If you were to make a short film, what would it be about? Rockland in Motion provides an answer from eighteen of our Rockland County neighbors. Filmmakers have been living and working in Rockland County since early in the silent era, some providing their talents to the commercial film and television industries, others working independently, and many doing both. Some see themselves as artists, often working in disciplines such as visual art, photography, dance, or poetry, as well as film. Others see film as an extension of journalism. And many have focused on specific skills that earn them a living within the film industry, such as directing, producing, cinematography, editing, and designing. Rockland in Motion reminds us that a wide range of filmmakers live and work in our communities, that they contribute to local culture and commerce, and that making and understanding visual media is an important part of a good education.
ROCKLAND IN MOTION 2021 REDUX is FREE and will begin streaming on December 26 and will run through January 2. Donations are accepted and will help provide for a new program in 2022.
View Program 1 HERE (on December 26)
Rockland in Motion 2021: Program 1
A Time of Two Joys (8:52, fiction), by Josh Helaughstra
The Elders Have Fallen (1:16, poetry), by Marta Renzi and Dan Wolff
Welcome to Forever (9:09, fiction), by John Gray
Deceipt (2:30, fiction), by Josh Atesh Litle
Moon Nymph (7:38, fiction), by Frank Vitale
Ariel (Proof of Concept) (1:41, animation), by Conor Macfinn
See Me (6:56, dance), by Katherine Matheson
Wait a Minute (3:38, dance), by Marta Renzi
Wisteria (6:46, dance), by Lucas Ruderman
Duane Eubanks (2:53, documentary), by Kal Toth
Rockland Pride 2021 (4:09, documentary), by Elliott Forrest
View a discussion with the Rockland in Motion 2021: Program 1 filmmakers and moderator Charlotte Buck, a 202o Summer Olympics athlete HERE
View Program 2 HERE (on December 26)
Rockland in Motion 2021: Program 2
Mike Mitch – Dear Manager (3:54, music), by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
3 Conversations in April (12:00, documentary), by Susan Hamovitch
Skye’s Dance (14:50, fiction), by Samuel Harps
Self Made Man (1:24, animation), by Juliana Roth
The Pratt in the Hat (15:00, documentary), by Susan Hilary Shapiro
Burn Down Babylon (7:33, music), by Machan Taylor, Roger Grange, Vera Aronow
Meow Meow: A Deadbeat Laments (2:47, music), by Kathryn Valentina
View the Zoom discussion with the Rockland in Motion 2021: Program 2 filmmakers, moderated by educator, organizer, and writer J. Faith Almiron (aka. Kapwa), HERE.
THE FILMMAKERS
THE PROGRAM 1
Josh Helaughstra
A TIME OF TWO JOYS
Marta Renzi & Daneil Wolff
THE ELDERS HAVE FALLEN
Marta Renzi has directed over 2 dozen short films, completing her debut feature film Her Magnum Opus in 2017. Twice in the 80’s Renzi was commissioned to direct half-hour videodances which were broadcast on PBS. Her most recent pre-virus premiere was Skybridge at Hunter College, her 6th commissioned dance film for a university dance company. She has received 7 NEA Choreographic Fellowships, and a New York Dance & Performance Award (a “Bessie”), and funding from Metropolitan Life, the Jerome Foundation and the Trust for Mutual Understanding. More on the filmmaker here.
Daniel Wolff continues to work on the former’s New Orleans project, RIGHT TO RETURN. He also writes books. More on the filmmaker here.
John Gray
WELCOME TO FOREVER
John Gray is a New York based writer-director. He created the long running hit CBS series GHOST WHISPERER, as well as writing and directing many award winning and critically acclaimed movies for television, such as MARTIN AND LEWIS, starring Sean Hayes and Jeremy Northam, A PLACE FOR ANNIE with Sissy Spacek, HAVEN with Natasha Richardson and Anne Bancroft, and many others. He has also written and directed several studio and independent features, including the award winning WHITE IRISH DRINKERS, starring Stephen Lang and Karren Allen, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. His other award winning short films, FRENCH KISS, THE DESECRATED, EXTRA INNINGS and EXIT PACKAGE have played and are playing at film festivals all over the world. FRENCH KISS has notched 6.3 million views to date on YouTube.
Joshua Atesh Litle
DECEIPT
Joshua is a Turkish-American filmmaker originally from San Francisco with stints in NYC before settling in Nyack, NY. His first feature, the Dogma-inspired, improvised film Ever Since the World Ended was awarded Best Feature Narrative at both the San Francisco Indiefest (SFIndiefest) and Sci-Fi London film festivals and was selected as a New York Times Critics’ Pick.
