CV – Isidore Bethel
HONORS & FELLOWSHIPS:
2024
– Brouillon d’un rêve grant from La Scam (as director of upcoming film with Daniel Hymanson).
– Idea Capital grant (as director of upcoming film with Daniel Hymanson).
– Atlanta Contemporary Nexus Fund grantee.
– Neaniko Plano Award at Thessaloniki IDF’s Agora Docs in Progress (as producer/editor of Happy You’re Here).
– mentor with the AXS Film Fund (supporting creators of color living with disabilities).
2023
– DOC NYC’s “40 Under 40.”
– IDA DocuClub edit consultant.
– Visions du Réel Rough Cut Lab (as consultant on Our Daughters).
– IDA Pare Lorentz Fund grant (as editor/co-producer of Hummingbirds).
– Atlanta Film Festival Industry Inclusion fellow.
2022
– Paris LGBTQ+ Film Festival jury member, documentary section.
– Catapult Film Fund grant (as editor/producer of Wind Up).
– IDA Sarowitz Fund grant (as editor/co-producer of What We Leave Behind).
– The Whickers development award (as collaborator on Re-Evaluation).
– True/False & Catapult Rough Cut Retreat (as editor of Hummingbirds).
– Jacob Burns Film Center editing residency (as editor on The Taste of Mango).
– Gotham Week Spotlight on Documentaries (as editor/producer of Wind Up).
– Visions du Réel Work in Progress Lab (as editor/co-producer of Hummingbirds).
2021
– Logan Nonfiction Fellowship (as collaborator on Arturo González Villaseñor’s upcoming film).
– The Gotham Documentary Lab (as editor on Sophie Schrago’s upcoming film).
– Jacob Burns Film Center editing residency (as editor/co-producer of What We Leave Behind).
– Moulin d’Andé filmmaking residencies (as collaborator on Laurent Bécue-Renard’s upcoming film).
2020
– Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film.”
– Île-de-France Aide à l’écriture writing grant (as director of Acts of Love).
– Agora Docs in Progress Lab at Thessaloniki IDF (as director of Acts of Love).
– IFP Documentary Lab (as editor/co-producer of What We Leave Behind).
– Filmflow Award (as editor/co-producer of What We Leave Behind).
– Logan Nonfiction Fellowship (as editor/co-producer of What We Leave Behind).
– Latino Public Broadcasting Public Media Content funding (as editor/co-producer of What We Leave Behind).
2019
– Parsons Part-Time Faculty Support, funding to attend True/False Film Festival.
2018
– Berlinale Talents (as director and editor).
– Eurodoc fellow (as producer of Happy You’re Here).
– True/False & Catapult Rough Cut Retreat (as editor of So Late So Soon).
– KTQ Kartemquin Labs (as editor of So Late So Soon).
2017
– Villa Medici artist-in-residence, month-long artist residency at the French Academy in Rome, drawing and performance work exploring cruising in the Borghese gardens.
– Film Independent Documentary Lab (as editor/producer of Happy You’re Here).
– IFP Documentary Lab (as editor/producer of Happy You’re Here).
– Tribeca Film Institute Network Lab (as editor/producer of Happy You’re Here).
2015
– Institut Français Hors les Murs fellow, support from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs to develop a film in the United States (as director of Liam).
– ParisDOC fellow (as editor/producer of La Balada del Oppenheimer Park).
2014
– Jack Kent Cooke Foundation graduate arts fellow, three years of MFA funding.
– Jean-Luc Lagardère Foundation fellow (as editor/associate producer of Of Men and War).
2011
– École Normale Supérieure Exchange fellow, admission to two-year MA program at l’École Normale Supérieure – Ulm (Paris), housing, and a stipend.
– Thomas T. Hoopes Prize, highest award for a thesis at Harvard, for the film “Someone I Love or Someone Who I Want to Be.”
– One of the Harvard Crimson’s “15 Most Interesting” seniors.
2024
– Brouillon d’un rêve grant from La Scam (as director of upcoming film with Daniel Hymanson).
– Idea Capital grant (as director of upcoming film with Daniel Hymanson).
– Atlanta Contemporary Nexus Fund grantee.
– Neaniko Plano Award at Thessaloniki IDF’s Agora Docs in Progress (as producer/editor of Happy You’re Here).
– mentor with the AXS Film Fund (supporting creators of color living with disabilities).
2023
– DOC NYC’s “40 Under 40.”
– IDA DocuClub edit consultant.
– Visions du Réel Rough Cut Lab (as consultant on Our Daughters).
– IDA Pare Lorentz Fund grant (as editor/co-producer of Hummingbirds).
– Atlanta Film Festival Industry Inclusion fellow.
2022
– Paris LGBTQ+ Film Festival jury member, documentary section.
– Catapult Film Fund grant (as editor/producer of Wind Up).
– IDA Sarowitz Fund grant (as editor/co-producer of What We Leave Behind).
– The Whickers development award (as collaborator on Re-Evaluation).
– True/False & Catapult Rough Cut Retreat (as editor of Hummingbirds).
– Jacob Burns Film Center editing residency (as editor on The Taste of Mango).
– Gotham Week Spotlight on Documentaries (as editor/producer of Wind Up).
– Visions du Réel Work in Progress Lab (as editor/co-producer of Hummingbirds).
