Concordia Studio Selects Its 2023 Fellowship Class

Valerie Complex
·15 min read

The studio behind the Sundance documentary film, STILL: A Michael J. Fox Movie, Concordia Studio has named four new filmmakers to the 2023 class of The Concordia Fellowship.

Distinguished as a premiere artist acceleration program, The Concordia Fellowship strategically fosters the unique creative advancement of each filmmaker, providing generous financial backing alongside targeted guidance and robust creative incubation of Fellows’ individually conceived projects. The Studio-led program also supports its Fellows in building sustainable careers, offering foundational mentorshipswith industry talentandexecutives, as well as exclusive access toConcordia’s production facilities.

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Concordia Fellows are the next generation of storytellers emerging from diverse racial, religious, and regional backgrounds across the United States. This year’s Fellows were selected for their singular voices, creative accomplishments, and storytelling ambition.The 2023 Concordia Fellows are Tracy Jarrett, Anayansi Prado, Jarrod Cann, and Cinque Northern. “Building on the momentum of The Concordia Fellowship’s unprecedented success, we’re incredibly excited to launch into this new year, spotlighting the most dauntless talent in our 2023 class,” says Rahdi Taylor, who heads up the Fellowship program for Concordia, alongside Jess Kwan who recently joined as Vice President.

Over the last half a decade, The Concordia Fellowship has seen enormous success from its filmmaker Fellows, garnering recognition at The Academy Awards®and prestigious film festivals around the globe. According to a report by USC Annenberg’s Inclusion Initiative, “In its relatively brief existence, the Concordia Studio Fellowship program has made an impact on its Fellows, and on the wider industry through their success. Through financial investment in projects, personal investment in supporting individual Fellows, and a career-focused instruction for Fellows, The Concordia Fellowship can be a force for artist good. From the method of selecting the fellows for the program, to the bespoke manner in which Fellowship opportunities are set out, the Concordia Fellowship privileges an individualized experience for those involved. Because of its novel approach, the Concordia Fellowship may have a unique impact on those who participate in its program.”

Fellowship candidates are eligible for consideration by direct invitation and private nomination only. Nominators for the 2023 Fellowship class included industry vets from the Sundance Institute and DOCNYC. The Concordia Fellows participate in virtual and in-person master classes, including guest visits with renowned filmmakers and industry talent including Laura Poitras, Penny Lane, Pete Nicks, Morgan Neville, Dawn Porter, execs at Apple, A24,Disney+, and more.

Past Fellows have inked deals with major distributors including Amazon Studios, HBO, Onyx/Disney, Disney+, Hulu and more. In 2022, Concordia Fellows Paula Eiselt and Isabel Castro each premiered their Fellowship documentary films at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Aftershock, co-directed by Eiselt, was acquired by Onyx Collective and ABC News, while Castro’s film Mija was picked up by Disney+. Eiselt returned to Sundance this year with another Concordia-supported film, the short documentary Under G-D. Biographies for the full list of fellows and alumni can be found below.

2023 CONCORDIA FELLOWSHIP RECIPIENTS

JARROD CANN
Jarrod Cann is a filmmaker from Cincinnati, Ohio whose work explores landscapes of race, class, and culture through the stories of everyday people. Jarrod’s directorial work includes Good White People(2016 True/False,Camden Award for Best Short Doc). He also composed the original scores for They Won’t Call It Murder (2022 Field of Vision) and You Are Not A Loan (2021 The Intercept). Jarrod lives and works in Los Angeles as a creative director and editor while developing his debut feature documentary.

TRACY JARRETT
Tracy Jarrett is a Peabody and Emmy-award winning documentary filmmaker whose vérité style storytelling has documented some of the most high-profile stories of the last decade. Her work on the HBO special, Charlottesville: Race and Terror, earned four Emmy awards, a Peabody Award, and was TIME’s 2017 TV episode of the year. Over time, Tracy has expanded her work from news to documentary series and features for global streamers. She most recently was a producer on Victim/Suspect(Netflix), which premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, The Fire That Took Her (MTV Studios), and a forthcoming series for Concordia Studio and Netflix. She currently directing her debut feature film.

CINQUE NORTHERN
Cinque Northern is a director, editor, and fourth-generation artist. His filmmaking passions lie at the intersection of cinematic artistry and social impact, while exploring the profound ways that art shifts culture. Cinque directed and edited the critically acclaimed Angola Do You Hear Us? (MTV Documentary Films), which was shortlisted for an Academy Award. He was a field director, writer, and editor on the Emmy-nominated The One and Only Dick Gregory (Showtime) and co-wrote and edited the Peabody award-winning My Name is Pauli Murray (Amazon Studios).

