NeXt Doc Presenting Artists
The presenting artists at NeXt Doc are integral to the program's mission of supporting emerging documentary storytellers. By sharing their films, leading workshops, and engaging in critical conversations, these experienced artists provide invaluable mentorship and insight into the craft and deeper purposes of non-fiction filmmaking. Their participation not only foregrounds our commitment to skill-sharing and intergenerational learning, but also fosters a sense of community and inspiration among the fellows, bridging the gap between aspiring and established filmmakers.
Next Doc Presenting Artists
Youth FX and NeXt Doc are excited to announce our 2019 NeXt Doc Presenting Filmmakers and Visiting Fellows who will be screening films, leading workshops and participating in critical field-building conversations at our opening gathering of this years Fellowship, June 1st - June 7th. We’re excited to have Jackie Olive (Always In Season), Michéle Stephenson (Changing Same, American Promise), Yvonne Welbon (Sisters In Cinema, The New Black), and Rosine Mbakam (Chez Jolie Coffuire) joining us as our 2019 presenting filmmakers. This years NeXt Doc is also introducing a new Visiting Fellows program with Jasmine Bowles (co-director, Southern Documentary Fund) and Natalie Erazo (programmer, BAMCinétek) joining us to deepen the dialogue within the intersections of filmmaking, funding and programming. We will also welcome back Kristin Feeley from the Sundance Documentary Program, one of our industry partners, to offer insights on pitching, funding and the art of non-fiction.
2024 Presenting Artists
Our presenting filmmakers and virtual mentors from South Africa, Lebanon and the United States further reflect our vision for a more international lens for this year’s programming. The 2023 NeXt Doc presenting filmmakers will be Milisuthando Bengela (Milisuthando), Damon Davis (Whose Streets?), and Dr. Kahmeelah Mu’min Oseguera (Subject) and our virtual filmmaker mentors will be NeXt Doc 2017 alum Jude Chehab (Q) and Fahd Ahmed (Q).
DR. KAMEELAH MU'MIN OSEGUERA
DR. KAMEELAH MU'MIN OSEGUERA (she/her) is a leading expert in trauma informed considerations and practices in documentary filmmaking and has served as a consultant to documentary filmmakers, directors and writers on matters related to race, religion, participant care, ethics, consent and healing centered filmmaking. Dr. Kam is the Head of Care at Multitude Films, an Executive Producer and Coordinator of Care and Wellness for the film SUBJECT. Dr. Kam is a member of the Documentary Accountability Working Group (DAWG) and Color Congress, a national collective of majority people of color (POC) and POC-led organizations aimed at centering and strengthening nonfiction storytelling. Dr. Kam is the Founding Executive Director of Muslim Wellness Foundation and Assistant Professor of Psychology & Muslim Studies at Chicago Theological Seminary.
DAMON DAVIS
DAMON DAVIS (he/him) is a post-disciplinary artist who works and resides in St. Louis, Missouri. His work spans a spectrum of creative mediums to tell stories exploring how identity is informed by power and mythology. Davis’ work is featured in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, and he has exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, Saint Louis Art Museum, Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts, and the San Diego Contemporary Museum of Art. He has been a fellow of Firelight Media, Sundance Labs, TED, and the Kennedy Center. He the is Co-Director of critically acclaimed documentary Whose Streets?, chronicling the Ferguson rebellion of 2014.
MILISUTHANDO BONGELA-DAVIS
MILISUTHANDO BONGELA-DAVIS (b.1985, South Africa) is an award-winning writer, editor, cultural worker and artist. Her career began in the fashion industry but the last 16 years have seen her traverse the worlds of music, art, media and film - continually turning towards indigenous knowledge systems. She was Arts Editor for the Mail & Guardian's Friday section and was host and co-producer of the podcast Umoya: On African Spirituality with Dr. Athambile Masola. Her first feature film, a personal essay documentary titled MILISUTHANDO had its world premier at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, was the opening film to Encounters International Film Festival in South Africa and was selected for MoMA’s New Directors / New Films programme 2023. She is an inaugural fellow of the 2020 Adobe Women at Sundance Fellowship and is currently working as a producer on a short fiction film directed by her long term collaborator Hankyeol Lee.
Virtual Filmmaker Mentors
JUDE CHEHAB
Jude Chehab is a Lebanese-American filmmaker whose cinematic interests have drawn her to the exploration of the esoteric, the spiritual and the unspoken. A richly layered visual and intimate personal shooting style developed under the mentorship of Abbas Kiarostami’s final student group; Jude has been credited in collaborations with the BBC, Hot Docs, Refinery29, and Oxfam. She has worked as a DP internationally, on films in Somalia, Sudan and Pakistan and was an AP on Sesame Street’s show, Ahlan Simsim, for Syrian refugees. Her work has been awarded fellowships through: CAAM, BGDM, Points North Institute, Firelight Media and Chicken & Egg. Jude’s first feature documentary, Q, was named one of the best documentaries of 2023 by Vogue Magazine. It was supported by: IDA, ITVS, TFI, and the Sundance Institute and won the Albert Maysles award for Best New Documentary Director at Tribeca and the Grand Jury Award for Best First Feature at Sheffield DocFest. She is part of DOCNYC's '40 under 40' list and Filmmaker Magazine named her one of the 25 New Faces of Independent Film.
FAHD AHMED
Fahd Ahmed is an editor based in London. He is the founder and creative director of Studio Amorem, a studio in East London focusing mainly on nonfiction and commercial work. He is a producer on the leading Arab Ramadan show, Kannak Tarah. He was an editing fellow in the Gotham Edit Lab, Close-Up Berlin Lab as well as the Sundance Story and Edit Lab. He has edited for the BBC and is a story editor on the PBS-funded 3-part docuseries, A Town Called Victoria. He edited the award-winning feature documentary, “Q” that is shortlisted for the IDA Awards. He is currently producing a BFI-funded short set in Bradford.
Previous Presenting Artists
