Meet the 2021-22 BDC Films Fellows
Introducing Samantha Alvarez, Sean-Josahi Brown, Xavier Cousens, and Sofie Vasquez!
BDC Films is excited to introduce this year's cohort of BDC Films Fellows: Samantha Alvarez, Sean Josahí Brown, Xavier Cousens, and Sofie Vasquez!
BDC Films was created in response to the lack of support for traditionally underrepresented documentary filmmakers in the Bronx, as well as to the changes in storytelling professions that require a broader skillset for potential employment in creative industries. BDC Films is run by Zachary Kerschberg, Program Manager.
Samantha Alvarez is a Bronx-based filmmaker that has been honing her skills since 2015. Originally a painter, Samantha blends her multidisciplinary skills to focus on stories that highlight underrepresented voices in media. As a storyteller, she wants to provide opportunities for viewers to step into other people’s shoes in a creative and educational way. Samantha has previously worked as a teaching artist and currently works as a video freelancer. Her passions for filmmaking and social justice brought her to study Documentary Filmmaking and Journalism at the City College of New York. She is also an NBCU Academy Fellow. Samantha looks forward to growing her skills for many more years to come. INSTAGRAM
Sean-Josahi Brown is a documentarian whose work depicts the dignity and resilience of people living in the inner cities. Born in Harlem, New York, he draws inspiration from the common human experience to capture raw emotion and share compelling stories that raise awareness for social issues. With a background in documentary film, Sean uses this medium to help others find their voice through art and creativity while producing work geared towards radical change. INSTAGRAM
Xavier Cousens is a New York City-based documentary filmmaker and journalist. His work has been screened at the St. Louis International Film Festival and the Woods Hole Film Festival. He has also worked as an archival researcher for the BAFTA-nominated documentary The Great Hack (2019) and as a production assistant on the HBO documentary series The Vow (2020). As a print journalist, he has written articles spanning from Covid-19’s lasting effects on healthcare to DNA testing. He holds a BA in Anthropology from Lehigh University and an MA in Journalism from New York University. INSTAGRAM
Sofie Vasquez is an Ecuadorian documentary photographer born and raised in the Bronx, New York. Her artwork explores the communities within subcultures through a personal perspective and has been featured in The New York Times, exhibited at the Bronx Museum of the Arts, the Bronx Documentary Center, the Ecuadorian-American Cultural Center, The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center, the Shirley
Fiterman Art Center, the DGT Alumni Association Gallery House, Photoville and En Foco Inc. Sofie is an alumnus of the International Center of Photography's Community Fellows, and is a part of the first graduating class of the fellowship, 2018-2020. She was a student at The City College of New York until the COVID-19 pandemic forced her to pause her studies. She currently freelances as a traveling documentary photographer.
INSTAGRAM