ANAYANSI PRADO
Anayansi Pradois a documentary director and producer passionate about undocumented immigration, the US/Mexico border, indigenous land rights and mestizo racial identity. Her films include The Unafraid (PBS) about D.A.C.A. students, Paraiso for Sale (PBS), Children in No Man’s Land (PBS) on unaccompanied child migrants and Maid in America (PBS Independent Lens) about domestic workers in Los Angeles. Anayansi is previously a Chicken & Egg Fellow, a Creative Capital Artist, a Rockefeller Media Fellow and a Film Expert for The American Film Showcase. Anayansi has taught documentary filmmaking in five continents and was a visiting professor at UCLA, California State University, Northridge and Chapman University. She is currently in development on a new feature documentary.

ACTIVE FELLOWS

GISELLE BAILEY
Giselle Bailey is a Jamaican-American film director who blends and breaks artistic boundaries to illuminate subcultures and spotlight social revolution. She co-directed and produced the HBO feature documentary, The Legend of The Underground (2021 Tribeca Film Festival, HBO) and is directing Seen & Heard, an HBO limited nonfiction series with Hoorae. She is currently in development on a project that fuses fiction and documentary to champion the cultural heroes that history refuses to honor. Giselle was awarded The Concordia Fellowship in 2022.

ALICE GU
Alice Gu began her career as a photographer, cinematographer, and commercial director. As a film director, Alice creates remarkable stories spanning Asian history in diaspora and American popular culture. She directed The Donut King, executive produced by Academy Award-winners Ridley Scott and Freida Lee Mock, (Special Jury Prize for Excellence in Documentary Storytelling 2020 SXSW Film Festival, Independent Lens), and Really Good Rejects (2022 SXSW). Alice was awarded The Concordia Fellowship in 2022.

MARIA AGUI CARTER
María Agui Carter grew up undocumented in New York City, graduated from Harvard on scholarship, and is now a professor at Emerson College. She directed the award-winning hybrid film Rebel (PBS, Amazon) about a Latina soldier and spy of the American Civil War, and is in production on Alleged, about criminal justice and redemption. Her magical realist script Secret Life Of La Mariposa, about climate change and immigration, is in development. Maria was awarded The Concordia Fellowship in 2021.


SHALINI KANTAYYA
Shalini Kantayya directs fiction and nonfiction films that artfully marry the future of science with the future of story. She directed TikTok, Boom (2022 Sundance Film Festival and SXSW), and Coded Bias (2020 Sundance Film Festival, Independent Lens, Netflix) which was nominated for a Critics’ Choice, a Cinema Eye Honors, and NAACP Image Award. Previously, Shalini directed NY Times Critics’ Pick Catching The Sun with executive producer Leonardo DiCaprio (LA Film Festival, Netflix). Shalini was awarded The Concordia Fellowship in 2022.


JON KASBE
Jon Kasbe is a director and cinematographer of Australian and Indian descent, whose global childhood instilled a lasting curiosity and desire to understand opposing perspectives. Jon shot, directed and produced When Lambs Become Lions (2018 Tribeca Film Festival), which was released theatrically by Oscilloscope and nominated for two IDA Awards. More recently, he directed the Hulu limited docuseries The Deep End (2022) and the feature documentary Sophia (2022, Showtime). Jon was awarded The Concordia Fellowship in 2019.


ELIZABETH LO
Born and raised in Hong Kong, Elizabeth Lo is an immersive nonfiction filmmaker who is interested in finding new aesthetic ways to transcend the boundaries between us. Her debut feature, Stray (2020 Tribeca Film Festival, Hot Docs Jury Prize) was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award, Critics’ Choice Award, and Cinema Eye Honors. Stray was released theatrically by Magnolia Pictures in 2021, and is now streaming on Hulu and is a New York Times Critics’ Pick. Elizabeth was awarded The Concordia Fellowship in 2020.

SMRITI MUNDHRA
Born in the U.S. and raised across two continents, Smriti Mundhra is an Academy Award- and Emmy- nominated filmmaker. Her recent films include St. Louis Superman (2020 Academy Award nominee) and Shelter (2022 NAACP Image Award and DGA Award nominee). Her debut documentary film, A Suitable Girl (2017 Tribeca Film Festival), won the Albert Maysles Best Documentary Director prize. She created and executive produced Indian Matchmaking, a Primetime Emmy-nominated documentary series currently streaming on Netflix. Smriti was awarded The Concordia Fellowship in 2021.


