Congratulations to all the recipients of the 2021-22 Inwood Art Works Filmmaker Fund. These are their stories that we are helping bring to the screen.
The Fund was created to financially support and encourage the creation of locally-made cinema in the Inwood NYC community, which includes Inwood, Washington Heights, Harlem, Marble Hill, Kingsbridge, and Riverdale. Now in its third year, and despite the global pandemic, it has persisted to “green light” the visions of local filmmakers and provide a spark to our artistic economy. More than 75% of the grant money this year will be awarded to minority filmmakers as part of our goal to reflect the diversity of New York City and the Uptown (Manhattan/Bronx) community in our programming.
More information about the Fund submission criteria can be found on our Filmmaker Fund information page.
Project Title: Secadora
A short film that explores identity, sex, and race in the Dominican culture.
Elyssa Aquino is a 29 year old Dominican woman, who was born and raised in Riverdale in the Bronx. She serves as a full time Director, DP, and Editor. She has a strong background in television and digital production. She has worked with celebrities such as Oprah, Kevin Hart, and Maluma. Aside from her passion in film making, she is also the CEO of her own production company called “Strange Fruit Productions” which serves as an all women of color production company that focuses on empowering women both behind and in front of the camera.
Project Title: I am Poem
A 10 year old Latinx boy reveals his true gender identity to his father while his heartless mother is in denial of her son’s truth.
Maite Bonilla is the director, co-writer and lead character in her first short film “ La Entreviú.” She won Best Actress, Best Screenwriter and Best Short film for “La Entreviú” at FEMUJER film festival (2019) in her hometown of the Dominican Republic. La Entreviú won third place in The Dominican Film Festival in New York City (2018). Ms. Bonilla recently played “Beli” in the Spanish adaptation for “The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” by Junot Diaz at Repertorio Español. She is an award winning actress and nominee from several prestigious Latino Theater awards as ACE, HOLA, LATA, and ATI for her role as “Ramona” from the novel “En el nombre de Salomé” by Julia Alvarez (In the name of Salome) also at Repertorio Espanol. After some appearances on screen as main and secondary characters, in addition to serving as producer, La Entreviu represents her first big challenge as a director and screenwriter. Bonilla studied with Terry Schreiber, The Acting Studio and The School for Film and Television in New York City. You can hear her voice in national and local commercials both on camera and radio as a bilingual Spanish/English artist. Ms. Bonilla recently graduated from her Masters Degree in Mental Health Counseling from Alfred University June 2020.
Project Title: The Night of their Breakup
One weekend night, Ariel finds himself comforting Luna, his best friend’s girlfriend after suddenly breaking up with her. They attempt to figure out the reasoning behind the breakup while exploring some tension that existed in the past.
Carlos Deschamps (Director/Writer) was born in Washington Heights to Dominican parents. He has been in love with storytelling since he was a child, where he would spend hours on end creating narratives in his head with whatever toy he had at his disposal. It wasn’t until his teenage years that he discovered the world of filmmaking and how he could use it to make his stories come to life. Through the eyes of the lens, Carlos has been able to tell his Uptown stories to many.
Project Title: Go Live in the Woods
A documentary short film that follows Pat Tillery and Libbie Rice who have called Inwood their home since 1974. This film is a portrait of two long-time neighbors who began a true friendship during the isolation of the pandemic, and provide a playful view of what it means to be local.
Brandon Stirling Baker is an Inwood-Based filmmaker and lighting designer working internationally in the areas of dance, opera, theatre and film. His lighting can be seen internationally in the repertories of New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, San Francisco Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, Hong Kong Ballet, Berlin Staatsballet, Miami City Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Boston Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Houston Ballet, Semperoper Dresden, Opera Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Paul Taylor’s American Modern Dance, and many others. Baker’s work has been presented by major venues including the Guggenheim Museum, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Hollywood Bowl, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Theatre du Chatelet (Paris), Sadlers Wells (London), and the Guggenheim Bilbao (Spain). Baker received the prestigious Knight of Illumination Award (KOI-USA) in 2019, and was appointed Lighting Director and Resident Lighting Designer of the Boston Ballet in 2018.
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