance. You’re invited to follow along and trace the trajectory of this recent documentary all the way from development and pre-production stages to production and post-production\, through its festival run\, distribution and continued exhibition life. \nEmergent City will serve as a case-study across each session\,  including DEVELOPMENT & FINANCING\, VISUAL LANGUAGE\, WORKING IN THE FIELD\, POST PRODUCTION and FINDING AN AUDIENCE\, and ultimately could serve as a possible model for your own documentary. \nEach session features a range of exciting\, experienced and award-winning professionals from the field\, who contributed to bringing Emergent City to life\, and who represent all aspects of producing a documentary feature. It is perfect as a primer or as a way to refocus and rethink your project in today’s changing documentary landscape! You can attend all sessions with a SERIES PASS or just tackle the hurdles where you need help with a single session.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_custom_heading text=”BUY SERIES PASS – ALL ACCESS” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”]$175.00Add to cart	\n			\n [vc_column_text css=””]The full series pass includes access to all of the 2025 Documentary Fundamentals sessions listed below and the public screening of Emergent City. You can also tailor your Doc Fundamentals attendance to your personal needs and select each course a la carte for $35/session.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_separator color=”white”][vc_column_text css=””] \nAbout Emergent City \n[/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”white”][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_column_text css=””] \nOver a decade\, within the borders of a single Brooklyn community district\, a microcosm of American democracy emerges. Residents of Sunset Park face a tangled web of rising rents\, a legacy of environmental racism and the loss of the industrial jobs that once sustained their community. When a global developer purchases Industry City – a massive industrial complex on the waterfront – and begins to transform it into an “innovation district\,” a battle erupts over the future of the neighborhood and of New York City itself. \nEmergent City is an observational civic epic. It sheds light on power and process\, illuminating systems and giving viewers a front row seat to the public and private spaces where the city is shaped. With extraordinary access\, it tracks an ensemble of participants including the local council member\, Industry City’s developers and community members with divergent stakes. The film explores the profound intersections of gentrification\, climate crisis and real estate development\, and asks how change might emerge from dialogue and collective action in a world where too many outcomes are constrained by money\, politics and business as usual. \n[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_separator color=”white”][vc_column_text] \nAbout Doc Fundamentals \n[/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”white”][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_column_text css=””]UnionDocs has developed this ongoing program for documentarians\, after receiving countless requests from folks who desire a better foundation for navigating the modern landscape of independent filmmaking and has received feedback that this course does the trick! Each year we select an array of guests that represent the best of the field with contemporary approaches to navigating with best practices.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_custom_heading text=”Reflections from past participants of Doc Fundamentals:” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_column_text] \n“Overall a great balance between breadth & depth; I feel very encouraged & equipped with the basic knowledge of how turn my projects into more serious endeavors.” \n[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text] \n“The focus of the sessions on brass tacks issues like funding\, logistics\, legal & business matters\, organizing production flow\, and how to find & work with collaborators was excellent; it’s the most helpful information that can be shared in such a relatively limited amount of time & it conveys a trust in session participants that they will find their own way through” \n[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text] \n“I really enjoyed the concept of breaking a single documentary down over several focus points. Looking forward to future courses! Thank you!” \n[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator color=”white”][vc_column_text] \nSchedule \n[/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”white”][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=”Day 1: Friday\, June 5″ font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=””][vc_separator color=”white”][vc_column_text css=””]SESSION 1: Project Conception | 60 mins\n(Opening Session – Directing\, access\, vision of the film and overall idea of the film) \nFILM SCREENING | Emergent City | 95 mins[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_custom_heading text=”Day 2: Saturday\, June 6″ font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=””][vc_separator color=”white”][vc_column_text css=””]\nSESSION 2: Research\, development\, & financing | 11am – 12:30pm \nSESSION 3: Creating a visual language (Cinematography\, Archival & Graphics) | 2pm – 3:30pm \nSESSION 4: (Access\, Working in the field) | 4pm – 5:30pm \n[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_custom_heading text=”Day 3: Sunday\, June 7″ font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=””][vc_separator color=”white”][vc_column_text css=””]SESSION 5: (Post-production: Editing\, Music & Sound) | 2pm – 3:30pm \nSESSION 6: (festival strategy\, distribution & Impact) | 4pm – 5:30pm[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_separator color=”white”][vc_column_text] \nBios \n[/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”white”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162386″ img_size=”200×200″ css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Kelly Anderson is a Sunset Park based documentary filmmaker whose most recent film is Rabble Rousers: Frances Goldin and the Fight for Cooper Square (w. Ryan Joseph and Kathryn Barnier). Her 2012 film My Brooklyn\, about the hidden forces driving gentrification\, was broadcast on PBS’ America ReFramed. Kelly produced and directed Every Mother’s Son (PBS\, 2004\, w. Tami Gold)\, about mothers whose children were killed by police\, which won the Tribeca Audience Award and aired on POV. She produced and directed Out At Work (HBO\, 2000\, w. Tami Gold)\, which premiered at Sundance. Kelly chairs the Department of Film and Media Studies at Hunter College (CUNY).