BRENT PALMER
Brent Palmer is a rising producer from Detroit, who wants to inspire audiences with vibrant stories of black cultural movements. He has worked on nonfiction features and limited series with One Story Up, Concordia Studio, and Tremolo Productions. He is producing an independent feature documentary film based in Detroit that follows students, teachers, parents and activists as they fight for equal education in America and is also in development on a limited music series. Brent was awarded The Concordia Fellowship in 2020.


CHRISTINE TURNER
Christine Turner is a director of fiction and nonfiction film who spotlights tender, intimate portraits of people in socially charged landscapes. She directed an episode of The 1619 Project (2023) for Hulu. Her film, Lynching Postcards: “Token of A Great Day,” was shortlisted for the 2022 Academy Awards and won an NAACP Image Award. Other work includes the Sundance selection and New York Times Op-Doc, Betye Saar: Taking Care of Business and PBS/POV’s Homegoings. Christine was awarded The Concordia Fellowship in 2022.


JEFF UNAY
Jeff Unay is a director, cinematographer and visual artist. Hailing from a small town in the American heartland, he is driven by stories of ordinary people in extra/ordinary circumstances. Jeff’s first independent documentary was The Cage Fighter (2018 IFC Films/Sundance Selects), nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. He previously helmed the direct-to-fan feature documentary Free To Play which received 5.5 million views in its opening weekend release. Jeff was a 2017 IFP Filmmaker To Watch and was awarded The Concordia Fellowship in 2020.


ALUMNI


JOSHUA ALTMAN
Joshua Altman is a director, producer, DP, and premier editor in the documentary landscape. He was recently a producer on Wildcat (Amazon) and directed the latest season of Couples Therapy (Showtime). He executive produced the limited series Pandemic (Netflix) and co-directed All These Sons (2021 Tribeca Film Festival). Joshua edited Minding The Gap (nominated for 2019 Academy Award), The Price Of Free (Grand Jury Prize, 2018 Sundance), and We Live In Public (Grand Jury Prize, 2009 Sundance). Joshua was awarded The Concordia Fellowship in 2018.


GARRETT BRADLEY
Garrett Bradley is an artist and Oscar-nominated filmmaker who works across narrative, documentary, and experimental modes of filmmaking. In 2020, Garrett presented her debut documentary feature length film, Time, which was nominated for over 57 awards and won 20 times including the honor of being the first Black woman to win Best Director at the Sundance Film Festival. Garrett was awarded The Concordia Fellowship in 2018.


ISABEL CASTRO
Isabel Castro is a Mexican-American filmmaker who combines a practice in art and journalism to tell stories about immigration, civil rights, and identity. A director, producer, and cinematographer, her debut feature documentary Mija follows Chicanas trying to make it in the music industry (2022 Sundance Film Festival). Her previous work includes the short films Crossing Over (Participant Media/Univision), and the Emmy-nominated films Darlin (2019 Tribeca Film Festival, NYT OpDocs) and USA V. Scott (2020 Tribeca Film Festival, The New Yorker). Isabel was awarded The Concordia Fellowship in 2018.


BEN-ALEX DUPRIS
Ben-Alex Dupris grew up on the Colville Confederated Tribes Indian reservation in Washington State, where he is an enrolled member. Ben directs films about contemporary life and popular culture in Indian Country. His debut short film Sweetheart Dancers (2019 Big Sky, Showtime) was followed up with an episode of In The Making, a series of shorts with Firelight Media for PBS American Masters. He is a 2018 Concordia Fellow, a Firelight Fellow, and a Sundance Producing Fellow.


PAULA EISELT
Paula Eiselt directs and produces feature films about unforgettable characters thriving in unbelievable circumstances. Her most recent feature, Aftershock, premiered at 2022 Sundance and was awarded the Special Jury Award: Impact for Change. Aftershock will be released by Disney’s Onyx Collective and ABC News, to stream on Hulu and Disney+. Her previous feature 93queen was released theatrically and broadcast worldwide starting with PBS’s POV, now on HBO Max. Paula recently premiered a new short documentary at 2023 Sundance called Under G-D, and was named one of Jewish Week’s “36 Under 36.” She is a 2019 Concordia Fellow.


