The Graduate Film Department at NYU Tisch invites industry professionals to speak and sometimes screen their work on Wednesday evenings during the academic year as part of the "Chair's Workshop" series.
Participants for the 2021-23 academic years included:
Grad Film hosted a very special screening of Aftersun, written, directed, and produced by dual degree MBA/MFA alumnus Charlotte Wells (‘17). Her feature film directorial debut was edited by fellow alumnus Blair McClendon (‘18). Both joined us for a discussion and post-screening reception.
Charlotte Wells (‘17) is a Scottish director, writer, and producer. She is known for her feature film debut Aftersun (2022), which premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, receiving 121 nominations and 33 awards, including Gotham and British Independent Film Awards. Wells has worked on numerous other films, such as Blue Christmas (2017), and her films have screened at festivals worldwide. She is an alum of the dual degree MBA/MFA program at Tisch and Stern.
Blair McClendon (‘18) is an American editor best known for The Last Showgirl (2024), Aftersun (2022), The Assistant (2019) and Laps (2017). He is an alum of the Grad Film program. He is originally from San Diego.
Terence Nance (creator, director, producer, star) and the creative team behind the hit HBO show Random Acts of Flyness joined us for a special screening and discussion.
Acclaimed filmmaker Laura Poitras, joined the Chair's Workshop for a screening and discussion of All the Beauty and the Bloodshed.
Laura Poitras is a director and producer of documentary films. Poitras has received numerous awards for her work, including the 2015 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for Citizenfour, about Edward Snowden, while My Country, My Country received a nomination in the same category in 2007. She won the 2013 George Polk Award for national security reporting related to the NSA disclosures.The NSA reporting by Poitras, Glenn Greenwald, Ewen MacAskill, and Barton Gellman contributed to the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. In 2022, her documentary film, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, which explores the career of Nan Goldin and the fall of the Sackler family, was awarded the Golden Lion, making it the second documentary to win the top prize at the Venice Film Festival. The film then won a 2024 Peabody Award.
Acclaimed actress Maggie Gyllenhaal joined Grad Fi for a special screening and discussion of her directorial debut The Lost Daughter.
Maggie Gyllenhaal is an actress, producer, and filmmaker. She has five Golden Globe nominations with one win, two Academy Award nominations and two Emmy nominations. She has appeared in films like Donnie Darko, Adaptation, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Secretary, Sherrybaby, World Trade Center and The Dark Knight. Gyllenhaal made her writing and directing debut with the psychological drama The Lost Daughter (2021), for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. She has also appeared in five stage productions since 2000, including making her Broadway debut in a revival of The Real Thing.
In the Spring Grad Film hosted a very special screening of All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt, written and directed by alumnus Raven Jackson (‘19). Her feature film directorial debut was shot by cinematographer and fellow alumnus Jomo Fray (‘18) and produced by MBA/MFA dual degree alumnus Maria Altamirano (‘17). All three joined us for a discussion and post-screening celebration.
Raven Jackson (‘19) is an American filmmaker and television writer. A graduate of the New York University Tisch School of the Arts, she released several short films before making her feature film debut with All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt (2023). She is a 2025 Guggenheim Fellow.
Jomo Fray (‘18) is an American cinematographer. He is best known for his work on Nickel Boys (2024), for which he won an Independent Spirit Award for Best Cinematography. He is also known for his work on Port Authority (2019), Selah and the Spades (2020) and All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt (2023). In 2024, Fray served as cinematographer on Nickel Boys directed by RaMell Ross, where he won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Cinematography.
Maria Altamirano (‘17) is a Peruvian-American producer from Los Angeles. She produced Alexis Gambis’ Son of Monarchs (HBO Max), winner of the Sloan Feature Film Prize at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival; Raven Jackson’s award-winning short Nettles (Criterion Channel); and Jackson’s debut feature All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt, produced in partnership with PASTEL and A24. She was also a Co-Producer on the Peabody Award-winning second season of HBO’s comedy series Los Espookys.