[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162394″ img_size=”200×200″ css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Jay Arthur Sterrenberg is a New York City based filmmaker\, editor and co-founder of the Meerkat Media Collective whose work has screened at Sundance\, Tribeca\, IDFA\, CPH:DOX and broadcast on PBS\, HBO\, Netflix & Hulu. \nJay’s two decade documentary editing career began with collaborations with DCTV’s Jon Alpert & Matt O’Neil on the HBO documentaries Section 60: Arlington National Cemetery (2008)\, Wartorn (2010) and Oscar nominated Redemption (2012). He also edited the Oscar shortlisted films Dark Money (dir. Kimberly Reed\, 2018) and After Maria (dir. Nadia Hallgren\, 2019) and a has had a long collaboration with filmmaking duo Shaul Schwarz & Christina Clusiau – Narco Cultura (Sundance 2013)\, Emmy-winning Trophy (CNN Films\, 2017)\, Emmy-nominated FLY (Nat Geo\, 2024) and the 2020 Netflix doc series Immigration Nation\, which won a Peabody Award and Best New Documentary Series at the Independent Spirit Awards. \nAs a director\, his films find cinematic ways to explore process & democracy. A believer in collective filmmaking\, he co-directed many independent films with the Meerkat Media Collective including Stages (2010)\, Consensus: Direct Democracy at Occupy Wall Street (2011) and Brasslands (2013). His solo directorial debut was the observational short film Public Money (POV\, 2018) which paved the way for the feature-length collaboration with Kelly Anderson: Emergent City (POV\, 2025).[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162393″ img_size=”200×200″ css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Brenda Àvila-Hanna is a filmmaker and educator born and raised in Mexico City and currently based in Central California. Her films mostly focus on transnational stories\, spaces and identities. Brenda is a recent fellow for the Sundance Documentary Producing Lab\, Points North\, BAVC’s National MediaMaker\, NALIP and DocsMX. Brenda was in the inaugural cohort of DOC NYC’s “Documentary Industry New Leaders” and was a 2021 Rockwood/Just Films Fellow. She is a producer of the ITVS supported documentary EMERGENT CITY  (Dir. Kelly Anderson & Jay \nSterrenberg)\, which premiered at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival and aired nationally on PBS. Brenda is also a producer of the Sundance Institute supported HOW TO CLEAN A HOUSE IN TEN EASY STEPS (Dir. Carolina Gonzalez)\, currently in festivals. She is also a co-producer of American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez (Dir. David Alvarado)\, winner of the U.S. Documentary Audience Award and Festival Favorite Award at Sundance. Brenda received an M.A. in Social Documentation from UCSC\, where she teaches various storytelling courses. She is a Board Member of the Watsonville Film Festival.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162392″ img_size=”200×200″ css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Sean Hanley is a documentary cinematographer versed in longitudinal vérité projects but with a knack for creative non-fiction and experimental techniques. His work has therefore screened across a spectrum of festivals\, from Sundance to MoMA’s Documentary Fortnight. Recent credits include Judd Ehrlich’s Jane Eliott Against the World (2026\, Sundance)\, Debra Granik’s series CONBODY vs. Everybody (2024\, Sundance)\, and Jay Arthur Sterrenberg and Kelly Anderson’s Emergent City (2024\, Tribeca). He has held a long and productive collaboration with experimental documentarian Lynne Sachs starting with Your Day is My Night (2013\, MoMA Documentary Fortnight)\, Tip of My Tongue (2015\, Closing Night of MoMA Documentary Fortnight)\, and Contractions (2024\, NYTimes OpDocs). He is a member of the Documentary Cinematographer’s Alliance and the Meerkat Media Collective.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162391″ img_size=”200×200″ css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Betty Yu is an award-winning filmmaker\, socially engaged multimedia artist\, photographer and activist born and raised in NYC. Yu integrates documentary film\, photography\, installation\, new media platforms\, and community-infused approaches into her practice. Betty’s films and multimedia work has focused on labor\, immigration\, gentrification\, abolition\, racism\, militarism\, transgender equality among other issues. She is a co-founder of Chinatown Art Brigade\, a cultural collective using art to advance anti-displacement fights. Ms. Yu’s documentary “Resilience” about her garment worker mother fighting sweatshop conditions screened at film festivals including the Margaret Mead Film Festival. \nHer work has been exhibited and screened at the Brooklyn Museum\, Queens Museum\, NY Historical Society\, Museum of the City of NY\,  Artists Space/ISP Whitney Museum\, The Highline\, Tenement Museum\,\, 2019 BRIC Biennial\, Apexart\, Pace University Art Gallery\, Transmitter Gallery\, 601 Artspace\, Five Myles\, Squeaky Wheel Film and Media Art Center\, Bullet Space\, Carriage Trade\, Old Stone House and MAXXI in Rome. “The Garment Worker”\, an interactive installation\, was featured at Tribeca Film Institute’s Interactive Showcase. Her multimedia installation\, “Resistance in Progress”\, highlighting housing activism in Flushing was featured at the Queens Museum. Betty had her first solo exhibition\, “(Dis)Placed in Sunset Park” at Open Source Gallery. Ms. Yu won the Aronson Social Justice Award for her film “Three Tours” about U.S. veterans returning home from war in Iraq\, and their journey to overcome PTSD. Her photography and art college book\, Family Amnesia: Chinese American Resilience was released in Summer 2025. \nHer work has received coverage in outlets including New York Times\, CNN\, HBO VICE News Tonight\, i-D Vice Media\, Art Forum\, ARTNews\, Sinovision\, Hyperallergic\, E-Flux\, F-Stop Magazine\, The Eye of Photography Magazine\, La Belle Revue Art Journal & Studio International.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162390″ img_size=”200×200″ css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Alex Mallis is a Cuban-American\, Jewish filmmaker raised in New Hampshire now living in Brooklyn\, NY. His short films have been distributed by PBS\, Criterion\, The New Yorker\, and The Atlantic. His debut feature The Travel Companion premiered at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival and is being distributed by Oscilloscope Laboratories. His short documentary Shut Up And Paint (2022) was awarded Grand Jury Prize at IFF Boston and Big Sky Documentary Film Festival\, shortlisted for the 95th Academy Awards\, and broadcast nationally on POV. Alex received an MFA in Integrated Media Arts from Hunter College (CUNY) and is an active member of the Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective and the Meerkat Media Collective.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162389″ img_size=”200×200″ css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Gisela Fullà-Silvestre is a Barcelona-born\, New York–based composer\, sound designer\, re-recording mixer\, and vocalist whose work spans award-winning film\, television\, and music. Her projects include Academy Award–nominated and major festival premieres (Sundance\, Tribeca\, Berlinale\, SXSW)\, as well as the Emmy Award–winning ¡Atención! Murdered Next Door\, with releases on PBS and Netflix. She also performs as NOIA\, an experimental pop project acclaimed by Pitchfork and The New York Times\, and is a 2022 NYFA Women’s Fund Fellow.