NADIA HALLGREN
Nadia Hallgren is an award-winning Black and Puerto Rican director and cinematographer from the Bronx, New York. Her recent director credits include the documentary Civil (Netflix), Becoming (Netflix), and The Show (Showtime). Her short films include After Maria (2019 Oscar shortlist, Netflix), and Omnipresence (The New Yorker). Nadia is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and was awarded The Concordia Fellowship in 2018.


CYNTHIA HILL
Hailing from eastern North Carolina, Cynthia Hill is a creative force for fresh stories set in rural America and in the American South. She won Emmy and Peabody awards for her series A Chef’s Life and Somewhere South (PBS). She directed Private Violence (2014 Sundance Film Festival, HBO), the series Road To Race Day following NASCAR drivers and teams, and What Happened, Brittany Murphy? (HBO Max). She is in production on a new series for HBO. Cynthia was awarded The Concordia Fellowship in 2019.


BING LIU
Bing Liu began his documentary career making skate videos as a teenager before joining the International Cinematographer’s Guild. His debut feature, Minding The Gap was nominated for a 2019 Academy Award and earned another 59 awards, including a Peabody and the Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Filmmaking at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. He co-directed All These Sons, which won the award for Best Cinematography at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival. Bing is in development on fiction and nonfiction features. Bing was awarded The Concordia Fellowship in 2018.

EDWIN MARTINEZ
Edwin Martinez is a Puerto Rican filmmaker born and raised in the Bronx. Martinez co-directed, edited and shot the Emmy-nominated Personal Statement (2018 AFI Film Festival, 2019 SXSW Film Festival, PBS), and To Be Heard, (2010 DOC NYC, NYT Critic’s Pick). He is in production on his solo directorial debut, a collaborative, nonfiction-fantasy film, The Monster And The Storm. Martinez is designing innovative strategies for creative co-authorship with both film participants and his students as an Assistant Professor of Film. Edwin was awarded The Concordia Fellowship in 2018.


OMAR MULLICK
Omar Mullick is a director and cinematographer driven by the idea of film as an act of prayer. He directed and filmed These Birds Walk (2013 SXSW), which was released theatrically by Oscilloscope and named one of the best foreign films of the 21st Century (Richard Brody, The New Yorker). Omar directed and lensed episodes of The Vow (HBO), Nomad for CNN+ and co-directed Flight/Risk (Amazon Studios) about whistle blowers at Boeing. He also produced the first indigenous Afghan film to be nominated to the Oscars in Omar was awarded The Concordia Fellowship in 2020.


HEATHER RAE
Heather Rae has produced such films as Academy Award nominated Frozen River, Netflix Originals Tallulah and Dude, festival darling I Believe In Unicorns, award-winning The Dry Land and Bull, which premiered in Cannes. She recently premiered Fancy Dance at 2023 Sundance. Rae is currently in a first look deal with Amazon Studios and is an executive producer on the series Outer Range starring Josh Brolin. Heather is a narrative change strategist with IllumiNative and throughout her career has worked to deepen the dialogue of reconciliation and responsibility in the Americas. Heather was awarded The Concordia Fellowship in 2018.


RANDY REDROAD
Randy Redroad is an Indigenous writer/director/editor working across genres. His debut feature, The Doe Boy, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, winning the Sundance/NHK Award. Randy was editor on the feature documentary The Infiltrators (2019 Sundance Film Festival – Audience Award and Innovator Award), about a group of undocumented youth infiltrating a for-profit detention center. He was Story Editor on the 2023 Sundance Award Winning documentary Bad Press, about the struggle for free press in Indian Country. Randy joined the writing room for season two of the Amazon series Outer Range, starring Josh Brolin. He was awarded The Concordia Fellowship in 2019 and is an alumni of the Sundance Directors Lab.


DOMINIQUE ULLOA
Dominique Ulloa is a nonfiction editor and proud single mom of two from the Crenshaw District of South Los Angeles. Dominique was an editor on the Emmy nominated four-part series We Need To Talk About Cosby (2022 Sundance Film Festival, Showtime). Previously she worked on the six-part series Surviving R. Kelly (Lifetime), which won a 2019 Peabody Award. She is an ACE Fellow, A Karen Schmeer Diversity in the Edit Fellow, and chair of the Ujima Entertainment Coalition. Dominique was awarded The Concordia Fellowship in 2019.

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