“Unveil” by Joy Ernanny

Logline: At a time of rising Islamophobia, Muslim women in New York have found a safe haven in a beauty salon. Le’Jemalik is the city’s first female-only parlor, where clients can remove their headscarves and indulge in halal beauty services brought to them by a resilient American Muslim businesswoman.

Joy Ernanny, a restless journalist and a passionate documentarist, has been producing award-winning TV documentaries and programs about immigration, human rights and social development for the past six years. Having spent the last decade between New York and her native Rio de Janeiro, she believes in the power of stories that resonate transnationally and transcend territorial boundaries.   

“Passage of Silt and Shell” by James Macdonald

Logline: The film gives us a look into the lives, routines and techniques of local oystermen surrounding New York City, and observes how our relationship to the oyster has become both a cultural and environmental force—from oyster farm to plate.

James Macdonald, a typical Scotsman, grew up in Ireland and graduated from Royal Holloway University of London with a bachelor’s degree in Biology and Science Communication. He intends to marry his academic background and love of documentary with cinematography.

“Work” by Gamar Markarian

Logline: The camera captures the everydayness of labor while observing workers at the Hudson Yards development, the largest construction site currently in the United States.  From the subway to the construction site to the space in between, the film offers a gaze into construction in New York City, one we do not often see.

Gamar Markarian, born to an Armenian Lebanese family, is a designer and urbanist, interested in media and communication. She received her MS in Design and Urban Ecologies from Parsons The New School in 2016. With a passion for observational documentaries, Gamar believes film can contribute to existing conversations around personal experience, politics and public life.  

“Arnold: A Portrait from the Zone” by Mona Lisa Garcia Stagg

Logline: Artist Arnold Brooks was born in the Panama Canal Zone, a U.S. occupied territory in Panama that existed from 1903 to 1979. Growing up with a Panamanian mother and an American father, Arnold’s complex identity is reflected in his art.

Mona Lisa Garcia Stagg was born in Panama City, Panama. She discovered her passion for telling people’s stories while studying at Villanova University in 2016, where she filmed and edited Limbo, a documentary on West African migrants awaiting asylum in a small town in Italy.

“Bar and Girl” by Ragini Nath

Logline: “There used to be some, mostly underground, then there were many, too much fun. Now there are very few, disappearing too fast.” The story of the dwindling number of spaces dedicated to lesbian nightlife in New York City is also a memoir of preservation through memory and storytelling, tracking the traces of iconic queer spaces.  

Ragini Nath, with an academic background in anthropology and film theory, developed a keen interest in documentary filmmaking. She decided she would rather be making films than just reading about them. Moving from India to New York to pursue a long-awaited dream, she is fascinated by city ruins, contrasts in cityscapes and oral histories. 

“Mother Tongue” by Kaylin Webster

Logline: What happens when a language is forgotten? Can our ancestors hear our prayers in English when we struggle to know their tongue? The indigenous Lenape language is just a few years away from extinction: ‘Lenape’ translates as ‘original people.’ America’s mother tongue is struggling to catch its breath. 

Kaylin Webster is a young creator—the byproduct of a nurse and a hometown funeral director. She grew up running through South Jersey fields and dirt roads with an imagination that manifested in New York City. 

“Thank You for Shopping Here” by Setare Gholipour

Logline: As the camera captures a day in the life of bodega owners in New York City, it simultaneously displays the vanishing face of the city, now under the grip of gentrification and construction.

Setare Gholipour is a filmmaker based in New York City. She believes in the power of documentary to engagingly capture and narrate reality. She studied Cinema & Filmmaking at the Art University of Tehran. She then changed her career from fiction to nonfiction filmmaking to maximize the potential in creating socially engaging works. 

“End Games for Lovers” by Jamie Lee Mohr

Logline: This film essay challenges the seductive disempowerment of apocalypse narratives.  In an age of rising sea levels and vulnerable infrastructure, it investigates the anthropocene from such diverse vantage points as inside an Icelandic volcano, among the debris of an abandoned Soviet mining town, aboard a sailing ship in the Arctic circle or within the smoke and mirrors of underground clubs.

Jamie Lee Mohr, as a teenager, hitchhiked and rode freight trains across the United States. The stories of people she encountered ignited her fascination with how the framework and composition of each individual story operates within an ecosystem of internalized mythologies.  She investigated the political dimensions of cultural narrative during her field research in Sustainable Development and is now preparing for a new film project that explores similar topics in Estonia.

“Civic Gothic Library” by Isaias Morales

Logline: This documentary on the Jefferson Market Library approaches the building as a social artwork with meanings and interpretations that change through history. The architectural details of the facade reveal the different layers of time and place, including this landmark building’s relevance to women’s history in New York. 

Isaias Morales is a filmmaker with a background in art history from Colombia, who has been passionately absorbing the visual culture of New York City for more than two years. Always eager to collaborate on all things related to media, he has worked for Red Dog Productions on camera and as an editor and has also become an experienced teaching assistant for filmmaking classes at The New School. His interest in a scholarly approach to the moving image have led him to the Documentary Studies program and towards following a career in academia. 

“No Convenient Season” by Jodie Trzaska

Logline: Between the extreme poles of violence and nonviolence, when all the windows are broken, the language of the unheard will be spoken. Archival images woven with nonfictional political prose make the case for the hard lesson we need to learn today. 

Jodie Trzaska was born and raised in the fading world of working class New York. After time spent in public service as an urban planner and a high school science teacher, she decided she couldn’t save the world and threw it all away. She had absolutely no filmmaking experience before arriving at The New School. 

“Joburg to Bed-Stuy” by Tadiwa Kambarami

Logline: Moving countries can be a daunting experience; but with it come new adventures, differences and memories. Joburg to Bed-Stuy is a film about what I uncovered while exploring my new neighborhood – Bed Stuy – after arriving from Johannesburg. It is also a reflection of a time gone by.

Tadiwa Kambarami was born and raised in Zimbabwe, but now calls South Africa home. Having studied broadcast journalism in the United States, she worked as a producer and editor for SuperSport International. In 2017, after twelve enjoyable years, she left the sports television world to pursue her dream of becoming a filmmaker. Tadiwa is an avid golfer and tries never to miss a Manchester United game.