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Fulbright grantees in communication, journalism, and media often make documentaries and film shorts as part of their Fulbright experience. Many Fulbright alumni are active in the film sector as directors, producers, actors, camera operators, designers and many other roles. Some of these Fulbrighters are listed below.
Also below is a list of documentaries and shorts of interest to the Fulbright Academy and its members because they address social science, natural science and related topics. This page also gives links to the documentaries or information about some of these documentaries. Some documentaries are even available on line.
FAST is organizing the first International Fulbright Film Festival to coincide with the Academy's Fifth Annual Conference in San Francisco in March 2010. Leading alumni - directors, producers, and flimmakers - are working with FAST to select a set of documentaries and shorts that address different aspects of Sustainability - the theme for the FAST 2010 conference. [Directors, producers, filmmakers, etc - click here to nominate your film for the festival.]
With the advent of small, inexpensive video cameras and fast, easy-to-use editing software, the tools are in place for almost anyone to make a compelling, passionate documentary. What drives the work of these Fulbrighters and what skills do the Fulbrighters have that we - the general public - are missing? Attend the Fulbright Film Festival to hear and talk with fellow Fulbright scholars about educating the public and influencing government and corporate policy through effective storytelling - as done through documentaries.
The schedule and tickets for the Fulbright Film Festival in San Francisco will be available through this website in December.
Some Film Directors who are Fulbright Scholars (not all make films related to Science & Technology)
- Eleftheria Astrinaki, Greece
- Patricia Cardoso, Chile
- Kujtim Cashku, Albania
- Steven Channing, US Fulbrighter to Italy
- Oksana Chepelyk, Ukraine
- Alex Cox, United Kingdom
- Alessio Della Valle, Italy
- David Ehrlich, US Fulbrighter to India
- Christian Filippella, Italy
- Skye Fitzgerald, US Fulbrigher to Cambodia
- Maria Iliou, Greece
- Sari Lluch Dalena, Philippines
- Shalini Kantayya, US Fulbrighter to India
- Juliusz Machulski, Poland
- Robert Margolis, US Fulbrighter to Philippines
- Misha Nedeljkovich
- Marcus Nispel, Germany
- Krsto Papic, Croatia
- Mike Rubbo, Australia
- Ambika Samarthya, US Fulbrighter to India
- Alicia Scherson, Chile
- Michael Schwarz, US Fulbrighter to several countries in Asia
Some Documentaries/ Shorts/ Films Made By Fulbrighters:
Return of the Cuyahoga
The film is a fascinating look at the life, death and rebirth of one of America’s most polluted rivers. Perhaps best known as “the river that burned,” the Cuyahoga is, in fact, an emblematic waterway. Its history is the history of the American frontier, the rise of industry, and the scourge of pollution. Directed and produced by Lawrence Hott, a 1994 Fulbright fellow to the UK.
Atlantis Approaching
The documentary shows the forces of change coming to the South Pacific island country of Tuvalu — where their culture is being threatened by everything from creeping tides, salt-water intrusion, and cyclones, to the pressures of Westernization. And now some islanders are starting to leave their homeland behind in search of a new future. It was filmed and produced by Elizabeth Pollock while on a Fulbright to New Zealand. 51 minutes. A short 16-minute version - "That Sinking Feeling" can be seen online a PBS's FRONTLINE/World.
Living with Slim
A series of compelling interviews with Ugandan children (ages 6 to 17) born with the HIV virus. They recount their experiences dealing with the challenges caused by the physical effects of the disease, and with the stigma of being HIV-positive. Filled with both despair and hope, these are honest, very human portraits of the legacy of this disease. The 28-minute documentary was filmed and directed by Sam Kauffmann of Boston University while on a Fulbright in Uganda. More information from BU's website
Behaviours of the Backpacker
To make this film, director Sándor Lau walked 500km alone from Auckland to Cape Reinga, New Zealand’s geographic and spiritual tip. This black comedy road trip documentary records the stories of backpackers from around the world, organic farmers, hostel owners, tour operators, Mäori communities, and the filmmaker himself. Lau completed the film as his Master’s thesis while studying on a Fulbright fellowship at the University of Auckland. Behaviours of the Backpacker has screened on both NZ and US television. DVD now available in the US (click here). For more about Sándor Lau and the film, including a clip, at www.sandorlau.net
Squeegee Bandit
Starfish is a Mäori man who survives by washing car windows at intersections on the mean streets of South Auckland, New Zealand. The film follows Starfish's struggles through nine months, three cars, two women, thirty residences, three weeks of homelessness, a hundred run-ins with the cops, one court date, a kilo of marijuana, a closet full of skeletons, finding God and the Zen of window washing. The film’s director, Sándor Lau, came to New Zealand on a Fulbright and stayed on to complete the film which has played at film festivals around the world. It was nominated for Best Digital Feature in the Air New Zealand Screen Awards (NZ Oscars). Squeegee Bandit opened theatrically in New Zealand in February 2007. www.squeegeebandit.com
Bet Herut: The End of The Beginning
Filmmakers Ken Winikur and Eran Preis traveled to Israel on a Fulbright fellowship to shoot a one-hour documentary about a small socialist farming community, known as Moshav Bet Herut. Through the investigation of a tragic murder in Israel, the film weaves a complex story about the ending of an era in the state of Israel. Fifteen years after a murder-suicide, Winikur & Preis go to Moshav Bet Herut and find it on the verge of economic collapse. The Moshav and Kibbutz system was once the ideological core of the new state of Israel, pioneering a dream of communal work and living and considered by many to be Israel’s greatest gift to the world. By the year 2000, they were straining under the weight of global capitalism. The film is a social science exploration of the system and changes in society. It can be ordered through www.CinemaGuild.com.
