Personal Statement

JULIANE DRESNNER (Director)

Juliane Dressner is a director, producer and cinematographer who makes character based films that often focus on young people who are overcoming challenging circumstances. Her films have shed light on economic and racial justice issues in education and the criminal justice system (one example is THE SCARS OF STOP-AND-FRISK, which was published as an Op-Doc by The New York Times). She won the National Magazine Award for video for her short film, AN EDUCATION, which was published by The New York Times magazine. Her other short films have been published by The New York Times, The Guardian, The Atlantic, New York magazine, and Buzzfeed. PERSONAL STATEMENT is her first feature-length documentary.

BETH LEVISON (Producer)

Beth Levison is a seasoned independent producer/director and the recipient of two national Emmy Awards and three Peabody Awards. As producer, she recently completed 32 PILLS: MY SISTER’S SUICIDE (Hot Docs, 2017), a raw, personal portrait of grief, which broadcast on HBO in 2018. Prior to that, she produced THE TRIALS OF SPRING (Human Rights Watch Int’l Film Festival, 2015), a cross-media project including a feature-length documentary and six shorts about women human rights activists in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Syria, Bahrain and Yemen that will premiere on PBS stations in 2018. Her independent documentary directorial debut LEMON (DOC NYC, 2011) about Brooklyn-born poet and performer Lemon Andersen was executive produced by Impact Partners and Russell Simmons, shown at some 40 festivals around the world, and broadcast on PBS stations nationwide. Levison is producing faculty with the MFA program in Social Documentary Film at the School of Visual Arts (SVA).

EDWIN MARTINEZ (Co-Director/Editor/Cinematographer)

Edwin Martinez is a Bronx-born filmmaker whose work has screened theatrically, nationally, internationally and on major television and news outlets including PBS, ESPN, Fox, CBS, and the New York Times. His first feature documentary, TO BE HEARD, was named by the New York Times a “critics pick” and “one of the best documentaries of the year.” The film went on to win awards at DOC NYC, Seattle International, Nantucket, San Diego Latino, and Sarasota film festivals among others. Martinez also co-developed and produced THE CLEMENTE EFFECT (dir. Mario Diaz), edited CITY OF TREES (dir. Brandon Kramer), and shot RACHEL IS (dir. Charlotte Glynn), LEAVE NO SOLDIER (dir. Donna Bassin), LAS MARTHAS (dir. Cristina Ibarra) and WHAT ALICE FOUND (dir. A. Dean Bell, Special Grand Jury Prize winner, 2003 Sundance Film Festival). Martinez has recently returned to his alma mater as an Assistant Professor of Film in the SUNY Purchase Film Conservatory.