Below are just a few of the most recent accomplishments of our talented members! If you want to join this dynamic community, we hope you will consider applying for NYWIFT membership.
NYWIFT members, do you have an upcoming screening, event, campaign or other news to share? Tell us! Contact communications@nywift.org.
NYWIFT member Eve Austin Executive Produced and starred in as KIKi a new film now streaming on Prime Video and Apple TV+. The feature, In Fidelity, was also Executive Produced by NYWIFT member Michalina Scorzelli and features actors Chris Parnell (Saturday Night Live, Rick and Morty), Cara Buono (Stranger Things, Mad Men), Dennis Haysbert, Willow Shields and Illeana Douglas. Critics call In Fidelity a smart and refreshingly real romance for the holiday season. Watch the trailer. Watch on Apple TV.
NYWIFT Member and music supervisor LySaundra Janeé invites you to join MDM Productions, Inc. for a private screening of the short film, Dating Daze, beginning Thursday, December 19. Ariel and Trey unexpectedly cross paths during a night out in New York City. When her past collides with her present, Ariel must decide if new love is worth the risk. Dating Daze was selected for the Afrikana Independent Film Festival and a finalist in the Kansas City Underground Film Festival. Watch the Dating Daze trailer. Purchase Tickets.
NYWIFT Board Member Okema T. Moore is the Producer of the award-winning, Oscar-qualified short film, Chocolate with Sprinkles. Written and directed by Huriyyah Muhammad (2020 Sundance Producer Award Winner – Farewell Amor), the film stars Reno Wilson (Dexter: Original Sin), Keisha Thompson, Camron Jones and Lillian Gilbert and is also produced by Yhá Mourhia Wright and Cole Sanchez. Winning this year’s coveted HBO Short Film Competition at the American Black Film Festival, the short has gone on to win a host of Best Short and Best Film awards and won four awards in this year’s NYWIFT Online Shorts Festival, presented by iWomanTV as well. We celebrate the entire cast and crew of Chocolate with Sprinkles as they are #ForYour Consideration.
Writer/director and NYWIFT member Zainab Jah will present her Oscar-qualified short film Reunion on December 4. With live-action and graphic novel illustrations, Reunion is a drama about a West African refugee living in the Bronx who discovers the child soldier who destroyed her family is now a best-selling author living in NYC. Executive produced by Danai Gurira with Lupita Nyong’o as Associate Producer, Reunionwon the NYWIFT Best Director Award at the 2023 UrbanWorld Film Festival and is currently up for consideration for the Academy Awards 2025. See the film followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers, moderated by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, Lynn Nottage. RSVP.
Listen to the 2024 Woodstock Film Festival panel Women in the Driver’s Seat co-presented by NYWIFT, with members Yvonne Russoand Christine La Monte alongside Heidi Ewing, Ondi Timoner, Rebecca Miller and Nancy Abraham! Moderated by NYWIFT CEO Cynthia Lopez. Available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
NYWIFT member Lorena R. Valencia has been awarded a New York Emmy Award for Best Public Service Announcement (PSA) in Spanish. This prestigious recognition honors her work on a groundbreaking PSA created for the National Alliance on Mental Illness of New York City (NAMI-NYC). The campaign, Rompiendo el Silencio (Breaking the Silence), sheds light on the mental health challenges faced by Hispanic/Latino caregivers and aims to reduce stigma through culturally sensitive storytelling. Watch the video. Congratulations, Lorena!
Writer/director and NYWIFT member Eunice Levis has a short film coming to Netflix as part of their “Fresh Perspective: Short Films” collection. The film, Ro & The Stardust follows a free-spirited teen and her terminally ill grandmother as they build a rocket ship they plan to launch into outer space. Congratulations, Eunice! Watch now.
Join NYWIFT member Marilyn Horowitz for an empowering webinar where you’ll learn transformative techniques from the Marilyn Initiative Beyond Happiness Tool Kit to boost your happiness in just two minutes. Get tips to help you stay cheerful and joyful this holiday season on December 18 at 7 PM. Register here.
NYWIFT member Cionin Lorenzo‘s documentary feature has won an NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre grant. Directed by Lorenzo, On Three Wheels captures the ups and downs of parents raising children with disabilities through the eyes of Sandra, a bike mechanic who closed down her repair shop to devote herself to a non-profit she founded committed to improving the lives of children with physical disabilities by building and gifting them adapted bicycles, moving them from wheelchair (four wheels) to tricycle (three wheels). NYWIFT members can help Cionin reach her post-production goal and donate today.