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162388″ img_size=”200×200″ css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Zara Serabian-Arthur is a documentary editor and producer\, and a co-founder of Meerkat Media\, an award-winning production company cooperative based in Brooklyn\, NY. Her work has been featured on Hulu\, PBS\, National Geographic\, The New York Times\, and The New Yorker\, premiered at Sundance\, and screened theatrically. Recent credits include Stolen Youth (Hulu\, series editor)\, Art21: Between Worlds (PBS\, editor)\, and Justice (Sundance\, editor). As an editor\, Zara is committed to telling complex stories with empathy and care\, exploring power\, resilience\, and the possibility of transformation. Across both her filmmaking and her organizing within cooperative and solidarity economy movements\, she works to shift dominant narratives toward mutualism\, economic democracy\, and more just futures.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162496″ img_size=”200×200″ css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Robert Salyer is Director of Outreach and Impact at American Documentary\, Inc.\, leading national outreach campaigns and partnership development for award-winning films and impact initiatives. He spearheads the Our America: Documentaries in Dialogue project\, a long-running effort that empowers PBS stations and local partners to foster meaningful civic dialogue around urgent social issues. To date\, he has supported the impact campaigns of more than 70 POV films\, encompassing a wide range of issues and engaging audiences across the country. \nWith more than 25 years of experience in documentary film and community media\, Robert previously spent much of his career at Appalshop\, Inc.\, where he directed and produced films focused on Appalachian culture. His credits include work with CNBC\, HBO\, Greenpeace\, and Lost Nation Pictures\, among others.  His films have screened widely in the U.S. and internationally\, including at MoMA’s Documentary Fortnight and Festival Film Dokumenter in Yogyakarta\, Indonesia. \nRobert has been deeply involved in media education and youth training. He taught documentary filmmaking at Kentucky State University\, served as a longtime instructor with the Appalachian Media Institute\, and facilitated a U.S. State Department–funded media exchange with Indonesian filmmakers. He has worked as a community organizer with the Virginia Organizing Project and mentored emerging filmmakers through NYU Tisch’s summer immersion program.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162387″ img_size=”200×200″ css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Sylvia Savadjian is a New York based film publicist. Work includes festival PR for Museum of the Moving Image’s First Look\, DOC NYC\, Full Frame\, staff roles at Kino Lorber\, Maysles Documentary Center and HBO in publicity\, marketing\, acquisitions and programming.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162724″ img_size=”200×200″ css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Stephen Maing is an Emmy-award winning filmmaker\, cinematographer and editor based in New York City. His most recent film UNION captures the historic efforts by workers to unionize the first Amazon fulfillment center. Co-directed with Brett Story\, it won a Special Jury Award for The Art of Change at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. Maing’s feature documentary CRIME + PUNISHMENT which he directed\, filmed and edited is an immersive cinéma vérité account of a group of minority whistleblower NYPD officers. It won a 2018 Sundance Special Jury Award\, an Emmy Award for Outstanding Social Issue Documentary and was shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Documentary. His previous films\, HIGH TECH\, LOW LIFE\, directed\, filmed and edited over five years\, and THE SURRENDER\, have screened internationally and were released on POV and Field of Vision\, respectively. His film DIRTY GOLD\, featured in Netflix’s Dirty Money series\, intimately observers US involvement in the illicit mining and trading of gold and was filmed on location in Peru’s Amazon rain forest & Miami\, Florida. Maing’s films seek to expand the aesthetic form and limits of longitudinal nonfiction filmmaking. They are highly observational visual investigations of societal phenomenon\, complex power structures and the fascinating individuals who challenge them.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row]
URL:https://uniondocs.org/event/documentary-fundamentals-2026-06-05/
LOCATION:UnionDocs\, 352 Onderdonk Avenue\, 352 Onderdonk Avenue\, Ridgewood\, NY\, 11385\, United States
CATEGORIES:Workshops & Labs
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/gif:https://uniondocs.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/7gif.gif
GEO:40.7099952;-73.9507576
X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=UnionDocs 352 Onderdonk Avenue 352 Onderdonk Avenue Ridgewood NY 11385 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=352 Onderdonk Avenue:geo:-73.9507576,40.7099952
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260606T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260606T123000
DTSTAMP:20260429T052758
CREATED:20260402T213026Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260416T184600Z
UID:10003050-1780743600-1780749000@uniondocs.org
SUMMARY:Documentary Fundamentals:  Researching\, Development & Financing
DESCRIPTION:[vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_separator color=”custom” accent_color=”#ffffff”][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_column_text css=””]We’re excited that this year’s Documentary Fundamentals series centers on the kinetic and timely Emergent City by Kelly Anderson and Jay Arthur Sterrenberg—a film whose impact comes from the filmmakers evident patience\, commitment to the subject and time spent following the development of the story. In this session on research\, development and financing\, directors Jay and Kelly are joined by filmmaker and executive producer Stephen Maing\, to explore how projects like this are brought to life from the earliest stages: building a compelling concept and pitch\, securing partners\, and navigating the complex ecosystem of funding independent documentaries. \nThis session is all about developing and financing your next documentary. It will address the eternal question: how to finance your doc? What are the pros and cons of different fundraising options and how does someone get started on this process? Pitching\, how to pitch and successfully apply for grants\, and routes to markets will be discussed in this can’t-miss session.