2021
– Logan Nonfiction Fellowship (as collaborator on Arturo González Villaseñor’s upcoming film).
– The Gotham Documentary Lab (as editor on Sophie Schrago’s upcoming film).
– Jacob Burns Film Center editing residency (as editor/co-producer of What We Leave Behind).
– Moulin d’Andé filmmaking residencies (as collaborator on Laurent Bécue-Renard’s upcoming film).
2020
– Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film.”
– Île-de-France Aide à l’écriture writing grant (as director of Acts of Love).
– Agora Docs in Progress Lab at Thessaloniki IDF (as director of Acts of Love).
– IFP Documentary Lab (as editor/co-producer of What We Leave Behind).
– Filmflow Award (as editor/co-producer of What We Leave Behind).
– Logan Nonfiction Fellowship (as editor/co-producer of What We Leave Behind).
– Latino Public Broadcasting Public Media Content funding (as editor/co-producer of What We Leave Behind).
2019
– Parsons Part-Time Faculty Support, funding to attend True/False Film Festival.
2018
– Berlinale Talents (as director and editor).
– Eurodoc fellow (as producer of Happy You’re Here).
– True/False & Catapult Rough Cut Retreat (as editor of So Late So Soon).
– KTQ Kartemquin Labs (as editor of So Late So Soon).
2017
– Villa Medici artist-in-residence, month-long artist residency at the French Academy in Rome, drawing and performance work exploring cruising in the Borghese gardens.
– Film Independent Documentary Lab (as editor/producer of Happy You’re Here).
– IFP Documentary Lab (as editor/producer of Happy You’re Here).
– Tribeca Film Institute Network Lab (as editor/producer of Happy You’re Here).
2015
– Institut Français Hors les Murs fellow, support from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs to develop a film in the United States (as director of Liam).
– ParisDOC fellow (as editor/producer of La Balada del Oppenheimer Park).
2014
– Jack Kent Cooke Foundation graduate arts fellow, three years of MFA funding.
– Jean-Luc Lagardère Foundation fellow (as editor/associate producer of Of Men and War).
2011
– École Normale Supérieure Exchange fellow, admission to two-year MA program at l’École Normale Supérieure – Ulm (Paris), housing, and a stipend.
– Thomas T. Hoopes Prize, highest award for a thesis at Harvard, for the film “Someone I Love or Someone Who I Want to Be.”
– One of the Harvard Crimson’s “15 Most Interesting” seniors.
TEACHING:
University:
– La Fémis. Summer University editing mentor for international postgraduate filmmakers. Summers 2021 and 2022.
– Parsons Paris (BA, BFA, MA, MFA). Teaching “Design & Cinema: Object-Based Narratives,” “Contemporary Filmmaking Practices,” and “Integrative Seminar.” Spring 2018 to Fall 2020.
– Sarah Lawrence College (BA), Paris. Teaching “Film History in the City of Light,” survey of French film history, drawing on aesthetic analysis, sociology, and film theory. Fall 2017.
Workshops:
– University of Texas at Austin, MFA in Film and Media Production, guest critic in Non-Fiction Storytelling and Thesis, Fall 2020 to present.
– Femme Frontera’s La Frontera Film Lab, production and editing mentor. Spring 2022.
– University of California, Santa Cruz’s Stone Soup filmmaking workshop, introduction to first-person filmmaking for preteens. Fall 2021, winter 2022.
– Doc Amazonie Caraïbe, French Guyana. Writing and development mentor. Fall 2020.
– UnionDocs, New York. Summer Documentary Lab Collaborative Studio. Editing mentor. Summer 2020.
– Aristoteles Workshop, Romania. Editing & directing tutoring for MFA grads. Aug. 2019.
– University of Kent, Paris School of Arts and Culture. Filmmaker-in-residence. Fall 2019 to Spring 2020.
Lectures/Critiques:
– DokuFest “Future is Here” film school (“Ethics in Documentary Storytelling,” Jan. ’24), Macalester College (Nov. ’23), moderator for Here’s What Really Happened panel with Payal Kapadia about A Night of Knowing Nothing at the IDA’s Getting Real conference (Sept. ’22), “The Art of the Doc Edit” panel with Daniel Hymanson for Gotham Week (Sept. ’22), UnionDocs Summer Documentary Lab (as editor of Hummingbirds, Aug. ’22), Logan Nonfiction Fellowship (as editor/co-producer of What We Leave Behind, Jun. ’22), Oxford University (Feb. ’22), Doc Amazonie Caraïbe guest critic (Sept. ’21), Sundance Art of Editing Q&A with Iliana Sosa (as editor of What We Leave Behind, Dec. ’20), American University of Beirut guest critic (Nov. ’19), University of Évry-Val-d’Essonne (“Le Pacte sensible,” May ’19), Harvard Club of Paris (Feb. ’19), University of Toulouse – Jean Jaurès (“Montage et ménage,” Nov. ’18), Yale Film and Media Studies Program (Apr. ’18), CalArts MFA in Directing (Jan. ’18), CUPA Paris (Feb. ’17), Blake High School, Silver Springs, MD (Oct. ’16), North Springs High School in Atlanta, GA (Mar. ’13)
University:
– La Fémis. Summer University editing mentor for international postgraduate filmmakers. Summers 2021 and 2022.