NYWIFT member Niva Dorell invites NYWIFT members to dine and sip at Harlem’s Settepani Restaurant in support of her film The Lotto Line. Written and directed by Dorell, the short film is based on an excerpt from Christola Phoenix’s memoir Paper Curls and Peanut Earrings. It follows a hot summer day in Harlem as 65-year-old Christola is in the lotto line waiting to place her day’s numbers. After she sees a young woman who doesn’t have enough money to buy food, Christola returns to her luxury apartment building without helping her. But the young woman’s desperation haunts Christola, who remembers her own childhood growing up poor in 1950’s Harlem. In the spirit of the film’s theme of communal care and reconnecting with humanity, break bread and meet with the filmmakers on December 15 from 5-10 PM. Contribute here.
Camp Love, a female dystopian psychological-thriller feature film about choosing your own path at any age and harnessing your pain and trauma instead of forgetting, is crowdfunding! In Camp Love’s world, conformity is law. Unmarried and childless women are condemned to camps upon turning 40. With time as all of their greatest enemy, the characters must navigate love, betrayal, societal pressures, and sacrifice to evade the grim fate that awaits them. Produced by NYWIFT member Alexandra Engelson and written/directed by Cathy Beasley. Support today.
A mother. A daughter. A teacher. A revolutionary. And an untimely, unsolved murder. Vow of Silence: The Assassination of Annie Mae premieres November 26, only on Hulu. Former NYWIFT Board Member Yvonne Russo directed all episodes.
This true crime docuseries examines the murder of Annie Mae Aquash – a Mi’kmaq woman from Nova Scotia, Canada, a mother of two daughters, a teacher, and a revolutionary who fought for Indigenous rights in the 1970s whose death went unsolved for almost 30 years. Set between the sweeping landscape of American politics in the volatile 70s and the present-day investigation by Annie Mae’s daughter to uncover secrets from the past, this is a fascinating story of murder, intrigue, love, and betrayal that contextualizes Annie Mae’s story within the larger story of the struggle of Native and First Nations women in their own communities that continues even today. Watch the trailer!
Photo courtesy of IMDb
NYWIFT member Alixx Schottland invites you to a screening of her feature-length film, LOVE MUSIC SHELTER at Look Dine-In Cinemas, as part of the Big Apple Film Festival on December 9 at 3 PM. Schottland tells the story of a teenage girl and her mother living on the streets and busking for their survival, until a performing arts school gives the talented singer a chance, despite her mother’s fears, alcoholism and past demons. Get tickets.
Banned Together is the second in a slate of films from NYWIFT members chosen as official selections in the Big Apple Film Festival. Produced by NYWIFT members Jennifer Wiggin and Allyson Rice and edited by NYWIFT member Charnelle “Cha” Quallis, Banned Together is the first documentary feature about fighting the spread of book bans in the US. The film is screening December 9 at 6 PM at Look Dine-In Cinemas. RSVP here.
NYWIFT member Carol McCann invites you to a screening of her debut short film, The Suit at Look Dine-In Cinemas, as part of the Big Apple Film Festival on December 11 at 5:45 PM. The Suit” is a deeply affecting story about a woman and her granddaughter from rural Nebraska, who go in search of a suit; a seemingly simple task that is ultimately revealed to have a more profound purpose. Get tickets.
Last but not least, 1924 – The Kakori Project, will be showcased on the closing night during the “Short Films Program 9” on Thursday,December 12, at 8:30 PM Big Apple Film Festival (Fall Edition)! Associate Producer and NYWIFT member Anshulika Kapoor invites fellow members to a tale of the tumultuous winter of 1924, India. Here, a young man, while being recruited for a covert mission, grapples with the moral complexities of the Indian Independence Struggle, entwined with the haunting plight of children caught in conflict zones. Save your seat.
Don’t Blink – Robert Frank is a densely woven portrait of globally acclaimed, Swiss-American photographer and documentary filmmaker Robert Frank, told by one of the people who knew him best, his longtime editor and NYWIFT member, Laura Israel. See a Don’t Blink – Robert Frank screening at the Museum of Modern Art, preceded by the premiere of Fearless Frank, a short 20-minute film in which ten of Frank’s collaborators answer the question: what was it like to work with Robert Frank? Screening dates are Sunday, December 8 at 1:30 PMand Wednesday, December 11 at 4 PM. Learn more and reserve tickets.
Here’s Yianni!, a new feature film written and directed by NYWIFT member Christina Eliopoulos, is the closing night film for Dances With Films festival. In the film, Plousia (Julia Ormond) is a loving wife who runs a little Jersey Shore diner with her husband Yianni (Joe Cortese). Her strength is tested when Yianni, whose mind and memory is fading, imagines himself to be the host of a late-night TV talk show. With humor, warmth and Plousia’s whimsical inventiveness, the couple faces the greatest challenge of their lives. The film will screen at Regal Union Square on Sunday, December 8 at 7:30 PM. Get tickets.