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator color=”custom” accent_color=”#ffffff”][vc_column_text] \nBuy a Series Pass \n[/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”custom” accent_color=”#ffffff”]$175.00Add to cart	\n			\n [vc_column_text css=””]DOCUMENTARY FUNDAMENTALS: A professional development series designed to give the emerging or intermediate documentary filmmaker an inside look at the filmmaking process from pre-production planning to post-production and distribution. Over the past few years\, UnionDocs has developed this ongoing program for documentarians that desire a better foundation for navigating the modern landscape of independent filmmaking. This six-part program takes place over the course of one weekend at UnionDocs. Buy a SERIES PASS ($175) or choose to attend individual sessions ($35/each).[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_separator color=”custom” accent_color=”#ffffff”][vc_column_text] \nInstructors \n[/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”custom” accent_color=”#ffffff”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162386″ img_size=”full” css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Kelly Anderson is a Sunset Park based documentary filmmaker whose most recent film is Rabble Rousers: Frances Goldin and the Fight for Cooper Square (w. Ryan Joseph and Kathryn Barnier). Her 2012 film My Brooklyn\, about the hidden forces driving gentrification\, was broadcast on PBS’ America ReFramed. Kelly produced and directed Every Mother’s Son (PBS\, 2004\, w. Tami Gold)\, about mothers whose children were killed by police\, which won the Tribeca Audience Award and aired on POV. She produced and directed Out At Work (HBO\, 2000\, w. Tami Gold)\, which premiered at Sundance. Kelly chairs the Department of Film and Media Studies at Hunter College (CUNY).[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162394″ img_size=”full” css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Jay Arthur Sterrenberg is a New York City based filmmaker\, editor and co-founder of the Meerkat Media Collective whose work has screened at Sundance\, Tribeca\, IDFA\, CPH:DOX and broadcast on PBS\, HBO\, Netflix & Hulu. \nJay’s two decade documentary editing career began with collaborations with DCTV’s Jon Alpert & Matt O’Neil on the HBO documentaries Section 60: Arlington National Cemetery (2008)\, Wartorn (2010) and Oscar nominated Redemption (2012). He also edited the Oscar shortlisted films Dark Money (dir. Kimberly Reed\, 2018) and After Maria (dir. Nadia Hallgren\, 2019) and a has had a long collaboration with filmmaking duo Shaul Schwarz & Christina Clusiau – Narco Cultura (Sundance 2013)\, Emmy-winning Trophy (CNN Films\, 2017)\, Emmy-nominated FLY (Nat Geo\, 2024) and the 2020 Netflix doc series Immigration Nation\, which won a Peabody Award and Best New Documentary Series at the Independent Spirit Awards. \nAs a director\, his films find cinematic ways to explore process & democracy. A believer in collective filmmaking\, he co-directed many independent films with the Meerkat Media Collective including Stages (2010)\, Consensus: Direct Democracy at Occupy Wall Street (2011) and Brasslands (2013). His solo directorial debut was the observational short film Public Money (POV\, 2018) which paved the way for the feature-length collaboration with Kelly Anderson: Emergent City (POV\, 2025).[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162724″ img_size=”full” css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Stephen Maing is an Emmy-award winning filmmaker\, cinematographer and editor based in New York City. His most recent film UNION captures the historic efforts by workers to unionize the first Amazon fulfillment center. Co-directed with Brett Story\, it won a Special Jury Award for The Art of Change at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. Maing’s feature documentary CRIME + PUNISHMENT which he directed\, filmed and edited is an immersive cinéma vérité account of a group of minority whistleblower NYPD officers. It won a 2018 Sundance Special Jury Award\, an Emmy Award for Outstanding Social Issue Documentary and was shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Documentary. His previous films\, HIGH TECH\, LOW LIFE\, directed\, filmed and edited over five years\, and THE SURRENDER\, have screened internationally and were released on POV and Field of Vision\, respectively. His film DIRTY GOLD\, featured in Netflix’s Dirty Money series\, intimately observers US involvement in the illicit mining and trading of gold and was filmed on location in Peru’s Amazon rain forest & Miami\, Florida. Maing’s films seek to expand the aesthetic form and limits of longitudinal nonfiction filmmaking. They are highly observational visual investigations of societal phenomenon\, complex power structures and the fascinating individuals who challenge them.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row]
URL:https://uniondocs.org/event/documentary-fundamentals-researching-development-financing2026-06-06/
LOCATION:UnionDocs\, 352 Onderdonk Avenue\, 352 Onderdonk Avenue\, Ridgewood\, NY\, 11385\, United States
CATEGORIES:Screenings & Events
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/gif:https://uniondocs.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/5gif.gif
GEO:40.7099952;-73.9507576
X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=UnionDocs 352 Onderdonk Avenue 352 Onderdonk Avenue Ridgewood NY 11385 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=352 Onderdonk Avenue:geo:-73.9507576,40.7099952
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260606T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260606T153000
DTSTAMP:20260429T052758
CREATED:20260402T214552Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260413T170506Z
UID:10003051-1780754400-1780759800@uniondocs.org
SUMMARY:Documentary Fundamentals:  Observation\, Interviews and Cinematography
DESCRIPTION:[vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_separator color=”custom” accent_color=”#ffffff”][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_column_text css=””]We’re excited that this year’s Documentary Fundamentals series centers on the kinetic and timely Emergent City by Kelly Anderson and Jay Arthur Sterrenberg—a film that combines skillful interviewing with the urgency and incisiveness of vérité storytelling\, both immersing the audience in the unfolding events while guiding them through each with revealing insights from the participants. In this session\, co-directors Kelly and Jay will be joined by cinematographer Sean Hanley as they discuss building their visual storytelling style\, crafting original imagery\, and interview techniques to bring the film’s narrative complexities to life. \nThis session will be all about shooting your next documentary. Learn about the practicalities of shooting unpredictable events and preparing a camera that’s alive to the moment. What kinds of aesthetic considerations are taken into account? What kind of equipment do you need? What kinds of conversations go on between a cinematographer and a director before and during an observational film shoot? How does the framing of an interview\, both editorially and cinematographically\, impact the narrative? Join us to enrich your understanding of observational filmmaking. [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator color=”custom” accent_color=”#ffffff”][vc_column_text] \nBuy a Series Pass \n[/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”custom” accent_color=”#ffffff”]$175.00Add to cart	\n			\n [vc_column_text css=””]DOCUMENTARY FUNDAMENTALS: A professional development series designed to give the emerging or intermediate documentary filmmaker an inside look at the filmmaking process from pre-production planning to post-production and distribution. Over the past few years\, UnionDocs has developed this ongoing program for documentarians that desire a better foundation for navigating the modern landscape of independent filmmaking. This six-part program takes place over the course of one weekend at UnionDocs. Buy a SERIES PASS ($175) or choose to attend individual sessions ($35/each).