Jennifer Brea
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The Evolution of Impact: The Future of Social Change and Nonfiction Storytelling
The conversation about documentary impact has undergone a number of shifts since impact producing began to emerge as a practice within the documentary field around 20 years ago. Today it is almost expected that a social issue documentary film will be accompanied by an impact campaign to help ensure its story will reach audiences and motivate them towards social change, deeper engagement with a story’s themes and further learning. But earlier, things were different—the argument had to be made that some documentary filmmakers should focus on impact and to develop best practices for engaging audiences around a film and its […]
by Sahar Driver and Sonya Childress on Aug 23, 2022 -
Sundance Announces New Creative Distribution Fellowship with Columbus, Unrest
The Sundance Institute announced today a new initiative aimed at filmmakers going the DIY distribution route. The inaugural projects supported by the Creative Distribution Fellowship are two recommended independent films that premiered this past January at Sundance: Columbus, by Filmmaker 25 New Face :: kogonada, and Unrest, a documentary by director and subject Jennifer Brea. In the press release, Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute, said, “Columbus and Unrest are perfect examples of the creative spirit of independent filmmaking, and this new Fellowship will provide them with resources, mentorship and tactical support to pioneer independent pathways to audiences. This […]
by Scott Macaulay on May 2, 2017 -
“Chronic Illness Doesn’t Lead to Tidy Endings”: Editor Kim Roberts on Unrest
Jennifer Brea had a challenge: to make a film from bed. Brea was a PhD student at Harvard when a sudden illness left her bedridden. She sought to create a documentary portrait of her experience and found support from labs at Sundance, IFP and elsewhere. She premiered Unrest, her debut film, in competition at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. Kim Roberts, an editor and writer on the film, spoke with Filmmaker about what drew her to the project and finding the right tone for a story this personal. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 25, 2017