His second feature film was the documentary The Furious Force of Rhymes (Arte France/Germany and the Smithsonian Channel) premiered at Locarno winning a special jury prize before racking up awards and screenings at over 30 film festivals worldwide. The film was an exploration of hip-hop as protest music in Africa, The Middle East, Europe and the USA.
He regularly works and collaborates with fellow Rockland filmmakers Frank Vitale, Rick Apicella, Susan Stava and Jody Atkinson to name a few.
Frank Vitale
MOON NYMPH
Vitale has been making films for thirty years. He produced and directed over 150 shorts, documentaries, PSAs, television specials and features that were honored with 75 awards. His feature film, Montreal Main, played major festivals: Locarno, London, Mannheim, Edinburgh, AFI, MoMA and the Whitney. His recent feature, The Erotic Fire of the Unattainable, has screened at the 2020 Sarasota and Brooklyn film festivals. More on the filmmaker here.
Conor MacFinn
ARIEL
Conor MacFinn (animator, writer, director) is an animator & filmmaker whose animated “short shorts” hve won awards, been nominated and screened at over 35 festivals internationally and distributed by Tribal TV on Hulu, Amazon and AOL. His 3D animated storytelling mobile media were twice selected for SIGGRAPH’s Appy Hour showcase of creativity and innovation, and distributed through iTunes. Other 3D character animation credits include The Museum of the Dog in New York City, Pearson and Behrmann House. A 2019 New York State Council on the Arts Arts Alive grantee to support the storyboarding of his animated series in development, he also received a 2020 Artist’s Support Fund grant from the Arts Council of Rockland.
A special honor was having his trilogy of shorts inspired by his Native heritage invited to show at Mni Wichoni Nakicizin Owayawa (Defenders of the Sacred Water School) at The Water Protector’s Camp in Standing Rock, North Dakota.
Currently, Conor is excited to draw inspirataion from other parts of his families inheritance, developing an animated series for families, Ariel, the story of a young boy and his mother fighting to save their family and their trade routes against the cultural tapestry of the 19th century Ottoman Empire.
Judith Rose – Igor Sharapanuk
Katherine Matheson
SEE ME
“See Me” is a darkly haunting tone poem that holds a dramatic mirror to the fraught year of 2020. A mysterious man and woman wrestle with the terror, trauma, dislocation, and ultimate losses of this sad and complex moment in our history. They speak only with their bodies and move to the strains of the cello within the shadowed walls of their existence.Katherine
Katherine Matheson is a psychotherapist in New York and a documentary filmmaker specializing in portraits of performers and artists. She has received grants from New York State Council on the Arts and The American Film Institute. She directed the feature documentary COMEDIENNE.
Sunyoung Park (score) was born and raised in South Korea. She started learning how to play a piano at 5 years old and continued to enjoy and pursue music personally as well as professionally ever since. Later, she came to NY and studied music therapy where she learned to connect her soul with music even in a deeper level through improvisation. This OST for the film is an improvisational composition inspired purely by the film.
Igor S, (dancer/choreographer) the director of NY DanceSport, is a former competitive champion dancer, an award-winning performer and choreographer. He brings a determined, but joyful and encouraging energy to all his clients and classes. He offers movement instruction to individuals challenged with emotional and developmental disabilities and produces showcase fundraisers for local charitable institutions.
Judith Rose (dancer) remains curious. She writes, she teaches, she creates, she choreographs, she dances, she listens, she learns. She is the director of Vital Movement™, the wellness practice she founded, which is based in Nyack, NY. Her belief in the healing power of the arts continues to inspire her work as does her ever-deepening reverence for the mystery of life.
Marta Renzi
WAIT A MINUTE
Marta has directed over 2 dozen short films, completing her debut feature film Her Magnum Opus in 2017. Twice in the 80’s Renzi was commissioned to direct half-hour videodances which were broadcast on PBS. Her most recent pre-virus premiere was Skybridge at Hunter College, her 6th commissioned dance film for a university dance company. She has received 7 NEA Choreographic Fellowships, and a New York Dance & Performance Award (a “Bessie”), and funding from Metropolitan Life, the Jerome Foundation and the Trust for Mutual Understanding. More on the filmmaker here.