[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_separator color=”custom” accent_color=”#ffffff”][vc_column_text] \nInstructors \n[/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”custom” accent_color=”#ffffff”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162386″ css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Kelly Anderson is a Sunset Park based documentary filmmaker whose most recent film is Rabble Rousers: Frances Goldin and the Fight for Cooper Square (w. Ryan Joseph and Kathryn Barnier). Her 2012 film My Brooklyn\, about the hidden forces driving gentrification\, was broadcast on PBS’ America ReFramed. Kelly produced and directed Every Mother’s Son (PBS\, 2004\, w. Tami Gold)\, about mothers whose children were killed by police\, which won the Tribeca Audience Award and aired on POV. She produced and directed Out At Work (HBO\, 2000\, w. Tami Gold)\, which premiered at Sundance. Kelly chairs the Department of Film and Media Studies at Hunter College (CUNY).[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162394″ css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Jay Arthur Sterrenberg is a New York City based filmmaker\, editor and co-founder of the Meerkat Media Collective whose work has screened at Sundance\, Tribeca\, IDFA\, CPH:DOX and broadcast on PBS\, HBO\, Netflix & Hulu. \nJay’s two decade documentary editing career began with collaborations with DCTV’s Jon Alpert & Matt O’Neil on the HBO documentaries Section 60: Arlington National Cemetery (2008)\, Wartorn (2010) and Oscar nominated Redemption (2012). He also edited the Oscar shortlisted films Dark Money (dir. Kimberly Reed\, 2018) and After Maria (dir. Nadia Hallgren\, 2019) and a has had a long collaboration with filmmaking duo Shaul Schwarz & Christina Clusiau – Narco Cultura (Sundance 2013)\, Emmy-winning Trophy (CNN Films\, 2017)\, Emmy-nominated FLY (Nat Geo\, 2024) and the 2020 Netflix doc series Immigration Nation\, which won a Peabody Award and Best New Documentary Series at the Independent Spirit Awards. \nAs a director\, his films find cinematic ways to explore process & democracy. A believer in collective filmmaking\, he co-directed many independent films with the Meerkat Media Collective including Stages (2010)\, Consensus: Direct Democracy at Occupy Wall Street (2011) and Brasslands (2013). His solo directorial debut was the observational short film Public Money (POV\, 2018) which paved the way for the feature-length collaboration with Kelly Anderson: Emergent City (POV\, 2025).[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162392″ css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Sean Hanley is a documentary cinematographer versed in longitudinal vérité projects but with a knack for creative non-fiction and experimental techniques. His work has therefore screened across a spectrum of festivals\, from Sundance to MoMA’s Documentary Fortnight. Recent credits include Judd Ehrlich’s Jane Eliott Against the World (2026\, Sundance)\, Debra Granik’s series CONBODY vs. Everybody (2024\, Sundance)\, and Jay Arthur Sterrenberg and Kelly Anderson’s Emergent City (2024\, Tribeca). He has held a long and productive collaboration with experimental documentarian Lynne Sachs starting with Your Day is My Night (2013\, MoMA Documentary Fortnight)\, Tip of My Tongue (2015\, Closing Night of MoMA Documentary Fortnight)\, and Contractions (2024\, NYTimes OpDocs). He is a member of the Documentary Cinematographer’s Alliance and the Meerkat Media Collective.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
URL:https://uniondocs.org/event/documentary-fundamentals-observation-interviews-and-cinematography-2026-06-06/
LOCATION:UnionDocs\, 352 Onderdonk Avenue\, 352 Onderdonk Avenue\, Ridgewood\, NY\, 11385\, United States
CATEGORIES:Screenings & Events
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/gif:https://uniondocs.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/4gif.gif
GEO:40.7099952;-73.9507576
X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=UnionDocs 352 Onderdonk Avenue 352 Onderdonk Avenue Ridgewood NY 11385 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=352 Onderdonk Avenue:geo:-73.9507576,40.7099952
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260606T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260606T173000
DTSTAMP:20260429T052758
CREATED:20260402T215556Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260416T181251Z
UID:10003052-1780761600-1780767000@uniondocs.org
SUMMARY:Documentary Fundamentals:  Access & Working in the Field
DESCRIPTION:[vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_separator color=”custom” accent_color=”#ffffff”][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_column_text css=””]We’re excited that this year’s Documentary Fundamentals series centers on the kinetic and timely Emergent City by Kelly Anderson and Jay Arthur Sterrenberg—a film that exemplifies the social and ethical principles of observational documentary\, and is remarkable for its insight into often opaque political spaces. In this session\, Kelly and Jay are joined by field producer Betty Yu and cinematographer Alex Mallis\, to discuss the ins and outs of managing access to the spaces and participants\, the film documents\, and the complexities of working in the field. \nA crucial\, but often overlooked piece in the documentary puzzle is the management of participants and spaces the filmmakers set out to document. Emergent City‘s chronicling of a complicated political process\, involving multiple groups (made up of diverse individuals) with divergent interests and differences of opinions presents a marvel of access management and field production. Learn about how the team gained and maintained working relationships with each participant and stakeholder. How do you get permission to film in sensitive environments? What needs to be taken into account during the shoot\, in order to keep getting allowed back? How does a documentary team communicate its intentions to different groups with different objectives? [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator color=”custom” accent_color=”#ffffff”][vc_column_text] \nBuy a Series Pass \n[/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”custom” accent_color=”#ffffff”]$175.00Add to cart	\n			\n [vc_column_text css=””]DOCUMENTARY FUNDAMENTALS: A professional development series designed to give the emerging or intermediate documentary filmmaker an inside look at the filmmaking process from pre-production planning to post-production and distribution. Over the past few years\, UnionDocs has developed this ongoing program for documentarians that desire a better foundation for navigating the modern landscape of independent filmmaking. This six-part program takes place over the course of one weekend at UnionDocs. Buy a SERIES PASS ($175) or choose to attend individual sessions ($35/each).