– Parsons Paris (BA, BFA, MA, MFA). Teaching “Design & Cinema: Object-Based Narratives,” “Contemporary Filmmaking Practices,” and “Integrative Seminar.” Spring 2018 to Fall 2020.
– Sarah Lawrence College (BA), Paris. Teaching “Film History in the City of Light,” survey of French film history, drawing on aesthetic analysis, sociology, and film theory. Fall 2017.
Workshops:
– University of Texas at Austin, MFA in Film and Media Production, guest critic in Non-Fiction Storytelling and Thesis, Fall 2020 to present.
– Femme Frontera’s La Frontera Film Lab, production and editing mentor. Spring 2022.
– University of California, Santa Cruz’s Stone Soup filmmaking workshop, introduction to first-person filmmaking for preteens. Fall 2021, winter 2022.
– Doc Amazonie Caraïbe, French Guyana. Writing and development mentor. Fall 2020.
– UnionDocs, New York. Summer Documentary Lab Collaborative Studio. Editing mentor. Summer 2020.
– Aristoteles Workshop, Romania. Editing & directing tutoring for MFA grads. Aug. 2019.
– University of Kent, Paris School of Arts and Culture. Filmmaker-in-residence. Fall 2019 to Spring 2020.
Lectures/Critiques:
– DokuFest “Future is Here” film school (“Ethics in Documentary Storytelling,” Jan. ’24), Macalester College (Nov. ’23), moderator for Here’s What Really Happened panel with Payal Kapadia about A Night of Knowing Nothing at the IDA’s Getting Real conference (Sept. ’22), “The Art of the Doc Edit” panel with Daniel Hymanson for Gotham Week (Sept. ’22), UnionDocs Summer Documentary Lab (as editor of Hummingbirds, Aug. ’22), Logan Nonfiction Fellowship (as editor/co-producer of What We Leave Behind, Jun. ’22), Oxford University (Feb. ’22), Doc Amazonie Caraïbe guest critic (Sept. ’21), Sundance Art of Editing Q&A with Iliana Sosa (as editor of What We Leave Behind, Dec. ’20), American University of Beirut guest critic (Nov. ’19), University of Évry-Val-d’Essonne (“Le Pacte sensible,” May ’19), Harvard Club of Paris (Feb. ’19), University of Toulouse – Jean Jaurès (“Montage et ménage,” Nov. ’18), Yale Film and Media Studies Program (Apr. ’18), CalArts MFA in Directing (Jan. ’18), CUPA Paris (Feb. ’17), Blake High School, Silver Springs, MD (Oct. ’16), North Springs High School in Atlanta, GA (Mar. ’13)
EDUCATION:
School of the Art Institute of Chicago, MFA, 2015-17
– Advisers: Gregg Bordowitz, Irina Botea, Gordon Hall, Kelly Kaczynski, John Neff, Oli Rodriguez.
École Normale Supérieure/Sorbonne Nouvelle, MA, 2011-13
– In Cinema Studies. Intimate Distance: Putty Hill’s Anthropological Stance, Master’s thesis on the insertion of fictional narratives into a community in mourning, as filmed by Matt Porterfield.
– Adviser: Sylvie Rollet.
Harvard University, BA, 2007-11
– Visual & Environmental Studies Concentration, Slavic Languages & Literature Secondary Field.
– Magna cum laude, highest honors. Courses in directing, animation, architectural studies, and film theory.
– Four-year Harvard Faculty Scholarship. David Rockefeller International Experience Grant and Critical Language Scholarship for summer study in Russia.
– Advisers: Gregg Bordowitz, Irina Botea, Gordon Hall, Kelly Kaczynski, John Neff, Oli Rodriguez.
École Normale Supérieure/Sorbonne Nouvelle, MA, 2011-13
– In Cinema Studies. Intimate Distance: Putty Hill’s Anthropological Stance, Master’s thesis on the insertion of fictional narratives into a community in mourning, as filmed by Matt Porterfield.
– Adviser: Sylvie Rollet.
Harvard University, BA, 2007-11
– Visual & Environmental Studies Concentration, Slavic Languages & Literature Secondary Field.
– Magna cum laude, highest honors. Courses in directing, animation, architectural studies, and film theory.
– Four-year Harvard Faculty Scholarship. David Rockefeller International Experience Grant and Critical Language Scholarship for summer study in Russia.
CURATING:
– SAGE Publishing Video Editorial Advisory Board, 2024.
– “Bodies & Besties” at 2220 Arts + Archives for Rug and Vase, screening of works by Manuel Barraza Cepeda, Ryan Clancy, Emerson Granillo, Lucas Habte, Betelhem Makonnen, Sephora Monteau, Kina Sands, Abby Sun, Derrick Woods-Morrow, and Renee Zhan, Los Angeles, August 12, 2022.
– Noche de cortos at NIXON Gallery, screening of works by Mohamad Kanaan, Lucy Pawlak, Rodrigo Quintero, Javier Velázquez Cabrero, and Renee Zhan, Mexico City, February 16, 2017.
– “Bodies & Besties” at 2220 Arts + Archives for Rug and Vase, screening of works by Manuel Barraza Cepeda, Ryan Clancy, Emerson Granillo, Lucas Habte, Betelhem Makonnen, Sephora Monteau, Kina Sands, Abby Sun, Derrick Woods-Morrow, and Renee Zhan, Los Angeles, August 12, 2022.