Daughters of the Dust
Julie Dash studied at both City College of New York and the University of California, where she received her Master’s degree. She is an accomplished filmmaker and director and the founder of Geechee Girls Multimedia. Julie has shown her work at film festivals in Japan, Europe and across the United States and is the recipient of many awards, including a Cinematography award at the Sundance Festival in 1991 for “Daughters of the Dust”. Julie traveled to the United Kingdom as a Fulbright grantee in 1991. Some of her film and television projects include “The Rosa Parks Story”, “Subway Stories” and “Illusions”. You can view clips from some of her films and read more about her work at: www.geechee.tv
Letters from the Other Side
"Letters from the Other Side" interweaves video letters carried across the U.S.-Mexico border by the film's director with the personal stories of women left behind in post-NAFTA Mexico. Director Heather Courtney provides an intimate look at the lives of the people most affected by America's immigration and trade policies. Her use of video letters provides a way for these women to communicate with both loved ones and strangers on the other side of the border, and illustrates an unjust truth - as an American she can carry these video letters back and forth across a border that these women are not legally allowed to cross. The documentary provides the human context that has been missing in the current political rhetoric. It gives voice to those who deserve to be heard, painting a complex portrait of families torn apart by economics, communities dying at the hands of globalization, and governments incapable or unwilling to do anything about it. www.lettersfromtheotherside.com
Regina, Vera, Alek – Russians in New York
This short documentary portrays the experience of three immigrants from the Soviet Union, living in New York City. The film focuses on the cultural crossroads between a complex Russian collectivist heritage and the American culture marked by a high degree of individualization. Juxtaposing interview clips and using an impressionistic visual style, the film attempts to distil an essence of the diasporic state. It is shot on 16mm. Isabella Willinger studied sociology and film on a Fulbright scholarship at The New School in 2004/2005. In 2006 she received an MA in Slavic Studies and American Studies from Humboldt University, Berlin.
Shamans of Siquijor: The Healers
Film director Rosanna Brillantes received her BA from New York University and her MFA in film from the University of Texas, where she was an instructor at the Digital Media Labs. Brillantes directed the documentary “The Healers.” The film profiles three healers on Siquijor Island, Philippines who cure illnesses using herbs, incantations, a magical prayer wheel, & other means. It is an introduction to the healing culture and companion piece to the in-depth books on the subject by anthropologists. Ms. Brillantes is currently working on a new film about sorcerers on Siquijor, Philippines. She received a Fulbright grant to work on the film project in the Philippines in 2004-2005. Ms. Brillantes recently joined the Digital Media Academy as the Stanford summer program director. You can read about her research and the making of the films, and watch the trailer at: http://www.shamansofsiquijor.blogspot.com. The film is available for purchase at: http://www.customflix.com/209095?ref=146874
The Never Ending Path
Annette Danto has directed over 18 films and videos, both fiction and documentaries. She was awarded a Fulbright Senior Scholar Research Grant in 2002, and a Fulbright Specialist’s Grant in 2004. As a Fulbright Scholar at the Gandhigram Rural Institute, Tamil Nadu, S. India, she filmed “The Never Ending Path”, "A Daughter's Letter", "Listen To A Story" and "Sowabaghya Illam". Several of these films were created collaboratively with the Gandhigram Rural Institute to be used for community outreach campaigns addressing girls education, health care, and environmental topics. She has also directed films for Pathfinder International and for the United Nations Development Fund for Women. Annette Danto is a Professor of Film, Television and Radio at the City University of New York’s Brooklyn campus. In addition to teaching courses on film and television production, she is the program director for CUNY's Study Abroad India: Documentary Production/Cultural Studies course in collaboration with the Prasad Film & Television Academy in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. This January intersession course is open to both CUNY and non-CUNY students. Danto is the president of Friends of Fulbright to India, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting educational exchange between India and the United States.You can read a film description or purchase at: http://forwardintime.com/cgi-local/store/agora.cgi?product=RELIGION You can read about her Fulbright grant at: http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/bc/spotlite/news/033005.htm