[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_separator color=”custom” accent_color=”#ffffff”][vc_column_text] \nInstructors \n[/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”custom” accent_color=”#ffffff”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162386″ css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Kelly Anderson is a Sunset Park based documentary filmmaker whose most recent film is Rabble Rousers: Frances Goldin and the Fight for Cooper Square (w. Ryan Joseph and Kathryn Barnier). Her 2012 film My Brooklyn\, about the hidden forces driving gentrification\, was broadcast on PBS’ America ReFramed. Kelly produced and directed Every Mother’s Son (PBS\, 2004\, w. Tami Gold)\, about mothers whose children were killed by police\, which won the Tribeca Audience Award and aired on POV. She produced and directed Out At Work (HBO\, 2000\, w. Tami Gold)\, which premiered at Sundance. Kelly chairs the Department of Film and Media Studies at Hunter College (CUNY).[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162394″ css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Jay Arthur Sterrenberg is a New York City based filmmaker\, editor and co-founder of the Meerkat Media Collective whose work has screened at Sundance\, Tribeca\, IDFA\, CPH:DOX and broadcast on PBS\, HBO\, Netflix & Hulu. \nJay’s two decade documentary editing career began with collaborations with DCTV’s Jon Alpert & Matt O’Neil on the HBO documentaries Section 60: Arlington National Cemetery (2008)\, Wartorn (2010) and Oscar nominated Redemption (2012). He also edited the Oscar shortlisted films Dark Money (dir. Kimberly Reed\, 2018) and After Maria (dir. Nadia Hallgren\, 2019) and a has had a long collaboration with filmmaking duo Shaul Schwarz & Christina Clusiau – Narco Cultura (Sundance 2013)\, Emmy-winning Trophy (CNN Films\, 2017)\, Emmy-nominated FLY (Nat Geo\, 2024) and the 2020 Netflix doc series Immigration Nation\, which won a Peabody Award and Best New Documentary Series at the Independent Spirit Awards. \nAs a director\, his films find cinematic ways to explore process & democracy. A believer in collective filmmaking\, he co-directed many independent films with the Meerkat Media Collective including Stages (2010)\, Consensus: Direct Democracy at Occupy Wall Street (2011) and Brasslands (2013). His solo directorial debut was the observational short film Public Money (POV\, 2018) which paved the way for the feature-length collaboration with Kelly Anderson: Emergent City (POV\, 2025).[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162391″ css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Betty Yu is an award-winning filmmaker\, socially engaged multimedia artist\, photographer and activist born and raised in NYC. Yu integrates documentary film\, photography\, installation\, new media platforms\, and community-infused approaches into her practice. Betty’s films and multimedia work has focused on labor\, immigration\, gentrification\, abolition\, racism\, militarism\, transgender equality among other issues. She is a co-founder of Chinatown Art Brigade\, a cultural collective using art to advance anti-displacement fights. Ms. Yu’s documentary “Resilience” about her garment worker mother fighting sweatshop conditions screened at film festivals including the Margaret Mead Film Festival. \nHer work has been exhibited and screened at the Brooklyn Museum\, Queens Museum\, NY Historical Society\, Museum of the City of NY\,  Artists Space/ISP Whitney Museum\, The Highline\, Tenement Museum\,\, 2019 BRIC Biennial\, Apexart\, Pace University Art Gallery\, Transmitter Gallery\, 601 Artspace\, Five Myles\, Squeaky Wheel Film and Media Art Center\, Bullet Space\, Carriage Trade\, Old Stone House and MAXXI in Rome. “The Garment Worker”\, an interactive installation\, was featured at Tribeca Film Institute’s Interactive Showcase. Her multimedia installation\, “Resistance in Progress”\, highlighting housing activism in Flushing was featured at the Queens Museum. Betty had her first solo exhibition\, “(Dis)Placed in Sunset Park” at Open Source Gallery. Ms. Yu won the Aronson Social Justice Award for her film “Three Tours” about U.S. veterans returning home from war in Iraq\, and their journey to overcome PTSD. Her photography and art college book\, Family Amnesia: Chinese American Resilience was released in Summer 2025. \nHer work has received coverage in outlets including New York Times\, CNN\, HBO VICE News Tonight\, i-D Vice Media\, Art Forum\, ARTNews\, Sinovision\, Hyperallergic\, E-Flux\, F-Stop Magazine\, The Eye of Photography Magazine\, La Belle Revue Art Journal & Studio International.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162390″ css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Alex Mallis is a Cuban-American\, Jewish filmmaker raised in New Hampshire now living in Brooklyn\, NY. His short films have been distributed by PBS\, Criterion\, The New Yorker\, and The Atlantic. His debut feature The Travel Companion premiered at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival and is being distributed by Oscilloscope Laboratories. His short documentary Shut Up And Paint (2022) was awarded Grand Jury Prize at IFF Boston and Big Sky Documentary Film Festival\, shortlisted for the 95th Academy Awards\, and broadcast nationally on POV.  Alex received an MFA in Integrated Media Arts from Hunter College (CUNY) and is an active member of the Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective and the Meerkat Media Collective.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row]
URL:https://uniondocs.org/event/documentary-fundamentals-access-working-in-the-field-2026-06-06/
LOCATION:UnionDocs\, 352 Onderdonk Avenue\, 352 Onderdonk Avenue\, Ridgewood\, NY\, 11385\, United States
CATEGORIES:Screenings & Events
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/gif:https://uniondocs.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/3gif.gif
GEO:40.7099952;-73.9507576
X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=UnionDocs 352 Onderdonk Avenue 352 Onderdonk Avenue Ridgewood NY 11385 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=352 Onderdonk Avenue:geo:-73.9507576,40.7099952
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260607T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260607T153000
DTSTAMP:20260429T052758
CREATED:20260402T220039Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260413T170529Z
UID:10003053-1780840800-1780846200@uniondocs.org
SUMMARY:Documentary Fundamentals: Editing\, Music & Sound