– Noche de cortos at NIXON Gallery, screening of works by Mohamad Kanaan, Lucy Pawlak, Rodrigo Quintero, Javier Velázquez Cabrero, and Renee Zhan, Mexico City, February 16, 2017.
FILMS:
Hummingbirds (2023), editor and co-producer 2021-23
– In this late-night summer self-portrait, Silvia Del Carmen Castaños and Estefanía “Beba” Contreras make magic of everyday moments coming of age on the Texas-Mexico border.
– Directed by Silvia Del Carmen Castaños and Estefanía “Beba” Contreras, produced by Jillian Schlesinger, Miguel Drake-McLaughlin, Leslie Benavides, Ana Rodríguez-Falcó, Diane Ng, and Rivkah Beth Medow, also edited by Jillian Schlesinger.
–True/False FF, San Francisco IFF, among others.
– the Berlinale’s Generation 14plus Grand Prix.
– Support from Ford Foundation’s JustFilms, the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program, NBCU Academy Original Voices Fellowship, Field of Vision, IDA Pare Lorentz Documentary Fund, Arts2work, New York Foundation for the Arts, SFFILM, Chicago Media Project, Doc Society Threshold Fund, Mountainfilm, Chicken & Egg Pictures, Frameline Completion Fund, BAVC MediaMaker Fellowship, Austin Film Society, Points North Institute.
– 78’. USA.
The Taste of Mango (2023), editor 2022-23
– Searching for answers that her mother and grandmother often brush aside, Chloe traces the reaches and limits of familial love.
– Directed by Chloe Abrahams, produced by Elliott Whitton, also edited by Chloe Abrahams and Stella Heith Keir.
–True/False FF, First Look (Museum of the Moving Image), BlackStar FF, New Orleans FF, Dokufest, Indie Memphis, among others.
– BFI London FF Audience Award, BIFA – Best Debut Director.
– Support from Doc Society, SFFILM, Points North Institute, Jacob Burns Film Center, Sheffield Doc/Fest Meet Market, Docs Ireland, One World Media, The Film & TV Charity.
– 75’. Fit Via Vi. UK/USA.
What We Leave Behind (2022), editor, co-producer, and writer, 2019-22
– As her grandfather embarks on a construction project in his rural Mexican hometown, filmmaker Iliana Sosa pieces together how her family has built and rebuilt home over decades of separation.
– Directed by Iliana Sosa, produced by Emma D. Miller.
–First Look (Museum of the Moving Image), Full Frame, Morelia IFF, Guanajuato IFF, Camden IFF, Thessaloniki DF, Los Angeles Latino IFF, among others.
– SXSW’s Lone Star and New Voices Awards, Gotham Award Best Documentary nominee, Tacoma FF Special Mention, Thin Line Fest’s Emerging Filmmaker Award, North by North IFF Best Feature Award, Viva Texas Best Documentary Feature Award, Flatland FF Best Director and Best Feature Awards, The Gotham Film Week FilmFlow Award.
– Support from Ford Foundation’s JustFilms, the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program, the City of El Paso Museums and Cultural Affairs Department, Field of Vision, the IDA, the Catapult Film Fund, the True/False & Catapult Rough Cut Retreat, the Jacob Burns Film Center Creative Culture Residency, the Logan Nonfiction Fellowship, the Gotham (IFP) Documentary Lab, the University of Texas at Austin, and the Austin Film Society.
– Streaming on Netflix in the USA, Canada, UK, Australia, and New Zealand. Theatrical release in the USA. A New York Times Critic’s Pick.
– 71’, Borderchild Productions, Marcona Media, JustFilms (Ford Foundation), ARRAY Releasing (distribution). Mexico/USA.
“Blue Room” (2022), editor and associate producer, 2021-22
– In two US prisons, participants in a mental health experiment watch nature videos on loop, prompting them to reflect on isolation and wilderness.
– Directed and produced by Merete Mueller.
– BFI London FF, AFI Fest, Hot Docs, Raindance FF, Jihlava IDFF, New Orleans FF, Hot Springs Documentary FF, Prismatic Ground, Mountainfilm, Rooftop Films, Indie Memphis, Nashville FF, Woodstock FF.
– Special Mention at Tacoma FF.
– Support from IF/Then Shorts|Field of Vision, Rooftop Films, John Logan Family Foundation, and Mountainfilm in Telluride.
– 12’. The New York Times Op-Docs. USA.
Hollow Tree (2022), editor, 2021-22
– For the first time, three Louisiana teenagers notice the Mississippi River – its engineering, stumps of cypress trees, and polluting refineries. Their different perspectives as Indigenous, white, and Angolan young women shape their story of the climate crisis.
– Directed by Kira Akerman, produced by Chachi Hauser and Monique Walton, also edited by Meryl O’Connor.
– New Orleans FF Best Louisiana Feature Award and Louisiana Feature Documentary Audience Award, Chicago International Children’s FF First Prize (Documentary Feature for Youth), Second Prize (Documentary Feature), and STEM Award, DC Environmental FF, Academia Film Olomouc International Festival of Science Documentary Films.
– Support from the Sundance Institute, Fork Films, IDA, National Endowment for the Arts, Tulane University’s Center for the Gulf South, PitchBLACK Black Public Media, and Good Pitch Texas.
– 74’. USA.
