Artemis Rising Foundation Filmmaker Fellowship Program
Overview
Funded through a $3 million gift from American film producer and philanthropist Regina K. Scully’s Artemis Rising Foundation, Barnard has established an “Artemis Rising Foundation Filmmaker Fellowship” (ARFF Fellowship).
Support for the new ARFF Fellowship program enables Barnard to invite up to four established film industry practitioners or media experts to teach at the College every semester. ARFF Fellows will be enlisted for varying time periods — from about a week to a few months. All candidates will be selected by a hiring committee composed of faculty and staff from Barnard College and Columbia University. Visiting filmmakers have hands-on experience and fresh perspectives to teach a diverse range of applied skills such as content development, screenwriting, cinematography, and directing.
ARFF Fellows will be selected by a hiring committee composed of faculty and staff from Barnard College and Columbia University.
Filmmakers and storytellers interested in being considered for the ARFF Fellowship, should complete this interest form.
Fall 2023 Artemis Rising Foundation Filmmaker Fellows
FILM BC3120 Advanced Screenwriting: Crafting the Global Short Film: Idea to Screenplay
Course description: This writing seminar provides students an in-depth understanding of the short form which will help them turn their ideas into a short film script (up to 10 pages in length). With a focus on studying contemporary international short films students will learn to write their own short screenplay, as well as learn to give and receive feedback and receive tips on revising their scripts.
Course timing: Tuesdays, 9:10a-12p, in the Athena Center Co-Lab (Milstein 404)
Office Hours: Virtual on Mondays 3pm-5pm
Instructor: Sushma Khadepaun is an Indian-born writer and director based in New York. Sushma’s stories often meet at the intersection of immigration and feminism, exploring ideas of home and identity. Her work has been featured on NPR, BOMB Magazine, Focus Features Digital and Canal Plus among others.
Sushma was listed as one of Filmmaker Magazine‘s 25 New Faces of Independent Film (2021), is a recipient of SFFilm's Westridge Grant and has been a fellow at Film Independent's Fast Track, Gotham Week and Torino Next Lab. She is currently developing her first feature based on her short film Anita. The short premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2020 and went on to screen at over fifty international festivals, winning several awards including the NBR Student Grant Award, Best International Short at Dublin, and a Special Mention at Atlanta. Sushma is an alumna of the Film MFA Program at Columbia University where she is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor.
FILM BC3091 Artemis Rising Short Course in Film Production
Course description: This is a camera and movement-based workshop. We will be exploring camera angles, framing, movement, storyboarding, blocking (choreography), shoot prep and editing. Overview of cameras, lenses, and rigs, and discussing why we would select certain systems over others. Looking at what is motivating the camera and how it’s supporting the storytelling – vibe, tone, and feel. Concepts will be of use to students at any level of experience, but a basic filmmaking vocabulary (cameras, lenses, storyboarding, blocking, etc.) will enrich the course for those who have it. Course will include movement/contact improvisation exercises.
Course timing - Thursdays, 12:10-2pm, in Milstein LL001 for the 9/21 session, and then in the Atrium for the 9/28, 10/5, & 10/12 sessions
![[Image description: Headshot of Victoria Sendra]](/sites/default/files/2023-08/vsendraheadshot%20%281%29.jpg)
Instructor: Victoria Sendra is a NYC-based cinematographer and camera operator, best known for her onstage work in Network on Broadway (dir. Ivo van Hove, feat. Bryan Cranston). Her dance films have screened at Cinedans (Mother Melancholia, dir. Samantha Shay, co-commissioned by Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch – Audience Award 2022 for Best Dance Short), Nowness, Dance Camera West, San Francisco Dance Film Festival, Film at Lincoln Center, and several of her photographs have printed in the New York Times. Commercial clients include Vogue, Versace, Uniqlo, and the New York Philharmonic. She is currently a producer, cinematographer, and editor with Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and worked previously as a bilingual producer at the Latin American production company Red Creek, for clients including Pepsi, Discovery, and Netflix. Sendra was selected to participate in the AFI Cinematography Intensive for Women (‘23) and holds a BFA in Film/Video (‘12) from the California Institute of the Arts.
