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Join us for a screening and Q&A with filmmakers, Courtney Stephens and Pacho Velez, to discuss their film The American Sector.
For 18 months, Stephens and Velez traveled the US to document sections of the wall that are on display in over 75 locations, ranging from the serious to the bizarre. Along the way, interviews with unusual characters who own, maintain, and interact with pieces of the wall offer a window into American culture, and the Cold War relics become a catalyst for exploring today’s timely issues. “An exemplary work of cinema as political action. A film that powerfully evokes the active presence of history in daily civic life—and reveals the politics that inhere in its commemoration" (Richard Brody, The New Yorker).
Moderated by Lana Lin, Director of the Graduate Certificate in Documentary Media Studies. Co-produced with Documentary Program Associates Adriana de Lucio (Media Studies '24) and Johann Yamin (Media Studies '24).
Presented by the Graduate Certificate in Documentary Media Studies at the School of Media Studies at the Schools of Public Engagement.
Effective February 23, 2023, event guests and/or visitors to the New School are no longer required to provide proof of up-to-date vaccination or negative result from a PCR test and do not need to use the CLEAR app to present their vaccination status.
Wearing a mask is recommended but not required on campus.
Courtney Stephens is a writer/director of non-fiction and experimental films. The American Sector, her documentary (co-directed with Pacho Velez) premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and was named one of the best films of 2021 in The New Yorker. Her essay film, Terra Femme, premiered at MoMA and has toured widely as a live performance. Her work has been exhibited at The National Gallery of Art, The Barbican, Walker Art Center, The Royal Geographical Society, and in film festivals including the Berlinale, the Viennale, and the New York Film Festival. Stephens is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Sloan Research Fellowship, and a Fulbright Scholarship to India.
Pacho Velez directs nonfiction films. His most recent feature, Searchers, premiered at Sundance 2021. Pacho's earlier features, Manakamana (2013, co-directed with Stephanie Spray) and The Reagan Show (2017, co-directed with Sierra Pettengill), have played around the world, including the New York Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, and on CNN. In 2015, Pacho was awarded a Princeton Arts Fellowship. Pacho is an Assistant Professor at The New School.
Students in the Graduate Certificate in Documentary Studies participate in a variety of events. Central to the program is Doc Talk, a bi-weekly series with contemporary film and video makers, festival programmers, and others, who engage in an intimate discussion with students about their own work and the issues and challenges faced by documentary makers today.
The graduate, undergraduate, and continuing education programs of the School of Media Studies combine theory, research, production, and management studies, preparing students to succeed in a complex and rapidly changing media and communications landscape. Studying in the world’s media capital, New York City, our students acquire critical insights and cutting-edge technical skills in rigorous topical courses taught by leading scholars and industry professionals. Our alumni find fulfilling careers in a wide range of fields, from film and media-making to media research and scholarship to media company management and entrepreneurship.
Committed to amplifying diverse voices, The New School offers more than a thousand public programs and events each year, providing fresh perspectives and unique learning opportunities. These lectures, exhibitions, concerts, and performances feature prominent and emerging artists, activists, and thought leaders.
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