Fortunate’s Letter
Na Eng graduated from Columbia College in 1998. She then traveled to Zimbabwe on a Fulbright grant in 1999. There, she began work on her documentary “Fortunate’s Letter” narrated by 13-year-old girl Fortunate Rakainga. This film focuses on themes of gender, AIDS and poverty in a modern Zimbabwean family. “Fortunate’s Letter” has already been screened at film festivals in New York as well as venues in Zimbabwe, Kenya and Washington, D.C. Na is currently working as a producer for the PBS weekly news magazine show, “NOW”. You can read an article about her project at: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/news/01/04/naEng.html Or see her current work at www.pbs.org/now
What Grown-ups Know
Lillian & I
Jonathan Wald graduated with an MFA in directing from UCLA film school. While he was studying at UCLA, he was awarded a Fulbright grant to Australia. There, he studied at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School, where he made the award-winning short, “Lillian & I”. After his exchange year at AFTRS, Jonathan stayed in Australia to make his UCLA thesis film, “What Grown-ups Know”. This 30-minute short, about a solace-seeking teen on the run with a sick mother, has already won several awards for best short. Jonathan also teaches and works in theater. You can read more about his films and work at: www.jonathanwald.com
Headhunting William Jones
Pinoy Jazz
Collis Davis was the recipient of two Fulbright senior researcher grants, the first in 1995 to lecture and research in the field of documentary cinema at the University of Philippines, and the second in 2000 to lecture on the topic of designing interactive media environments at De La Salle University in Manila. Mr. Davis is currently living permanently in the Philippines, where he continues work on his long-term documentary project, “Headhunting William Jones”. This project follows the travels of an Oklahoma Fox native who ends up in Northern Luzon’s “headhunting” territory in the early 1900’s, and deals with themes of Native American assimilation and ethnography. Mr. Davis recently completed a documentary on a Filipino music genre, “Pinoy Jazz: The Story of Jazz in the Philippines”. This documentary will be available for sale along with clips at www.FilmBaby.com by July You can read a narrative about his experiences and see more of his work at: http://www.okara.com/html/fulbright.html
Wokim Piksa
Stolen Moments
Nancy Sullivan currently lives in Papua New Guinea as an anthropologist, and was a recipient of a Fulbright-Hays award in 1993. Nancy runs a consultancy company, writes ethnographic reports and has been involved in tourism, travel writing, research, lecturing and guiding. She has produced two films: “Wokim Piksa”, which she also directed, focuses on filmmakers in Papua New Guinea.“Stolen Moments” directed by Maggie Wilson is a drama. You can read more about her work at www.nancysullivan.org or read her travelogue at http://www.nancysullivan.typepad.com/
Chant from an Island is directed by Fatimah Rony. She is a filmmaker, author, and educator. Her films have been screened at several international film festivals and art museums. Her filmmography includes “Demon Lover” and “Everything in Between”, which both won Director’s Guild of American Student Film Awards. She has won the Kodak Emerging Filmmaker Showcase at the Cannes Film Festival twice, in addition to a miriad of awards: Rockerfeller Media Arts Fellowship, a Fulbright to Indonesia, and a Jim Morrison Directing award. She has written articles for many publications, including Film Quarterly, Afterimage, Artforum, and Camera Obscura. Fatimah has also lectured at many institutions around the world, and currently teachers at University of California Irvine.
Alice Lovejoy graduated in 2001 from Brown University with honors in Documentary Studies and Social Issues. She spent the academic year 2003–2004 as a Fulbright fellow at FAMU, the Prague film academy, and has also worked as managing editor of Film Comment magazine, a film critic and programmer, and a filmmaker. Her research interests center on nonfiction film and literature, world cinema, the cultural history of East Central Europe, and cinema’s intersections with history, politics, and the state. In 2007–2008 she was a Fulbright–Hays fellow in Prague, where she conducted research for her dissertation on the Czechoslovak Army’s film studio between 1951 and 1971.
We are seeking information on additional documentaries to list here. If you have produced a documentary or know a Fulbrighter who has done a documentary, please send us his or her contact information. Thank you.
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