Acts of Love (2021), director and producer, 2015-21
– When his older boyfriend loses interest in him, the filmmaker relocates to Chicago and uses dating apps to cast new lovers in an amorphous project that his mother hates.
– A film by Isidore Bethel and Francis Leplay, produced by Jamie Gonçalves, Francis Leplay, Lucie Rego, Pauline Tran Van Lieu, edited by Francis Leplay.
– Hot Docs, Thessaloniki DF, Chicago IFF, Transilvania IFF, RIDM, New Adventures in Nonfiction at the Museum of the Moving Image, Sidewalk FF, In & Out Nice Queer FF, Pink Apple Zurich LGBT FF, Queer Lisboa, Black Canvas Contemporary FF, Reel Pride Winnipeg LGBTTQ* FF, Porn FF Berlin, St. Louis IFF, Chéries-Chéris Paris LGBTQ+ FF, OutFest Santo Domingo International GLBTIQ FF, Oxford University Filmmaking Foundation SFF, Écrans Mixtes Lyon Queer & Feminist FF, Prismatic Ground.
– Best Feature Award at the Tacoma FF, Special Mention at Gender Border FF.
– Support from Agora Docs in Progress, the Île-de-France region’s writing grant, the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, Eurodoc, SAIC.
– 71’, Hutong Productions, Sin Sitio Cine, Outplay Films (sales, French distribution), Here Media (US distribution). France/USA.
“Some Kind of Intimacy” (2021), editor and producer, 2019-21
– The filmmaker tries to communicate with the sheep living where his parents are buried.
– Directed and produced by Toby Bull.
– Sundance: London, Visions du Réel, Viennale, RIDM, First Look (Museum of the Moving Image), IndieLisboa, Angers Premiers Plans, Hamptons IFF, DokuFest, Reykjavík IFF, Indie Memphis, among others.
– Best Documentary Short at Zinebi Bilbao IFDSF, Young Canvas Best International Short Film at Black Canvas Contemporary FF, Special Mention for Best International Short at the Palm Springs International Shortfest, Zapis Best Film Award at Open Spaces Rudnik Festival of Innovative Cinema, Special Mention at Cork IFF, Festhome Distribution Award at ForadCamp.
– 6’. United Kingdom.
So Late So Soon (2020), editor and associate producer, 2016-20
– A half-century into their marriage, two Chicago artists look back at their lives together and contend with a never-ending series of house repairs.
– Directed by Daniel Hymanson, produced by Kellen Quinn, Josh Penn, Noah Stahl, Trace Henderson.
– True/False FF, DOC NYC, BAFICI, Big Sky DFF, Indie Memphis, Ashland Independent FF, among others.
– IDA Awards Best Feature shortlist, Calgary Underground FF Special Jury Mention.
– Support from IFP’s Spotlight on Docs 2017, True/False & Catapult Rough Cut Retreat, Sundance Music & Sound Design Lab 2018, Sundance Talent Forum 2019.
– 70’, Department of Motion Pictures, Hedgehog, Cinetic (sales), Oscilloscope (distribution). USA.
Liam (2018), director and producer, 2011-18
– Just after Isidore moves to France to study filmmaking, his best friend dies back in the US. Through documentary, performance, and animation, a ghostly portrait emerges, prompting Isidore to question his relationships with his parents and his boyfriend in Paris.
– Produced by Anne-Laure Berteau, edited by Sandie Bompar.
– Paris LGBTQ+ FF Jury Prize, Boston LGBT FF, Queer Momenti.
– Streaming on Tënk.
– Support from the Institut Français Hors les murs, The Film Collaborative, Lagardère Foundation.
– 70’, Alice Films & Because the night productions. USA/France.
Caballerango (2018), editor and production consultant, 2017-18
– In a Mexican village, a family reflects on a young man’s disappearance under the watchful eyes of the horse who saw him last.
– Directed by Juan Pablo González, produced by Jamie Gonçalves, Ilana Coleman, Makena Buchanan.
– IDFA, Best Jalisco Film at Guadalajara IFF, Dallas IFF Jury Award, Best Documentary at Tacoma FF, True/False, FICUNAM, BAMcinemaFest, Full Frame, DocumentaMadrid, Camden IFF, among others.
– Support from Sundance Film Institute, Uruguay’s DocMontevideo, National Association of Latino Independent Producers, CalArts, Austin Film Society, City of Austin Core Cultural Fund.
– 61’, Sin Sitio Cine, Grasshopper Films (sales and distribution). Mexico.
La Balada del Oppenheimer Park (2016), editor and producer, 2014-16
– Exiled American Natives occupy a Vancouver park and engage in rituals of singing, drinking, and performing that complicate their histories of oppression and resistance.
– Directed by Juan Manuel Sepúlveda, produced by Elsa Reyes.
– Best Documentary Nominee at the 2017 Mexican Academy Awards, Best Documentary at Málaga FF, Riviera Maya FF Grand Prize, Zanate FF Grand Prize, Special Mention at DocsMX, Special Jury Prize at Santiago IDFF, Special Mention for “Immaterial Heritage” from the French Ministry of Culture at Cinéma du Réel, Guadalajara & Cartagena FFs (Colombia), DOXA, among others.
– Acquired by Pompidou Center National Library (France). Theatrical release, Mexico and France.
– 71’, Fragua Cine, Zensky Cine, IMCINE (sales), Sokol Films (distribution), Torch Films (distribution). Mexico.