The world premiere of Raging Doll will take place on December 5 at the Dances With Films festival during Pilot Block 1 at Regal Union Square. Directed by NYWIFT member Ruthie Marantz, the pilot is about a delusional millennial from the Bronx who gets in the ring with a junior boxing champion known as The Smoke. The film is written by and stars Jessica Catalano, along with Yamaneika Saunders, Laila Zakirova, Bryan Burton, Tracey Carnazzo and Cathy Moriarty. Get tickets.
Bull Street will premiere in Detroit November 29 and runs through December 5 at AMC Forum 30 in Sterling Heights, MI with a live Q&A with the director, writer and NYWIFT member Lynn Dow, on November 30. Bull Street follows LouEster Sadie Gibbs (played by newcomer Malynda Hale), a 39-year-old small-town personal injury lawyer whose mother died in childbirth. Her grandmother, Mrs. Big-Gal (Loretta Devine), has raised her in their humble family home with love and a rich spiritual tradition. When an entitled Ivy League lawyer questions their ownership of the home and its surrounding land, the stage is set for a clash of privilege against family. Get tickets.
Join an in-person conversation at The New School on December 4 at1 PM to learn from NYWIFT member Fernita Wynn, the Emmy Award-winning Executive Producer and Showrunner behind SHERRI, the nationally syndicated talk show hosted by Sherri Shepherd. Over the course of her career, Fernita has shaped some of the most successful shows on TV for nationally recognized talent and media brands including Oprah Winfrey/OWN, Steve Harvey, Queen Latifah, Nickelodeon and more! Fernita will share her personal journey and insider tips on what it takes to break into the world of television production. This conversation will be led by Neyda Martinez, NYWIFT member and Director of the Media Management Program & Associate Professor of Professional Practice in Media Management. Register here.
Sandi DuBowski’s latest feature documentary film Sabbath Queen , executive produced by NYWIFT Board Member Audrey Rosenberg kicks off the US theatrical release in NYC November 22 at IFC Center in New York. Sabbath Queen is a feature documentary filmed over 21 years that follows Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie’s epic journey as the dynastic heir of 38 generations of Orthodox rabbis including the Chief Rabbis of Israel. He is torn between rejecting and embracing his destiny and becomes a drag-queen rebel and the founder of Lab/Shul—an everybody-friendly, God-optional, artist-driven, pop-up experimental congregation. SABBATH QUEEN joins Amichai on a lifelong quest to creatively and radically reinvent religion and ritual, challenge patriarchy, champion interfaith love and stand up for peace. The film interrogates what Jewish survival means in a difficult rapidly changing 21st century.
A number of screenings have prominent moderators including director/actor and NYWIFT Muse Award honoree Kyra Sedgwick who will moderate the Q &A following the 4:20P screening on Sunday November 24, author of The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why it Matters Priya Parker who will moderate the Q&A following the 6:50PM screening on Monday November 25, and Krista Tippett of On Being Tuesday November 26 @ 6:50PM. Buy tickets!
NYWIFT member Laura Israel and Alex Bingham, the creators of MoMA’s recent exhibit Robert Frank’s Scrapbook Footage, join Dean Hurley, a sound designer best known for his collaborations with David Lynch, to discuss Frank’s creative process as well as their own. Their installation bridges the worlds of Frank’s artistic production: the gallery, the cinema, and the printed page. It serves as a vital link between the exhibition Life Dances On: Robert Frank in Dialogue, its accompanying catalogue, and a complete retrospective of Frank’s films and videos. Moderated by MoMA curators Joshua Siegel, Lucy Gallun, and Kaitlin Booher, the conversation also features a premiere screening of Life Dances On (1980) in a new digital restoration. Watch the screening followed by a panel discussion with Laura Israel, Alex Bingham, and Dean Hurley Friday November 22 at 6:30 PM. Get tickets.
NYWIFT member Rosanne Limoncelli invites fellow members to apply to a new, innovative degree program at NYU Tisch School of the Arts—the Master of Professional Studies (MPS) degree in Virtual Production. Students will learn at the innovative Martin Scorsese Center for Virtual Production, opening in Fall 2024. This 9 month (September-May), full-time program will provide students an immersive, hands-on education in the emerging field of storytelling through Virtual Production. Applications close December 15, 2024. Learn more.