Lucas Ruderman
WISTERIA
Lucas is a professional filmmaker typically creating short-form narrative films and music videos. His latest work has consisted of many movement and dance pieces, and he is working on post-production for his documentary regarding the small businesses of Nyack during the Covid-19 pandemic. When he is not working on his own projects, he is mainly in camera and lighting positions on commercials, narrative films, documentaries, music videos, etc. He has worked for many brands such as Adidas, Coca-Cola, Peloton, Converse, Arm and Hammer, and several Bell and Howell products. He has also worked on big Hollywood productions such as Marshall (2017), Unsolved Mysteries (2020) and Black is King (2020). When he is not on set, he is often working as a freelance editor and motion graphic artist to create sponsored content for companies such as Den of Geek, New York Medical College, and the Arts Council of Rockland.
Kal Toth
DUANE EUBANKS
Kal is an award-winning American director and cinematographer. His short documentary BUILDING MAGIC debuted at Lincoln Center in 2013 and inspired the feature length documentary of the same name in 2015. BUILDING MAGIC was mentioned by The New York Times, received a shout-out from documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, and won “Best In Fest” at Virginia’s Alexandria Film Festival. Kal was lead cinematographer for the Marta Renzi’s feature film, HER MAGNUM OPUS, which was presented by Jonathan Demme.
Elliott Forrest
ROCKLAND PRIDE
Elliott Forrest is a Peabody Award winning broadcaster and producer. He is currently heard on Classical 105.9FM WQXR and guest-hosts for Leonard Lopate and John Schaefer and on WNYC. He is the Artistic Director of ArtsRock. He’s produced at The Hollywood Bowl, Lincoln Center and scores of concerts, events and shows. He is the host and producer of the national radio concerts of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center; and hosts and produces regular podcasts for the New York Philharmonic; has been the ‘voice’ of CNN and LIVE FROM LINCOLN CENTER on PBS. For more than 12 years he was with the A&E Television Network as host of Breakfast with the Arts and Biography. www.ElliottForrest.com
THE PROGRAM 2
Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
MIKE MITCH – DEAR MANAGER
NANA KWAME ADJEI-BRENYAH is the New York Times-bestselling author of Friday Black. Originally from Spring Valley, New York, he graduated from SUNY Albany and went on to receive his MFA from Syracuse University. His work has appeared or is forthcoming from numerous publications, including the New York Times Book Review, Esquire, Literary Hub, the Paris Review, Guernica, and Longreads. He was selected by Colson Whitehead as one of the National Book Foundation’s “5 Under 35” honorees, is the winner of the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award, and a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Award for Best First Book and the Aspen Words Literary Prize.
Susan Hamovitch
3 CONVERSATIONS IN APRIL
Ms. Hamovitch’s career as a filmmaker was always channeled towards documentary, beginning more than thirty years ago. After serving in various production roles, she received an MFA in Television and Radio from the City University of New York. Upon graduation, Ms. Hamovitch almost immediately began work on Without Apology, her first feature length documentary. The film is a family saga, telling the story of her brother, Alan, whose autism and cognitive disabilities sent him at a young age to Letchworth Village a large institution located in Thiells, NY, and it won several festival awards, including Best Feature Documentary at the Brooklyn Arts Film Festival and Best Audience Award at the Hearts and Minds Film Festival. Her second feature film, Stood for the Storm, explores the world of Susan Boutwell LaGrange, a working class woman living in the boot of Louisiana, south of New Orleans, who has come through Hurricane Katrina by the skin of her teeth. www.stoodforthestorm.com/.
To date, 3 Conversations in April is being seen widely, having premiered shortly after its completion at the Margate-Bookie Film Festival, in Kent, England this past January. Since its premiere, the film won the semi-finalist award at the Indie-Shorts Film Festival, and is currently a Finalist in the Online Festival of Isolation (based out of Moscow). 3Conversations was an Official Selection of the Z-Shorts Film Festival, the Rosarito Film Festival (Baja, California) and the Hong Kong State Film Festival where the film has unofficially won Best Documentary. This list is not final, of course. The film was released officially just a few months ago!
Ms. Hamovitch lives in Brooklyn, her base for regular visits to her brother, who lives in a group home in Airmont, NY.
Sam Harps
SKYE’S DANCE
Samuel interned at New York’s New Dramatist, studying with noted playwrights August Wilson and Charles Oyamo Gordon. He was later accepted as a member of the prestigious Negro Ensemble Company. His first major production Don’t Explain was staged at the Nuyorican Poet’s Cafe on the Lower East Side. The explosive drama on the death of trumpeter Lee Morgan went on to receive seven AUDELCO Awards, including best play and playwright. Samuel was also awarded The Arts Council of Rockland County Executive Award for Literary Artist. New York productions include; The Paul Roberson Theater, The National Black Theater, The Billie Holiday Theater, Theater for the New City, Theater Four, Duality Playhouse, and HERE Theater. Regional productions include; Rutgers University, (Newark) The Christina Cultural Arts Center (Wilmington, DEL) The Painted Bride and Bushfire Theaters, (both in Philadelphia) EXIT Theater, (San Francisco) and Vision Theater, Los Angeles. Samuel is the founder/artist director of Shades Repertory Theater. http://www.shadesrep.com/
Juliana Roth
SELF MADE MAN
Self Made Man is a comical stop motion animation investigating what it means to go it alone.