Of Men and War (2014), editor and associate producer, 2012-2016
– Years after coming home, a dozen U.S. veterans continue to wrestle demons from the war. They make their way to the Pathway Home, where they tackle their trauma for the first time ever in therapy.
– Directed by Laurent Bécue-Renard, associate produced by Thierry Garrel.
– Cannes Official Selection, Best Feature at IDFA, European Film Awards Best Documentary Nominee, Jury Prize at San Francisco IFF, Cinematic Nonfiction Award at the Little Rock FF, MoMA’s Documentary Fortnight, AFI Docs, Visions du Réel, Cinéma du Réel, among others.
– Broadcast on POV (PBS, USA), France 2’s 25 nuances de doc, OCS Orange (France), TVOntario (Canada). Theatrical releases in France and the USA. A New York Times Critic’s Pick.
– 142’, Alice Films, Why Not, CAT&Docs (sales), Wild Bunch (sales), Kino Lorber (distribution). France/Switzerland.
Grandir (2013), editor, 2010-11
– After her father’s death, a French filmmaker begins exploring her family’s origins, embarking on a trip to Algeria to investigate her mother’s anonymous birth in an Oran hospital.
– Directed by Dominique Cabrera.
– ACID Cannes, Cinéma du Réel Potemkine Prize, La Rochelle IFF.
– Theatrical release, France.
– 92’, Ad Libitum Productions, In The Mood, Splendor Films (distribution). France.
« Un Coupable idéal : 10 ans après » (2012), editor, 2012
– Brenton Butler reflects on being the subject of Murder on a Sunday Morning, in which Florida prosecutors accuse him of murdering a tourist simply because he is African-American and nearby.
– Directed by Jean-Xavier de Lestrade.
– 30’, DVD bonus for Éditions Montparnasse, Maha Productions. France.
Hummingbirds (2023), editor and co-producer 2021-23
– In this late-night summer self-portrait, Silvia Del Carmen Castaños and Estefanía “Beba” Contreras make magic of everyday moments coming of age on the Texas-Mexico border.
– Directed by Silvia Del Carmen Castaños and Estefanía “Beba” Contreras, produced by Jillian Schlesinger, Miguel Drake-McLaughlin, Leslie Benavides, Ana Rodríguez-Falcó, Diane Ng, and Rivkah Beth Medow, also edited by Jillian Schlesinger.
–True/False FF, San Francisco IFF, among others.
– the Berlinale’s Generation 14plus Grand Prix.
– Support from Ford Foundation’s JustFilms, the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program, NBCU Academy Original Voices Fellowship, Field of Vision, IDA Pare Lorentz Documentary Fund, Arts2work, New York Foundation for the Arts, SFFILM, Chicago Media Project, Doc Society Threshold Fund, Mountainfilm, Chicken & Egg Pictures, Frameline Completion Fund, BAVC MediaMaker Fellowship, Austin Film Society, Points North Institute.
– 78’. USA.
The Taste of Mango (2023), editor 2022-23
– Searching for answers that her mother and grandmother often brush aside, Chloe traces the reaches and limits of familial love.
– Directed by Chloe Abrahams, produced by Elliott Whitton, also edited by Chloe Abrahams and Stella Heith Keir.
–True/False FF, First Look (Museum of the Moving Image), BlackStar FF, New Orleans FF, Dokufest, Indie Memphis, among others.
– BFI London FF Audience Award, BIFA – Best Debut Director.
– Support from Doc Society, SFFILM, Points North Institute, Jacob Burns Film Center, Sheffield Doc/Fest Meet Market, Docs Ireland, One World Media, The Film & TV Charity.
– 75’. Fit Via Vi. UK/USA.
What We Leave Behind (2022), editor, co-producer, and writer, 2019-22
– As her grandfather embarks on a construction project in his rural Mexican hometown, filmmaker Iliana Sosa pieces together how her family has built and rebuilt home over decades of separation.
– Directed by Iliana Sosa, produced by Emma D. Miller.
–First Look (Museum of the Moving Image), Full Frame, Morelia IFF, Guanajuato IFF, Camden IFF, Thessaloniki DF, Los Angeles Latino IFF, among others.
– SXSW’s Lone Star and New Voices Awards, Gotham Award Best Documentary nominee, Tacoma FF Special Mention, Thin Line Fest’s Emerging Filmmaker Award, North by North IFF Best Feature Award, Viva Texas Best Documentary Feature Award, Flatland FF Best Director and Best Feature Awards, The Gotham Film Week FilmFlow Award.
– Support from Ford Foundation’s JustFilms, the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program, the City of El Paso Museums and Cultural Affairs Department, Field of Vision, the IDA, the Catapult Film Fund, the True/False & Catapult Rough Cut Retreat, the Jacob Burns Film Center Creative Culture Residency, the Logan Nonfiction Fellowship, the Gotham (IFP) Documentary Lab, the University of Texas at Austin, and the Austin Film Society.
– Streaming on Netflix in the USA, Canada, UK, Australia, and New Zealand. Theatrical release in the USA. A New York Times Critic’s Pick.
– 71’, Borderchild Productions, Marcona Media, JustFilms (Ford Foundation), ARRAY Releasing (distribution). Mexico/USA.
“Blue Room” (2022), editor and associate producer, 2021-22
– In two US prisons, participants in a mental health experiment watch nature videos on loop, prompting them to reflect on isolation and wilderness.