FAQ
We welcome proposals from filmmakers across a wide range of practice, including those with interests in documentary filmmaking, cinematography, film direction, screenwriting and digital film production. Applicants should embrace a commitment to advancing women in film and share Barnard's commitment to bold women's leadership.
We are looking for filmmakers who are interested in teaching semester-long courses as well as those interested in teaching 1-credit short courses that last two to four weeks.
We are looking for individuals with experience teaching in an undergraduate setting.
Filmmakers and storytellers interested in being considered for the ARFF Fellowship, should complete this interest form.
Responses to the interest form are reviewed on a rolling basis. Potential Fellows may be contacted by a member of the hiring committee to discuss their proposed course and provide more information.
Past Artemis Rising Foundation Fellows
Sekiya Dorsett, a GLAAD award-winning filmmaker, received the inaugural ARFF Fellowship. Dorsett's body of work is notable for its intimate storytelling that shines a light on diversity and gender equity. Her first feature, The Revival: Women and the Word, screened at the 2017 Athena Film Festival.
Her course at Barnard was titled "Social Justice Documentary Filmmaking" and supported a dozen students working on short, social justice, documentary films. Several of these films screened as part of a Student Showcase at the 2023 Athena Film Festival.
Abbesi Akhamie joined Barnard in the spring of 2023 to teach a mini-course on the business of filmmaking.
Born in Heidelberg, Germany, Abbesi Akhamie is a Nigerian-American writer-director and producer working between Lagos and Washington D.C. Her work focuses on African and diaspora experiences as well as the politics of culture and identity. Her debut short film, Still Water Runs Deep (2017) premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and her latest short film, The Couple Next Door (2020), premiered at Aspen ShortsFest and won the Audience Choice Award at the Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival. Currently, she is developing her debut feature film, In My Father’s House, which has graciously been supported by SFFILM Rainin, Athena Film Festival Writer's Lab, TIFF Writer's Studio and Filmmaker Lab, and the Attagirl Residency program. Abbesi was also selected to participate in the Black Rock Artist residency founded in Dakar, Senegal, by renowned American artist and Obama presidential portraitist, Kehinde Wiley. In her free time, she enjoys mentoring emerging filmmakers and supporting BIPOC and women creatives.
Cynthia Lowen joined Barnard in the spring of 2023 to teach a mini-course on writing for non-fiction filmmaking. In this course, students honed their writing skills for a non-fiction project for which they had already begun production, and created decks, delivered pitches, drafted sample grants, and considered whether to incorporate elements like voiceover, narration, text cards, or other writing into their final film.
Cynthia Lowen is an Emmy-nominated filmmaker and award-winning writer whose work uses the power of story to catalyze meaningful change, confronting timely social issues from bullying to online harassment to nuclear proliferation. Most recently, she is the director and producer of ‘Battleground,’ an urgently timely window into the intersection of abortion and politics in America, premiering at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival. Cynthia is also the director and producer of ‘Netizens,’ a feature documentary distributed by HBO Max about women and online harassment. “Bristling with rightful fury,” says Teen Vogue of the film, ‘Netizens’ follows three women – Carrie Goldberg, Tina Reine and Anita Sarkeesian – as they confront digital abuse and strive for justice online. The film had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival and has screened at top film festivals around the world, including the Bergen International Film Festival, the Cork Film Festival, the Athena Film Festival, the Denver Film Festival, Hot Docs, the Milwaukee Film Festival and the Zurich Film Festival among many other festivals and exhibitions. ‘Netizens’ was part of the prestigious U.S. State Department‘s Film Diplomacy Program, where it has screened at U.S. Embassies in Albania, Lebanon, Moscow and Turkey with associated cultural programming and lectures. Since 2014, Cynthia has served as Visiting Assistant Professor in Colorado College’s esteemed Film and Media Studies program, where she teaches core film production classes that focus on narrative and non-fiction film production, as well as upper-level screenwriting and documentary film production courses. Cynthia received her MFA from Sarah Lawrence College and her BA from Colorado College and has been a member of the Producers Guild of America since 2014.