DESCRIPTION:[vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_separator color=”custom” accent_color=”#ffffff”][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_column_text css=””]We’re excited that this year’s Documentary Fundamentals series centers on the kinetic and timely Emergent City by Kelly Anderson and Jay Arthur Sterrenberg—a film that skilfully builds tension\, energy and forward momentum with the aid of precise editing and a detailed sound design. In this session\, participants will be guided through the post production process with directors and hosts Kelly and Jay\, joined by sound designer & composer Gisela Fullà-Silvestre and consulting editor Zara Serabian-Arthur.  \nThis session is about navigating the post-production process on your next documentary. How does a story emerge from a pile of footage and sound? How can the power of music and sound be harnessed to propel the story forward and highlight the themes? How can documentary directors work effectively with editors\, sound designers\, and other essential post-production talent? Can you really “fix it in post”? What is an online edit and can you do it yourself? How can music underscore emotion or rhythm? [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator color=”custom” accent_color=”#ffffff”][vc_column_text] \nBuy a Series Pass \n[/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”custom” accent_color=”#ffffff”]$175.00Add to cart	\n			\n [vc_column_text css=””]DOCUMENTARY FUNDAMENTALS: A professional development series designed to give the emerging or intermediate documentary filmmaker an inside look at the filmmaking process from pre-production planning to post-production and distribution. Over the past few years\, UnionDocs has developed this ongoing program for documentarians that desire a better foundation for navigating the modern landscape of independent filmmaking. This six-part program takes place over the course of one weekend at UnionDocs. Buy a SERIES PASS ($175) or choose to attend individual sessions ($35/each).[/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”custom” accent_color=”#ffffff”][vc_column_text] \nInstructors \n[/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”custom” accent_color=”#ffffff”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162386″ css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Kelly Anderson is a Sunset Park based documentary filmmaker whose most recent film is Rabble Rousers: Frances Goldin and the Fight for Cooper Square (w. Ryan Joseph and Kathryn Barnier). Her 2012 film My Brooklyn\, about the hidden forces driving gentrification\, was broadcast on PBS’ America ReFramed. Kelly produced and directed Every Mother’s Son (PBS\, 2004\, w. Tami Gold)\, about mothers whose children were killed by police\, which won the Tribeca Audience Award and aired on POV. She produced and directed Out At Work (HBO\, 2000\, w. Tami Gold)\, which premiered at Sundance. Kelly chairs the Department of Film and Media Studies at Hunter College (CUNY).[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162394″ css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Jay Arthur Sterrenberg is a New York City based filmmaker\, editor and co-founder of the Meerkat Media Collective whose work has screened at Sundance\, Tribeca\, IDFA\, CPH:DOX and broadcast on PBS\, HBO\, Netflix & Hulu. \n\nJay’s two decade documentary editing career began with collaborations with DCTV’s Jon Alpert & Matt O’Neil on the HBO documentaries Section 60: Arlington National Cemetery (2008)\, Wartorn (2010) and Oscar nominated Redemption (2012). He also edited the Oscar shortlisted films Dark Money (dir. Kimberly Reed\, 2018) and After Maria (dir. Nadia Hallgren\, 2019) and a has had a long collaboration with filmmaking duo Shaul Schwarz & Christina Clusiau – Narco Cultura (Sundance 2013)\, Emmy-winning Trophy (CNN Films\, 2017)\, Emmy-nominated FLY (Nat Geo\, 2024) and the 2020 Netflix doc series Immigration Nation\, which won a Peabody Award and Best New Documentary Series at the Independent Spirit Awards. \n\nAs a director\, his films find cinematic ways to explore process & democracy. A believer in collective filmmaking\, he co-directed many independent films with the Meerkat Media Collective including Stages (2010)\, Consensus: Direct Democracy at Occupy Wall Street (2011) and Brasslands (2013). His solo directorial debut was the observational short film Public Money (POV\, 2018) which paved the way for the feature-length collaboration with Kelly Anderson: Emergent City (POV\, 2025).[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162389″ css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Gisela Fullà-Silvestre is a Barcelona-born\, New York–based composer\, sound designer\, re-recording mixer\, and vocalist whose work spans award-winning film\, television\, and music. Her projects include Academy Award–nominated and major festival premieres (Sundance\, Tribeca\, Berlinale\, SXSW)\, as well as the Emmy Award–winning ¡Atención! Murdered Next Door\, with releases on PBS and Netflix. She also performs as NOIA\, an experimental pop project acclaimed by Pitchfork and The New York Times\, and is a 2022 NYFA Women’s Fund Fellow.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162388″ css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Zara Serabian-Arthur is a documentary editor and producer\, and a co-founder of Meerkat Media\, an award-winning production company cooperative based in Brooklyn\, NY. Her work has been featured on Hulu\, PBS\, National Geographic\, The New York Times\, and The New Yorker\, premiered at Sundance\, and screened theatrically. Recent credits include Stolen Youth (Hulu\, series editor)\, Art21: Between Worlds (PBS\, editor)\, and Justice (Sundance\, editor). As an editor\, Zara is committed to telling complex stories with empathy and care\, exploring power\, resilience\, and the possibility of transformation. Across both her filmmaking and her organizing within cooperative and solidarity economy movements\, she works to shift dominant narratives toward mutualism\, economic democracy\, and more just futures.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
URL:https://uniondocs.org/event/documentary-fundamentals-editing-music-sound-2026-06-07/
LOCATION:UnionDocs\, 352 Onderdonk Avenue\, 352 Onderdonk Avenue\, Ridgewood\, NY\, 11385\, United States
CATEGORIES:Screenings & Events
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/gif:https://uniondocs.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/2gif-1.gif
GEO:40.7099952;-73.9507576
X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=UnionDocs 352 Onderdonk Avenue 352 Onderdonk Avenue Ridgewood NY 11385 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=352 Onderdonk Avenue:geo:-73.9507576,40.7099952
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260607T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260607T173000
DTSTAMP:20260429T052758
CREATED:20260402T221520Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260415T181831Z
UID:10003054-1780848000-1780853400@uniondocs.org
SUMMARY:Documentary Fundamentals:  Festival Strategy\, Distribution & Impact