– Directed and produced by Merete Mueller.
– BFI London FF, AFI Fest, Hot Docs, Raindance FF, Jihlava IDFF, New Orleans FF, Hot Springs Documentary FF, Prismatic Ground, Mountainfilm, Rooftop Films, Indie Memphis, Nashville FF, Woodstock FF.
– Special Mention at Tacoma FF.
– Support from IF/Then Shorts|Field of Vision, Rooftop Films, John Logan Family Foundation, and Mountainfilm in Telluride.
– 12’. The New York Times Op-Docs. USA.
Hollow Tree (2022), editor, 2021-22
– For the first time, three Louisiana teenagers notice the Mississippi River – its engineering, stumps of cypress trees, and polluting refineries. Their different perspectives as Indigenous, white, and Angolan young women shape their story of the climate crisis.
– Directed by Kira Akerman, produced by Chachi Hauser and Monique Walton, also edited by Meryl O’Connor.
– New Orleans FF Best Louisiana Feature Award and Louisiana Feature Documentary Audience Award, Chicago International Children’s FF First Prize (Documentary Feature for Youth), Second Prize (Documentary Feature), and STEM Award, DC Environmental FF, Academia Film Olomouc International Festival of Science Documentary Films.
– Support from the Sundance Institute, Fork Films, IDA, National Endowment for the Arts, Tulane University’s Center for the Gulf South, PitchBLACK Black Public Media, and Good Pitch Texas.
– 74’. USA.
Acts of Love (2021), director and producer, 2015-21
– When his older boyfriend loses interest in him, the filmmaker relocates to Chicago and uses dating apps to cast new lovers in an amorphous project that his mother hates.
– A film by Isidore Bethel and Francis Leplay, produced by Jamie Gonçalves, Francis Leplay, Lucie Rego, Pauline Tran Van Lieu, edited by Francis Leplay.
– Hot Docs, Thessaloniki DF, Chicago IFF, Transilvania IFF, RIDM, New Adventures in Nonfiction at the Museum of the Moving Image, Sidewalk FF, In & Out Nice Queer FF, Pink Apple Zurich LGBT FF, Queer Lisboa, Black Canvas Contemporary FF, Reel Pride Winnipeg LGBTTQ* FF, Porn FF Berlin, St. Louis IFF, Chéries-Chéris Paris LGBTQ+ FF, OutFest Santo Domingo International GLBTIQ FF, Oxford University Filmmaking Foundation SFF, Écrans Mixtes Lyon Queer & Feminist FF, Prismatic Ground.
– Best Feature Award at the Tacoma FF, Special Mention at Gender Border FF.
– Support from Agora Docs in Progress, the Île-de-France region’s writing grant, the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, Eurodoc, SAIC.
– 71’, Hutong Productions, Sin Sitio Cine, Outplay Films (sales, French distribution), Here Media (US distribution). France/USA.
“Some Kind of Intimacy” (2021), editor and producer, 2019-21
– The filmmaker tries to communicate with the sheep living where his parents are buried.
– Directed and produced by Toby Bull.
– Sundance: London, Visions du Réel, Viennale, RIDM, First Look (Museum of the Moving Image), IndieLisboa, Angers Premiers Plans, Hamptons IFF, DokuFest, Reykjavík IFF, Indie Memphis, among others.
– Best Documentary Short at Zinebi Bilbao IFDSF, Young Canvas Best International Short Film at Black Canvas Contemporary FF, Special Mention for Best International Short at the Palm Springs International Shortfest, Zapis Best Film Award at Open Spaces Rudnik Festival of Innovative Cinema, Special Mention at Cork IFF, Festhome Distribution Award at ForadCamp.
– 6’. United Kingdom.
So Late So Soon (2020), editor and associate producer, 2016-20
– A half-century into their marriage, two Chicago artists look back at their lives together and contend with a never-ending series of house repairs.
– Directed by Daniel Hymanson, produced by Kellen Quinn, Josh Penn, Noah Stahl, Trace Henderson.
– True/False FF, DOC NYC, BAFICI, Big Sky DFF, Indie Memphis, Ashland Independent FF, among others.
– IDA Awards Best Feature shortlist, Calgary Underground FF Special Jury Mention.
– Support from IFP’s Spotlight on Docs 2017, True/False & Catapult Rough Cut Retreat, Sundance Music & Sound Design Lab 2018, Sundance Talent Forum 2019.
– 70’, Department of Motion Pictures, Hedgehog, Cinetic (sales), Oscilloscope (distribution). USA.
Liam (2018), director and producer, 2011-18
– Just after Isidore moves to France to study filmmaking, his best friend dies back in the US. Through documentary, performance, and animation, a ghostly portrait emerges, prompting Isidore to question his relationships with his parents and his boyfriend in Paris.
– Produced by Anne-Laure Berteau, edited by Sandie Bompar.
– Paris LGBTQ+ FF Jury Prize, Boston LGBT FF, Queer Momenti.
– Streaming on Tënk.
– Support from the Institut Français Hors les murs, The Film Collaborative, Lagardère Foundation.
– 70’, Alice Films & Because the night productions. USA/France.
Caballerango (2018), editor and production consultant, 2017-18
– In a Mexican village, a family reflects on a young man’s disappearance under the watchful eyes of the horse who saw him last.