Juliana Roth is the creator of the narrative web series, The University, which won Best Web/Pilot at the Los Angeles Film Awards and toured nonprofits and college campuses to raise awareness on survivor justice and consent. The project was selected for a screening with It’s On Us, a nonprofit founded under the Obama-Biden administration to organize students across the country on reforming campus policies. She was a participant in the 2021 Stowe Story Labs and is a member of the Filmshop workshop. Her creative writing appears in the Los Angeles Review of Books, The Breakwater Review, Irish Pages, among others. Currently, she teaches writing at NYU and is developing new independent projects. You can learn more or reach out to collaborate at www.julianaroth.com.
Susan Hilary
The PRATT in the HAT
DIRECTOR: Susan Hillary (aka Susan Hillary Shapiro) has been making independent feature films and documentaries since the 1980s. Some of her films have been filmed at and premiered at the Sundance and Cannes Film Festivals. The documentary “Studio 54” on which she was the archival cinematographer is streaming on netflix. The PRATT in the HAT is her first film after an almost 20 year hiatus from filmmaking. Link to Studio 54 film: https://www.netflix.com/title/81004511
PRODUCER: Suzanne Mitchell celebrates more than two decades of producing and directing documentary films, historical network series, and docudramas. As an accomplished producer and director of social, political, and environmental issue related films she has produced alongside highly acclaimed documentarians and is the recipient of two Emmys, two Gracie Awards, an Omni Intermedia Award, and a Cine Golden Eagle. Link to Suzanne Mitchell portfolio: http://fullmotionpictures.com/portfolio.html
Michan Taylor, Roger Grange, Vera Aronow
BURN DOWN BABYLON
Singer, songwriter, performer, and educator, MACHAN TAYLOR is an accomplished veteran of the music business. She has extensively toured as a background vocalist with Sting, Pink Floyd, Pat Benetar, George Benson, Foreigner, Gov’t Mule, Bobby Caldwell, Steve Tyrell, and The Glenn Miller Orchestra. She has sung on national TV and radio commercials and film soundtracks including the song “The Moon’s a Window to Heaven,” for the film Star Trek V in which she is also the singing voice of Lieutenant Uhura. She has written and published over 100 compositions that are featured on network and cable shows and in major films. Most recently, she had a song placed in the Oscar-nominated movie, Boyhood. As a vocal teacher she instructs amateur and professional singers to better understand the biomechanics of their vocal instruments, enabling them to develop command and expression as vocal artists.
ROGER GRANGE is an experienced cinematographer with over 30 years of experience behind the camera, on feature films, documentaries, shorts, multicamera events, commercials, promos and music videos. His narrative credits include Director of Photography (with Dejan Georgevich) for The Heart Stays (2019), a Native American coming-of-age story and Director of Photography for My Mother’s Early Lovers, a Vermont-based feature (1995 & restored in 2015). His extensive documentary feature credits include, A Cantor’s Head (2019), The Spy Behind Home Plate (2019), Moynihan (2018), Backpack Full of Cash (2017), Saving the Great Swamp (2017), The Anthropologist (2015 Doc NYC), Deliman (2014-with David Sperling), Évocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie (2012) and MEGAMALL (2009), which he also co-directed, co-produced and narrated. He is an FAA Certified Commercial Drone Pilot and an active member of both the Society of Camera Operators (SOC) and the International Cinematographers Guild IATSE Local 600.
VERA ARONOW is an independent filmmaker with a track record of award-winning work. She was producer and editor of BACKPACK FULL OF CASH, a feature documentary narrated by Matt Damon that explores the real cost of privatizing America’s public schools. She co-directed and edited MEGAMALL: Money, Power and Politics in the Age of Sprawl, which profiles the origins of the massive Palisades Center mall in Rockland County. Both features are available for educational use and for streaming through Vimeo on Demand. Early in her career she was Associate Producer for Bill Moyers’ award-winning PBS series, Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth, which remains one of the most popular series ever broadcast on public television. In 1996 she founded Turnstone Productions with her husband, cinematographer Roger Grange. Turnstone creates short films and feature documentaries while also doing freelance work for other producers.
Kathryn Valentina
Meow Meow: A Deadbeat Laments