Grad Film hosted a screening of A Love Song, written and directed by alumnus Max Walker-Silverman (‘20). His feature film directorial debut was shot by cinematographer and fellow alumnus Alfonso Herrera (‘20) with production design done by Juliana Barreto Barreto (alum of the Graduate Design Department at Tisch).
Max Walker-Silverman (‘20) is an American filmmaker from Colorado. He wrote, directed and produced A Love Song (2022) which had its world premiere at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, and subsequently screened at the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival and Tribeca Festival.
Alfonso Herrera Salcedo (‘20) is a Mexican cinematographer based between Mexico City and New York City. His most notable work includes A Love Song (2022) Ex-Husbands (2023), directed by Noah Pritzker and starring Griffin Dunne, which premiered at the San Sebastián Film Festival, and A Perfect Day for Caribou (2022), starring Charlie Plummer, which premiered at the Locarno Film Festival.
Juliana Barreto Barreto is a Colombian production designer based in the United States. She holds an MFA in Design for Stage and Film from NYU/Tisch. She is a member of United Scenic Artists, Local USA 829. Her credits include Max Walker-Silverman's A Love Song (Sony/Bleecker Street, 2022) and Rebuilding (Bleecker Street, 2025), Raven Jackson's All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt (A24/PASTEL) and Savanah Leaf’s Earth Mama (A24) all of them Sundance premieres.
Grad film alumnus Elegance Bratton (‘19) joined the Chair's Workshop for a special screening and discussion of his feature film The Inspection, which he wrote, directed, and produced. He was joined by one of the film’s producers Chester Algernal Gordon.
Elegance Bratton (‘19) is an American filmmaker and photographer. He began his career writing, directing, and producing a variety of projects including the short film Walk for Me, the reality television series My House, and the documentary film Pier Kids.
Bratton's feature film directorial debut, The Inspection, premiered at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival and was released by A24. Bratton received the Film Independent Truer Than Fiction Spirit Award, which honors emerging directors of non-fiction features.
Grad film was joined by the creative team behind Till, a film based on the true story of Mamie Till, an educator and activist who pursued justice after the murder of her 14-year-old son Emmett in August 1955. Joining us for the discussion were Chinonye Chukwu (writer/director), Michael Reilly (writer), Bobby Bukowski (cinematographer), Curt Beech (production designer), Marci Rodgers (costume designer), Fred Zollo (producer), and Justyn Davis (gaffer).
In October, writer/director Albert Serra hosted a masterclass in collaboration with NYU La Maison Francaise and Unifrance. This event was an extraordinary opportunity to discover Albert Serra's filmography, and hear about his creative process, and relationship with French culture.
Albert Serra is a Spanish independent filmmaker and manager of the production company Andergraun Films. He is best known for his films Story of My Death (2013), The Death of Louis XIV (2016), Pacifiction (2022), and his documentary film Afternoons of Solitude (2024).
Grad film alumnus Blerta Basholli (‘12) hosted a special screening and discussion of her debut feature film Hive which she wrote and directed. An official selection at Sundance 2021, Hive tells the story of a young woman in Kosovo hoping for news about her missing husband. The film was inspired by the true story of Fahrije Hoti.
Blerta Basholli (‘12) is a Kosovar Albanian writer, director and producer. Hive became the first Kosovo film to enter the Oscars shortlist nomination.
Acclaimed Norwegian writer/director Joachim Trier joined us on Zoom for a special screening and discussion of his latest film The Worst Person in the World.
Joachim Trier is a Danish-born Norwegian filmmaker. He has received numerous accolades, including the Grand Prix at Cannes Film Festival, as well as nominations for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and two Cesar Awards. He is best known for his Oslo trilogy which comprises the films Reprise (2006), Oslo, August 31st (2011), and The Worst Person in the World (2021).