Woodstock Film Festival Announces Month-Long Filmmakers Residency / Incubator in Collaboration with White Feather Farm
The Woodstock Film Festival is excited to announce the launch of our brand new filmmakers residency / incubator program in collaboration with White Feather Farm Foundation. The residency will run throughout the month of May 2021 at the foundation’s new residential property in Woodstock, New York, minutes down the road from their organic farm.
Participating in the program are four filmmakers from underrepresented backgrounds who are in the midst of developing full-length narrative and documentary films that address social justice themes. Each project will fit within the mission of the residency of artistic vision and social responsibility, resting upon four pillars:
Racism
Climate Change
Food Insecurity
Immigration
"This initiative has been a long time coming given the Woodstock Film Festival's history of championing visionary storytellers who strive to make our world a better place," says Woodstock Film Festival Co-Founder and Executive Director Meira Blaustein. "We are thankful for the opportunity to bring the fellows, mentors, staff and community at-large together and look forward to seeing these promising filmmakers hone in their creative voices."
Renowned filmmakers Mira Nair, Julie Anderson, Matty Rich, Pamela Yates and Paco de Onis will serve as mentors, providing residents with insight, inspiration, knowledge, and guidance towards developing their projects.
Filmmaker and Educator Alex Smith will be the residency's Artistic Director with Editor Sabine Hoffman serving as the residency's Artistic Consultant at Large. Tina Saienni is the residency’s Coordinator. Woodstock Film Festival Co-Founder / Executive Director Meira Blaustein is the Founder and Director of the residency. Coordinating on the side of White Feather Farm Foundation are its Executive Director Marc Scheff and Operations Director Elizabeth Cuthbert.
MEET THE RESIDENTS:
As a descendant of immigrants displaced by conflict, Eunice Lau is drawn to stories about the journey of the immigrant and the profundity of hyphenated identities. It’s this inheritance that makes her cognizant of injustice, and her storytelling personal.
Her documentary ACCEPT THE CALL aired on PBS Independent Lens, after screening at premiere festivals such as Human Rights Watch and Woodstock.
Her work is supported by Tribeca Film Institute, ITVS, and Chicken & Egg Pictures. She has been featured in publications including The New York Times, Variety, and Filmmaker Magazine. She received an MFA in Film Directing from New York University.
Set Hernandez Rongkilyo is an undocumented immigrant filmmaker and community organizer, whose roots come from Bicol, Philippines. As part of the Disruptors Fellowship, Set is developing a TV pilot about the undocumented experience.
They have directed/produced many short documentaries, including the award-winning COVER/AGE (2019) about healthcare expansion for undocumented immigrants. They served as Impact Producer for IN PLAIN SIGHT (2020) by renowned artists Cassils and rafa esparza, and for PJ Raval’s CALL HER GANDA (Tribeca, 2018).
They are the co-founder of the Undocumented Filmmakers Collective, which advances equity for undocumented immigrants in the media industry.
Brooke Pepion Swaney works to tell Native stories. Her first feature documentary DAUGHTER OF A LOST BIRD (Vision Maker Media/CPB) is beginning its festival circuit. Most recently and notably she made the Blacklist’s Inaugural Indigenous List with TINDER ON THE REZ along with her co-writer Angela Tucker.
When not making films, Brooke teaches at the Institute of American Indian Arts in their low-residency MFA screenwriting program. She is an enrolled citizen of the Blackfeet Nation and a Salish descendant of the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes. Brooke lives in her homelands with her mom and special needs dog Schoko.
Maba Ba is a filmmaker from Senegal. After studies in Computer Science at Old Dominion University, he turned into 3D animation and acting in NYC.
Maba is an actor, producer and writer/director with titles such as #WarGames (MGM), Christmas Wedding Baby (Netflix) and award winning shorts such as Samedi Cinema (TIFF, Venice), Men or Mice (Urbanworld) to name a few.
His first feature as a producer NAFI’S FATHER won multiple awards including two Golden Leopards at Locarno film Festival and was the Senegalese selection for the 2021 Oscars.
MEET THE MENTORS:
Mira Nair is an Academy Award nominated director best known for her visually rich films that pulsate with life. Her debut feature, SALAAM BOMBAY! won the Caméra d’Or at Cannes, followed by the groundbreaking MISSISSIPPI MASALA, the Golden Globe & Emmy-winning HYSTERICAL BLINDNESS and the international hit MONSOON WEDDING, for which she was the first woman to win Venice Film Festival’s coveted Golden Lion. A fiercely independent filmmaker, she then made VANITY FAIR, THE NAMESAKE, THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST, and QUEEN OF KATWE.
Matty Rich burst onto the independent filmmaking scene in the 90’s, gaining recognition as a 19-year-old writer/director/producer of STRAIGHT OUT OF BROOKLYN which won the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize, the Independent Spirit Award, the NAACP Image Award & The Producers Guild Award. Matty signed a three-picture deal at Disney, where he directed THE INKWELL. Matty also served as their Creative Director/Artistic Director for the Ubisoft video game 187 Ride or Die, and authored the civil rights novel BEV, published by Simon & Schuster. Currently, Matty serves as screenwriting faculty for AFI and an advisor for the Sundance Co//ab.
Julie Anderson is an Academy Award nominated documentary film producer, director and development executive. She has created programming for ESPN, HBO Sports, HBO Documentary Films, PBS, CNN, CBS Sports, ABC Sports and BET. In 2020, Julie produced a four-part documentary for ESPN’s 30 FOR 30 series, and she executive produced WE ARE THE DREAM for HBO Documentary Films. Julie was the director of documentary development for HBO Documentary Films and produced the Academy Award nominated documentary GOD IS THE BIGGER ELVIS.
Pamela Yates is the Creative Director and Paco de Onís is the Executive Director of Skylight, a human rights media not-for-profit that combines cinematic arts with the quest for justice to inspire the defense of human rights. Their most recent film 500 YEARS had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, launched theatrically, was broadcast on PBS and was chosen to stream world-wide as part of the Amazon Festival Stars program. At Skylight, Pamela and Paco share their model of catalyzing collaborative networks of artists and activists through the SolidariLabs program. Their current documentary film in production is BORDERLAND.