– Directed by Juan Pablo González, produced by Jamie Gonçalves, Ilana Coleman, Makena Buchanan.
– IDFA, Best Jalisco Film at Guadalajara IFF, Dallas IFF Jury Award, Best Documentary at Tacoma FF, True/False, FICUNAM, BAMcinemaFest, Full Frame, DocumentaMadrid, Camden IFF, among others.
– Support from Sundance Film Institute, Uruguay’s DocMontevideo, National Association of Latino Independent Producers, CalArts, Austin Film Society, City of Austin Core Cultural Fund.
– 61’, Sin Sitio Cine, Grasshopper Films (sales and distribution). Mexico.
La Balada del Oppenheimer Park (2016), editor and producer, 2014-16
– Exiled American Natives occupy a Vancouver park and engage in rituals of singing, drinking, and performing that complicate their histories of oppression and resistance.
– Directed by Juan Manuel Sepúlveda, produced by Elsa Reyes.
– Best Documentary Nominee at the 2017 Mexican Academy Awards, Best Documentary at Málaga FF, Riviera Maya FF Grand Prize, Zanate FF Grand Prize, Special Mention at DocsMX, Special Jury Prize at Santiago IDFF, Special Mention for “Immaterial Heritage” from the French Ministry of Culture at Cinéma du Réel, Guadalajara & Cartagena FFs (Colombia), DOXA, among others.
– Acquired by Pompidou Center National Library (France). Theatrical release, Mexico and France.
– 71’, Fragua Cine, Zensky Cine, IMCINE (sales), Sokol Films (distribution), Torch Films (distribution). Mexico.
Of Men and War (2014), editor and associate producer, 2012-2016
– Years after coming home, a dozen U.S. veterans continue to wrestle demons from the war. They make their way to the Pathway Home, where they tackle their trauma for the first time ever in therapy.
– Directed by Laurent Bécue-Renard, associate produced by Thierry Garrel.
– Cannes Official Selection, Best Feature at IDFA, European Film Awards Best Documentary Nominee, Jury Prize at San Francisco IFF, Cinematic Nonfiction Award at the Little Rock FF, MoMA’s Documentary Fortnight, AFI Docs, Visions du Réel, Cinéma du Réel, among others.
– Broadcast on POV (PBS, USA), France 2’s 25 nuances de doc, OCS Orange (France), TVOntario (Canada). Theatrical releases in France and the USA. A New York Times Critic’s Pick.
– 142’, Alice Films, Why Not, CAT&Docs (sales), Wild Bunch (sales), Kino Lorber (distribution). France/Switzerland.
Grandir (2013), editor, 2010-11
– After her father’s death, a French filmmaker begins exploring her family’s origins, embarking on a trip to Algeria to investigate her mother’s anonymous birth in an Oran hospital.
– Directed by Dominique Cabrera.
– ACID Cannes, Cinéma du Réel Potemkine Prize, La Rochelle IFF.
– Theatrical release, France.
– 92’, Ad Libitum Productions, In The Mood, Splendor Films (distribution). France.
« Un Coupable idéal : 10 ans après » (2012), editor, 2012
– Brenton Butler reflects on being the subject of Murder on a Sunday Morning, in which Florida prosecutors accuse him of murdering a tourist simply because he is African-American and nearby.
– Directed by Jean-Xavier de Lestrade.
– 30’, DVD bonus for Éditions Montparnasse, Maha Productions. France.
SELECT CONSULTING/MENTORING:
– Arturo González Villaseñor’s Lo que perdimos en el fuego/What We Lost in the Fire (2024), FICUNAM
– Victoria Mapplebeck’s Motherboard (2024), CPH:DOX
– Marta Smerechynska’s “Алоє, фікус, авокадо і шість драцен”/“One Aloe, One Ficus, One Avocado and Six Dracaenas” (2023), Visions du Réel
– Set Hernandez’s unseen (2023), Hot Docs, Independent Spirit Truer Than Fiction Award (POV)
– Roopa Gogineni’s “قناة فجأة”/“Suddenly TV” (2022), SXSW Documentary Short Special Jury Award, IDA Awards Best Short Film nominee (Al Jazeera)
– Amy Nicholson’s Happy Campers (2023), DOC NYC Special Mention
– Lorenzo Fabbro and Bronte Stahl’s “Puiet”/“Sapling” (2022), Venice International Critics’ Week Best Short Film Award
– Arturo González Villaseñor’s Lo que perdimos en el fuego/What We Lost in the Fire (2024), FICUNAM
– Victoria Mapplebeck’s Motherboard (2024), CPH:DOX
– Marta Smerechynska’s “Алоє, фікус, авокадо і шість драцен”/“One Aloe, One Ficus, One Avocado and Six Dracaenas” (2023), Visions du Réel
– Set Hernandez’s unseen (2023), Hot Docs, Independent Spirit Truer Than Fiction Award (POV)
– Roopa Gogineni’s “قناة فجأة”/“Suddenly TV” (2022), SXSW Documentary Short Special Jury Award, IDA Awards Best Short Film nominee (Al Jazeera)
– Amy Nicholson’s Happy Campers (2023), DOC NYC Special Mention
– Lorenzo Fabbro and Bronte Stahl’s “Puiet”/“Sapling” (2022), Venice International Critics’ Week Best Short Film Award