DELA: The Making of El Anatsui is coming to Barcelona, Spain. The biographical documentary directed by NYWIFT member Oyiza Adaba – in her feature debut – delves into the life of world-renowned Ghanaian sculptor, El Anatsui. His inner musings find vivid expression in art that defies borders and limitations, reshaping the very concept of sculpture. The documentary also emphasizes the importance of Africa’s rich artistic and cultural heritage in the pantheon of global contemporary art. Cinemes Girona will show the documentary on November 30. Get tickets.
The Premiere, the mockumentary about a documentary about a musical about a movie, will screen at 3 PM on December 15 at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor. The Premiere is the directorial debut from Sam Pezzullo and Christopher Bouckoms and the screening will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers. You just may catch a glimpse of yourself in his film if you’ve been at a past NYWIFT Hamptons Brunch – Sam shot a whole segment featuring several NYWIFT members mingling at Mulford Farm! You can purchase tickets here.
Zen Dot is the NYWIFT member and multihyphenate (writer, lead actor, co-editor, and co-producer) behind the short film RSVP, which will screen at the Big Apple Film Festival on November 18. The premise: After the death of their family patriarch, a mother and daughter grapple with the ways in which we grieve loss, and try to move forward. Get tickets.
The Greenwich Village Film Festival is back at the Quad Cinema for its 10th edition, November 11 – 14. The festival showcases short films from all over the world. Founded by NYWIFT member Alessia Gatti, the festival extends a discount code to all NYWIFT members. Each screening is followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers and an after party at the Quad Cinema Bar. Use code GVFF40 for 40% off when you get your tickets.
New York Women in Film & Television is excited to share that 4 of our members have been nominated for the 40th Artios Awards for Casting in theatre, commercials, and television. Winners will be announced on February 12, 2025. Congratulations to Liz Lewis, Destiny Lilly, Angela Mickey, and Deborah Schildt on your nominations! See the list of their nominations.
Everyone deserves to be able to see themselves on screen, in the media, and in our society as a whole. NYWIFT board member Okema T. Moore is moderating a post-screening panel at The Diversity and Inclusion Film Festival (DIFF), which aims to discover emerging storytellers and give them the opportunity to present their fresh perspectives. We believe in using film to inspire social change and connect creatives for a more equitable future. We are a resource for talent discovery and supporting filmmakers. DIFF proudly screens filmmakers of all walks of life. DIFF is here to celebrate diversity and inclusion in front of and behind the camera. NYWIFT members can attend the event for free with the discount code DIFFNYWIFT RSVP.
The “Independent, Jewish and frankly Feminist” publication Lilith Magazine recently interviewed award-winning filmmaker and NYWIFT member Roberta Pyzel following the release of her recent documentary, Dworkin. Learn more about Roberta’s process of creating the documentary about writer-activist Andrea Dworkin and read the interview.
NYWIFT member Frances McGarry sat down with actor Alyssa Simon for her podcast First Online with Fran. Alyssa Simon is an award-winning theatre and film actor, who has performed modern works, classics, cabarets and musicals in the U.S., U.K., Argentina and the Caribbean. She was selected as A Person Of The Year by Martin Denton of nytheatre.com for her acting work and she was also a Master Mason at Brick Theatre. Learn more and listen here.
Award-winning short film, Keepers of the Flame, co-produced by NYWIFT members Messeret Stroman Wheeler, Shari L. Carpenter and Tia Dionne Hodge, will be screening in NYC. Keepers of the Flame, a drama about the impact of African-American sororities, Alpha Kappa Alpha and Delta Sigma Theta, as they fight for women’s suffrage and against exclusionary practices within the suffrage movement. This film will be followed by an inspiring conversation with filmmaker, Messeret Stroman. See the film on November 2 at Von King Cultural Arts Center’s Freedom Series Movie Screening here or on November 10 at the Diversity and Inclusion Film Festival at Lincoln Center here.
NYWIFT members are invited to a conversation with Tony Award-winning producer Robin Gorman Newman moderated by NYWIFT Member Judith Balkin, Chairwoman of the NYU Alumni in Arts and Entertainment Network. During the virtual panel on November 21 at 6:30 PM, Robin will share her insider knowledge and experience, including her unexpected path to producing, what it takes to become a producer, how she chooses projects. She will also discuss how shows make it to Broadway, what theatre investors look for, the upcoming show season, theatre incubators, and more. She will also be happy to answer questions. Reserve your seat.
Have you ever wanted to produce a film but don’t know where to start? Have you ever been discouraged by the thought of all the money you would need to raise and the complexity of the process? Whether you’ve already produced a few projects or are just getting started, NYWIFT member Kara Ford‘s book How To Produce Your No/Low Budget Film, is a resourceful guide on managing a production from script to screen. The book is available to order on Amazon.
