Past Guests Round-Up 4/15/2022
Welcome to the What’s up with Docs Podcast! Happy Season 3 y’all! If you’d like to help us, consider making a contribution via Paypal. Anything you send will be greatly appreciated and goes toward website maintenance, transcripts that are woefully behind on, and podcast hosting services. In this first episode, we’ll be celebrating the many accomplishments of our past guests. So here we go!
Episode 38’s Jacquil Constant was in conversation with fellow Haitian-American, author and Executive Director of Travel & Give, Martine Harris. Her organization based in Haiti and Kenya improves the quality of life of youth, ages birth-21, with speech, learning, mental, and physical disabilities by providing direct services, advocacy, and training-based service projects. The interview is on the Haiti International Film Festival’s Youtube page.
Episode 29’s Jin Yoo-Kim & Ann Kaneko continue to send their film Manzanar Diverted: When Water Becomes Dust out into the world. They’ve done screenings with the Robert Robert Conservancy in partnership with Pitzer College, the Gifts for the River Film Festival, the Center for Contemporary Arts in Santa Fe, and the Reframe Film Festival. The film won Best Documentary at the San Diego Asian Film Festival and was nominated for four awards at the Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema: Best Documentary Feature, Best Documentary Director, the Mary Austin Award for Excellence in Directing, and the Mary Austin Award for Excellence in Producing.
Episode 26’s Resita Cox’s film, Freedom Hill, had its world premiere at the Full Frame Film Festival.
Episode 24’s Abby Sun is the new Director of Artist Programs at the IDA. Ranell and I couldn’t be more thrilled. It’s so wonderful to know that she will be working in an environment free from the hostile, day-to-day racist interference we experienced while we were at the organization. Congratulations!
Now, this good news had me shoutin’ earlier this week! Episode 21’s April Dobbins is out here doing big thangs! She’s finishing up a Masters at Harvard from their department of education. And she got accepted into the University of Iceland where she will be pursuing a Practical Diploma in Icelandic as a Second Language. But before she heads to Reikijivak, she’ll be going a little further north to the Faroe Islands where she will be taking part in a Faroese Summer language program. I’ve got some travel advice for you Lady once you get to Iceland. You have to try the stinky shark with the ridiculously long name, head north to Akureyri which is not as touristy as Reykjavik and is so beautiful. Drink the water right out of the faucet because it is the best water in the world, and eat the mussels. If you drink, take it slow. They make it extra strong there. Oh, and I was listening to a podcast called “Atlas Obscura “where they talked about how in Iceland during the winter there is an actual puffin rescue season!
Episode 20’s Victoria Thomas traveled to Lagos, NIGERIA where she was one of many panelists for the UK/Nigerian Creatives Trade Mission in TV and Film 2022. Her project, Big Fish. was selected for the North American streamer Topic and Statement Films’ program to support, develop, and finance projects from female African filmmakers. She joined the Steering Committee for ARTEF the Anti-Racism Taskforce for European Film. And she was on a panel at the Sarajevo Film Festival entitled, “Staying Sane: Mental Health in the Film Industry. While on the panel she said, it is all our work to call out bullies taking advantage of their privileged position, instead of telling their victims how to cope with erratic behavior.
Episode 19’s Day Al-Mahomed and Episode 14’s Set Hernandez Rongiklyo continue to garner support for their latest project, unseen! The project was selected for NBC’s Orignal Voices Fellowship. Set was even featured on the Today Show! And Day’s film, The Invalid Corps, was one of the screening offerings at the DC History Conference which was presented by the DC History Center.
Episode 18’s Chloë Walters-Wallace and the team at Firelight Media announced the inaugural cohort of their new joint initiative with PBS and CAAM, “Homegrown: Future Visions,” which she discussed on the show.
Episode 17’s Rüzgâr Buşki recently spent some time in Ghana where some of their visual art was exhibited and they gave workshops to children and young adults.
Episode 16’s Elegance Bratton did an Instagram Live for International Transgender Day of Visibility where he discussed his film Pier Kids and themes around queer kinship, gentrification, and the politics of representation. The film was also nominated for Best Documentary at the Glaad Media Awards. The film was the inspiration for a traveling mural created by the students at the Savannah Arts Academy, in Savannah, Georgia in partnership with DOCSavnnah. AV Tech and film instructor Zach Paige said, “As part of DOCSavannah's fall screening series, we've teamed up with art teachers and students from SAA to develop a mural project to be displayed throughout our town. As is most often, the subjects of the film - the black gay and transgender youth experiencing homelessness - do not live on the streets by choice, but were either evicted or no longer felt safe within their own homes.”
Episode 15’s Lillian Benson received a Career Achievement Award from the American Cinema Editors.
Episode 7’s Dante Alencstre and his film A.I.D.S. Diva: The Legend of Connie Norman is still changing the world. He did a private screening with APAIT whose mission is to positively impact the quality of life for medically underserved communities living with or at risk for HIV/AIDS and other health disparities through culturally competent and linguistically appropriate programs in Southern California.
If you’re looking for a new podcast to listen to, Jack Sim, who was the protagonist in episode 6’s Lily Zepeda’s Mr. Toilet: The World’s #2 Man was a guest on Episode 157 of the “Hey Poopy Podcast!”
Episode 5’s Ani Mercedes was one of the speakers at FIFDH Impact Days in Geneva, Switzerland.
Episode 3’s Godisamang Khunou was listed as one of the “South African Filmmakers to Lookout For in 2022” in Impulse Africa Magazine!
For our inaugural episode, we interviewed Tracy Rector just as she was starting her work at Nia Tero. Well, at this year’s Big Sky Documentary film festival, Nia Tero announced their new global Indigenous Filmmaker database called Kin Theory which was created to facilitate media connections that support narrative sovereignty. If you’re Indigenous signup! If you’re looking to hire an Indigenous crew, visit the website!
And last but not least, our composer Ceaira Thomas is also in the yoga mat business now! Support this #blackwomenowned business and visit www.sweeetbodyfitness.com. That’s sweet with 3 E’s now!
