The personal is political in these short documentaries that address historical and local challenges to how it goes.﻿

About the Film: Here to Stay follows the campaign of Giselle Martinez — a 23 year old, first generation, Mexican American woman — who runs for office in one of the most dangerous cities in America, Newburgh, New York. About the Filmmaker: Jared Peraglia is a documentary filmmaker born and raised in the Hudson Valley. His most recent film, Here to Stay, was a semi-finalist for the 49th annual Student Academy Awards. Jared recently graduated from NYU Tisch School of the Arts, holding a B.F.A. in film and journalism. Upon graduation he was awarded the Excellence in Documentary Award. Throughout his career, Jared has worked at major documentary companies, including Part2 Pictures, McGee Media, and Ark Media, as well as networks like CNN Original Series and Films. He currently works at Forbes as a Junior Technical Producer. <a href="http://www.heretostayfilm.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.heretostayfilm.com</a>

Here to Stay

A 23-year-old, first generation, Mexican American woman runs for office in one of the most dangerous cities in America.

About the Film: In two prisons in the Pacific Northwest, incarcerated men and women watch nature videos on loop. Blue Room is a meditation, and a provocation, on the human condition in prison and outside of it—exploring trauma, confinement and the wilderness. About the Filmmaker: Merete Mueller is a documentary director based in New York City. Her work explores our relationships to built and natural environments, and has included in-depth reporting on climate and infrastructure, as well as intimate stories about body image, homes, and belonging. Merete’s films have screened at SXSW, Hot Docs, DOC NYC, and The Brooklyn Museum, via Al Jazeera, the Canadian Broadcasting Channel, Netflix, The New York Times' Op-Docs series, The Atlantic, VICE, and The New Yorker.

Blue Room

Incarcerated participants in a mental health experiment watch videos of sunset-soaked beaches, wildflowers, and forests on loop, prompting them to reflect on isolation and wilderness.

About the Film: Behind These Walls documents the experience of Sean “Dino” Johnson through his own unsparing words. Born and raised in Queens, New York, Johnson served a 15-year prison sentence for a drug-related charge. His conviction occurred during the national war on drugs, and before New York State began to reform its notorious Rockefeller drug laws. While incarcerated at Sing Sing Correctional Facility, Johnson discovered the prison’s theater program and was initially skeptical, saying “We are in a maximum security facility and you want me to run around in tights talking about to be or not to be?" Johnson takes the leap though, and the film’s archival excerpts of his in-prison performances alongside his compelling narrative reveal how the dramatic arts impacted his ability to self-correct and express empathy. He describes his mental and emotional transformation as liberating, concluding “I found my freedom behind those walls.” About the Filmmakers: Susan Margolin is a pioneer of digital distribution and creator of independent films with 25+ years’ experience. Margolin co-founded film distributor New Video/Docurama Films in 1992 and ran the&nbsp;company until it was sold to Cinedigm in 2012. As Co-President she distributed an extensive library of&nbsp;award-winning films including&nbsp;Short Term 12&nbsp;and Academy Award nominated&nbsp;The Invisible War,&nbsp;including 25 Academy Award winners and nominees. In 2016 Margolin launched St. Marks Productions,&nbsp;a production and distribution services company. She produced award winning and critically acclaimed&nbsp;films including&nbsp;The Rape of Recy Taylor&nbsp;(Starz),&nbsp;Paper Children&nbsp;(YouTube Originals).&nbsp;A Crime on the&nbsp;Bayou&nbsp;(Starz),&nbsp;A Tree of Life&nbsp;(HBO), and&nbsp;Generation Startup&nbsp;(Netflix). Margolin serves on the board of&nbsp;directors of Chicken &amp; Egg Pictures, BAFTA NY (emerita), the Documentary Producers Alliance, and&nbsp;Manhattan Neighborhood Network. Margolin is a graduate of Brown University and a member of the&nbsp;Academy of Motion Pictures Arts &amp; Sciences (AMPAS), BAFTA, and the Producers Guild of America&nbsp;(p.g.a.). Karin Young Shiel is an Emmy award-winning producer, board member of Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA), and is currently co-producing a scripted feature film, inspired by RTA,&nbsp;that&nbsp;features Sean "Dino" Johnson among other RTA alumni.&nbsp;As an Executive Producer for Sesame Workshop, she created the Grammy Award-winning ABC prime-time special&nbsp;Elmopalooza, and received a National Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Special for producing&nbsp;Elmo Saves Christmas. She produced&nbsp;123 Count with Me, which inspired the BBC series&nbsp;The Furchester Hotel,&nbsp;among many other productions. Prior to her work at Sesame Street, she produced videos for Pepsico, American Ballet Theater, Proctor and Gamble, and others. She began her career at WNET/Thirteen working on The Nature Series, documentary production and shorts.&nbsp; Allison Chernow is currently a Board member of Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA). Previously, she was Director of External Affairs at the Bronx Museum of the Arts for four years, raising funds for arts-education programs in the under-resourced South Bronx, and before that the Director of Development at the Katonah Museum of Art for eight years, where she focused on educational programs that increased visual literacy among the Latina Community. Prior to her museum work, she was the executive producer for live concert and spoken-word broadcasts at WNYC AM/FM, the nation’s largest public radio station, for twelve years. While at WNYC, she was awarded an Armstrong Radio Award, a Corporation for Public Broadcasting Arts and Humanities Award, and an American Women in Radio and Television Pinnacle Award. Chernow is a graduate of Brown University and received a Masters in Journalism from NYU.

Behind These Walls

Behind These Walls documents the experience of Sean “Dino” Johnson through his own unsparing words - his early life, his experience behind bars and his life now. The film offers a different model for criminal justice, emphasizing life skills that lead to success after prison.

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