Category Archives: Program in Culture & Media

DOCS ON THE EDGE: Tuesday, May 12th at 6:30pm

Please join us for our annual screening of new student documentaries from the NYU Culture & Media Program!
(scroll down for more information)

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DOCS ON THE EDGE:
A Student Documentary Showcase from
the 2014-2015 Video Production Seminar

Presented by the Department of Anthropology,
the Department of Cinema Studies,
and the Program in Culture and Media
at New York University
Tuesday, May 12 @ 6:30 pm
Cantor Film Center
36 East 8th Street
New York City
Theater 200
Juanita
by Ximena Amescua Cuenca
(Cinema Studies)
A glimpse into the everyday life of Juanita, a Mayan traditional doctor, midwife, nurse and activist. Leader of “The Awakening of the Women who Heal,”; an organization of midwives in the Orient of Yucatan, Mexico. Juanita has dedicated her life to helping others with her gift for healing. The film follows Juanita as she redefines the meaning of ‘modern’ and ‘traditional’ medicine practices.
(In Spanish and Mayan with English subtitles)
One Man’s Trash
by Kelly Adams
(Draper Program)
For 34 years, Nelson Molina has worked for the NYC Department of Sanitation, developing a unique relationship to the objects that fill the garbage bags lining the streets. With a keen curatorial eye for finding treasure in household trash, Nelson has created a collection of found objects in a sanitation garage in East Harlem, which he refers to as a museum of “Treasures in the Trash.” As the film follows Nelson on his route and through his collection, he encourages us to see the things that we encounter in daily life anew.
Raise and Remember: A Father’s Survival Story
by Katie Leary
(Cinema Studies)
In the thirteen years since September 11th, 2001, Bill Spade has retired from the fire department, raised two sons, and retold his remarkable story of survival to hundreds of tour groups. When the towers came down on 9/11, Spade thought only of his family. Now, Spade dedicates himself to sharing his story with others. The film explores what survival means for this Staten Island father whose personal memories are part of U.S. History.
What Remains
by Lee Douglas
(Anthropology)
Since 2000, forensic experts in Spain have exhumed an estimated 2,000 bodies from hundreds of mass graves. Although no official records have been kept, Experts believe that at least 118,000 victims of Franco’s fascist dictatorship have yet to be located. The film follows anthropologists Julián García and Jorge Moreno as they track one family’s attempt to piece together the effects of political violence. In this process, they make sense of and give meaning to a haunting past that, despite more than seven decades of silence, refuses to pass.
(In Spanish with English subtitles)
The Ladies
by Tyler Zoanni
(Anthropology)
For 50 years, a group of Ukrainian women has gathered in New York’s East Village to make dumplings for their church. This observational short offers an evocative portrait of “the ladies” and the work that brings them together.
(In Ukrainian with English subtitles)
*a short intermission will follow the third film*
LINK TO DOWNLOADABLE POSTER

Tertzakian is editor of new HBO documentary

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Congratulations to C&M alumna Anoosh Tertzakian! She is one of the editors of the new documentary SINATRA: ALL OR NOTHING AT ALL. The film airs on Monday, April 5th and Tuesday, April 6th on HBO.
This film is an up-close and personal examination of the life, music and career of the legendary entertainer. Told in his own words from hours of archived interviews, along with commentary from those closest to him, the documentary weaves the music and images from Sinatra’s life together with rarely seen footage of Sinatra’s famous 1971 “Retirement Concert” in Los Angeles. The film’s narrative is shaped by Sinatra’s song choices for that concert, which director Alex Gibney interprets as the singer’s personal guide through his own life.
(Edited by Sam Pollard, Ben Sozanski, and Anoosh Tertzakian)

DEMOCRATS to screen at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival

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Congratulations to C&M alumna Camilla Nielsson​! Her new documentary DEMOCRATS will make its North American premiere at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival​ in the World Documentary Competition!
About DEMOCRATS: In the wake of Robert Mugabe’s highly criticized 2008 presidential win, Zimbabwe’s first constitutional committee was created in an effort to transition the country away from its authoritarian leadership. With unprecedented access to the two political rivals overseeing the committee, this riveting, firsthand account of a country’s fraught first steps towards democracy plays at once like an intimate political thriller and unlikely buddy film.