NYWIFT Board Member Gretchen McGowan‘s memoir Flying In – My Adventures in Filmmaking hits shelves on Oct 29! It’s the grit and glam of 1990s New York City—a heyday for independent movies. Wall Street throws money at indie films and big stars flock to them for prestige. Everyone wants to be a producer. Eyewitness to it all is Gretchen McGowan, a budding producer, here to relay her often humorous and absurd stories from the inside out.
From the scrappy freelance work on location in Vietnam, Costa Rica, Spain, and Buffalo in the ’90s to the seasoned studio executive jobs in Jordan, Germany, and New York City in the ’00s, Flying In is a ride-along from script discovery through premiere night. Follow McGowan as she produces films with directors like Jim Jarmusch, Brian De Palma, Mary Harron, and James Ivory with the gamut of stars from Mickey Rourke and Shelley Winters to Cate Blanchett and the Wu Tang Clan. Watch the book trailer and pre-order the book now!
NYWIFT Board Member Gretchen McGowan also produced the feature documentary 64 Days. From the filmmaker embedded with the Proud Boys, and who was called to testify before the January 6th Committee with his exclusive footage, this is a firsthand account of the conspiracy to steal the election. Through never-before-seen footage, exclusive access to the proud boys, eyewitness reports, unreported emails, videos, social media posts, interviews with politicians on both sides of the aisle, and unprecedented access to the investigators supporting the January 6 Committee, 64 DAYS chronicles the most important period of our modern republic—the 64 democracy-bending days between the election and the devastating January 6th insurrection. Stream now on Vimeo, check out select in-person screenings, and learn more here.
NYWIFT member Eldonie Mason is hosting Your Life, Your Estate, Your Legacy, a FREE informative webinar on estate planning on October 30 at 6 PM via Zoom. NYWIFT members are invited to get tips on planning in the event of incapacity, naming guardians for children and using estate planning to create generational wealth. Register now.
Girl Haunts Boy starring Peyton List and Michael Cimino is out on Netflix and recently hit the Top 10 list. The family-friendly Halloween flick was co-produced by NYWIFT member Sirad Balducci with a team of all-women department heads. Congratulations, Sirad! Watch the trailer. Stream now.
NYWIFT member Shoshanna Gleich invites fellow members to attend Dharma Friends on October 28 at 6:30 PM where she will be honored as guest artist. Shoshanna will share her debut film No Thank You I’ll Twist Some More and perform a sneak preview of an original song to be released on all music platforms in 2025. The event will be held live at Tibet House NYC at 22 West 15th street. Dharma Friends is a monthly community event dedicated to creating spiritual community through meditation, art, Dharma, and embodiment practices. Purchase tickets.
NYWIFT member Shanna Riker is seeking contributions for her short film Speechless. Speechless is a whimsical piece that centers around the loss of a childhood friend and first love. Jake and Allison struggle to navigate this newfound grief only to find that they process it differently. Using light and color shifts to guide the viewer in the emotional journey, Speechless touches on themes of grief, friendship, and the importance of mental health awareness. This film is the third in our series, Support on Screen, which showcases films designed to help provide a safe space for people so they don’t have to feel alone in this world. The ultimate goal of this film is to distribute it to mental health facilities to be used as a support tool. Support this film.
Mark your calendars for the YoFiFest screening of Concrete Rose, a documentary short by NYWIFT member Amanda Ramirez, on Sunday, November 10 at 6 PM at YoFi Digital Media Art Center. This documentary short follows Christina Green’s journey from incarceration to empowerment as she leads a supportive housing program, highlighting resilience and community in the face of systemic injustice. Enter promo code Yo24FM for 25% off tickets. Get tickets.
Five Flights has been named an official selection at the Ocktober Film Festival. It will screen on Saturday, October 26 at 12:45 PM as part of a shorts program. The film is written by Kathleen Kaan and produced by Vanessa Cordova-Corwin (both NYWIFT members). Tickets for screenings are free! All movie screenings will take place at Stuart Cinema. Get your free tickets here.
The 20th annual Arab-American Comedy Festival is running from October 17-19 at Joe’s Pub. Comedienne, multi-hyphenate, and past NYWIFT Muse Honoree Maysoon Zayid co-founded this festival, which has been a powerful platform for Arab-American artists since 2004. Each year, the festival shines a spotlight on the vibrant talent of comedians, writers, and actors within the community, attracting national attention from outlets like ABC News, The New York Times, and Entertainment Weekly. Get tickets.