DESCRIPTION:[vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_separator color=”custom” accent_color=”#ffffff”][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_column_text css=””]We’re excited that this year’s Documentary Fundamentals series centers on the kinetic and timely Emergent City by Kelly Anderson and Jay Arthur Sterrenberg—a film that follows a local story but whose message is far-reaching and broadly relatable. In this session\, Kelly and Jay are joined by publicist and sales agent Sylvia Savadijan and Robert Salyer\, Director of Outreach and Impact at American Documentary\, Inc. | POV\, who will share insights into educational distribution and audience strategy—exploring how documentaries find their viewers\, build impact\, and extend their life beyond the festival circuit. \nThis session will be all about releasing and publicising your next documentary. How can you find and reach audiences for your film?  How do you know if your film is best suited for theatrical\, broadcast\, or both? How do digital platforms affect “traditional” models of distribution and release? How can you best utilize your film festival campaign? Another can’t-miss session![/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator color=”custom” accent_color=”#ffffff”][vc_column_text] \nBuy a Series Pass \n[/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”custom” accent_color=”#ffffff”]$175.00Add to cart	\n			\n [vc_column_text css=””]DOCUMENTARY FUNDAMENTALS: A professional development series designed to give the emerging or intermediate documentary filmmaker an inside look at the filmmaking process from pre-production planning to post-production and distribution. Over the past few years\, UnionDocs has developed this ongoing program for documentarians that desire a better foundation for navigating the modern landscape of independent filmmaking. This six-part program takes place over the course of one weekend at UnionDocs. Buy a SERIES PASS ($175) or choose to attend individual sessions ($35/each).[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_separator color=”custom” accent_color=”#ffffff”][vc_column_text] \nInstructors \n[/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”custom” accent_color=”#ffffff”][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162386″ img_size=”full” css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Kelly Anderson is a Sunset Park based documentary filmmaker whose most recent film is Rabble Rousers: Frances Goldin and the Fight for Cooper Square (w. Ryan Joseph and Kathryn Barnier). Her 2012 film My Brooklyn\, about the hidden forces driving gentrification\, was broadcast on PBS’ America ReFramed. Kelly produced and directed Every Mother’s Son (PBS\, 2004\, w. Tami Gold)\, about mothers whose children were killed by police\, which won the Tribeca Audience Award and aired on POV. She produced and directed Out At Work (HBO\, 2000\, w. Tami Gold)\, which premiered at Sundance. Kelly chairs the Department of Film and Media Studies at Hunter College (CUNY).[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162394″ img_size=”full” css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Jay Arthur Sterrenberg is a New York City based filmmaker\, editor and co-founder of the Meerkat Media Collective whose work has screened at Sundance\, Tribeca\, IDFA\, CPH:DOX and broadcast on PBS\, HBO\, Netflix & Hulu. \n\nJay’s two decade documentary editing career began with collaborations with DCTV’s Jon Alpert & Matt O’Neil on the HBO documentaries Section 60: Arlington National Cemetery (2008)\, Wartorn (2010) and Oscar nominated Redemption (2012). He also edited the Oscar shortlisted films Dark Money (dir. Kimberly Reed\, 2018) and After Maria (dir. Nadia Hallgren\, 2019) and a has had a long collaboration with filmmaking duo Shaul Schwarz & Christina Clusiau – Narco Cultura (Sundance 2013)\, Emmy-winning Trophy (CNN Films\, 2017)\, Emmy-nominated FLY (Nat Geo\, 2024) and the 2020 Netflix doc series Immigration Nation\, which won a Peabody Award and Best New Documentary Series at the Independent Spirit Awards. \n\nAs a director\, his films find cinematic ways to explore process & democracy. A believer in collective filmmaking\, he co-directed many independent films with the Meerkat Media Collective including Stages (2010)\, Consensus: Direct Democracy at Occupy Wall Street (2011) and Brasslands (2013). His solo directorial debut was the observational short film Public Money (POV\, 2018) which paved the way for the feature-length collaboration with Kelly Anderson: Emergent City (POV\, 2025).[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162387″ img_size=”full” css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Sylvia Savadjian is a New York based film publicist. Work includes festival PR for Museum of the Moving Image’s First Look\, DOC NYC\, Full Frame\, staff roles at Kino Lorber\, Maysles Documentary Center and HBO in publicity\, marketing\, acquisitions and programming.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”162496″ img_size=”full” css=””][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]Robert Salyer is Director of Outreach and Impact at American Documentary\, Inc.\, leading national outreach campaigns and partnership development for award-winning films and impact initiatives. He spearheads the Our America: Documentaries in Dialogue project\, a long-running effort that empowers PBS stations and local partners to foster meaningful civic dialogue around urgent social issues. To date\, he has supported the impact campaigns of more than 70 POV films\, encompassing a wide range of issues and engaging audiences across the country. \nWith more than 25 years of experience in documentary film and community media\, Robert previously spent much of his career at Appalshop\, Inc.\, where he directed and produced films focused on Appalachian culture. His credits include work with CNBC\, HBO\, Greenpeace\, and Lost Nation Pictures\, among others.  His films have screened widely in the U.S. and internationally\, including at MoMA’s Documentary Fortnight and Festival Film Dokumenter in Yogyakarta\, Indonesia. \nRobert has been deeply involved in media education and youth training. He taught documentary filmmaking at Kentucky State University\, served as a longtime instructor with the Appalachian Media Institute\, and facilitated a U.S. State Department–funded media exchange with Indonesian filmmakers. He has worked as a community organizer with the Virginia Organizing Project and mentored emerging filmmakers through NYU Tisch’s summer immersion program.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
URL:https://uniondocs.org/event/documentary-fundamentals-festival-strategy-distribution-impact-2026-06-07/
LOCATION:UnionDocs\, 352 Onderdonk Avenue\, 352 Onderdonk Avenue\, Ridgewood\, NY\, 11385\, United States
CATEGORIES:Screenings & Events
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GEO:40.7099952;-73.9507576
X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=UnionDocs 352 Onderdonk Avenue 352 Onderdonk Avenue Ridgewood NY 11385 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=352 Onderdonk Avenue:geo:-73.9507576,40.7099952
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