Heidi Ewing
Filmmaker
Cinematography and the Visual Language of Docs (Nov 19)
How can choices behind the lens turn everyday moments into powerful visual stories that stay with us? Accomplished cinematographers will share how they craft scenes, build meaning through imagery, and navigate the real-world challenges of filming nonfiction.
Co-presented by 
Each PRO Day Pass grants access to a single DOC NYC PRO day comprised of several panel discussions and all day access to the Festival Lounge where you can enjoy complimentary breakfast and happy hour.
To experience the DOC NYC PRO lineup, purchase an individual PRO Day Pass (via the Buy Day Pass button) to hone in on a specific topic, or benefit from discounted pricing when you purchase Multi-Day Pass Packs to an assortment of conference days.
10-11:15AM
Cinematography and Framing the Story
This session brings directors and cinematographers together to talk about how the way a film is framed–the style, the look, and the feel–can pull out the themes the director is trying to surface. Moderated by Tracie Holder, Heidi Ewing (Folktales), Mohammadreza Enyi (Cutting Through Rocks), will unpack their choices behind the camera that make an audience feel the weight of a story, even when nothing is being said out loud. Directors and DPs will share how they work together to find that visual language and what happens when the frame itself does some of the storytelling.
Heidi Ewing
Filmmaker
Heidi Ewing is the owner of LOKI FILMS is a New York-based production company founded by Ewing and frequent directing partner Rachel Grady. She is known for observational cinema and has been lauded for shining a light on unknown worlds in a highly visual and original style. Ewing has enjoyed an illustrious career as an Academy Award nominated documentary film director (Jesus Camp) and has recently expanded into narrative work. She wrote and directed her first scripted feature, I Carry You With Me, which won two awards at Sundance 2020 and was released by Sony Pictures Classics. Past films include Love Fraud (Showtime), One Of Us (Netflix), 12th & Delaware (HBO/Peabody Award), Detropia (POV/Emmy win), Norman Lear: Just Another Version Of You (American Masters), The Boys of Baraka (PBS) and Endangered (HBO/Emmy nominated). Her new documentary feature Folktales (directed with Grady) premiered at Sundance 2025 and was released in theaters by Magnolia Pictures.
Tracie Holder
Filmmaker
Tracie Holder
Filmmaker
Tracie Holder is a filmmaker, consultant, producer and film funding specialist. A 2016 Sundance Creative Producers Fellow, Holder leads workshops, tutors and serves on juries at international pitching and training sessions, and is a grant panelist for national and local funders. She is widely regarded as a “go-to” person and all-round resource for artists seeking U.S. funding, having raised more than $3 million in grant funding for her own projects. She was a longtime consultant to Women Make Movies, Development/Funding Strategist for Abby Disney’s Fork Films and former board member of NY Women in Film. Producing credits include Grit, (Hot Docs/POV), Small Town Universe, and Give It a Shot?, currently in production.
Mohammadreza Eyni
Filmmaker
Mohammadreza Eyni
Filmmaker
Mohammadreza Eyni is a director, producer, and cinematographer whose career and cinematic approach aim to bridge boundaries, elevate underrepresented voices, and connect diverse perspectives globally. A recent Sundance Institute grantee, Mohammadreza has produced and directed international films such as Convergence, a Netflix Original, and the co-directed short Our Iranian Lockdown, which was featured in The Guardian and nominated for an IDA Award. His latest feature documentary, Cutting Through Rocks, was the winner of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Award for World Cinema Documentary and will open in U.S. theaters beginning November 21.
11:30-12:45PM
Stories from the Field
National Geographic has long been at the forefront of creating compelling stories in natural history, science, adventure, and exploration, inspiring audiences to connect more deeply with the world around them. Moderated by Liz Nord (NYU Production Lab), cinematographers Emily Kassie, Tom Walker, Thor Thielsen, and Lars Skree share stories from the field, offering a behind-the-scenes look at their filmmaking tools, techniques, and experiences. From capturing breathtaking moments in extreme environments to navigating the challenges of documentary storytelling, this conversation will dive into the artistry, problem-solving, and collaboration that bring these vivid stories to life.
Emily Kassie
Filmmaker
Emily Kassie
Filmmaker
Emily Kassie is an Oscar-nominated filmmaker and investigative journalist. Her feature documentary debut, Sugarcane, directed alongside Julian Brave NoiseCat, follows an investigation into abuses at a former Indian Residential School. Sugarcane, which Kassie also served as producer and cinematographer, premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Directing Award for Documentary and was later nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary. Kassie’s Peabody and Emmy-nominated work for The New York Times, PBS Frontline, Netflix, and others ranges from drug and weapons trafficking in the Saharan desert to America’s immigrant detention system, to the Taliban’s crackdown on women, and has garnered multiple Edward R. Murrow, World Press Photo, and National Press Photographers awards. Her work on the economic exploitation of the Syrian and West African refugee crises won the Overseas Press Club Award and a National Magazine Award. She was a New America Fellow, a Forbes 30 under 30, and a Gates Scholar at Cambridge.
Tom Walker
Cinematographer
Tom Walker
Cinematographer
Tom Walker is a multi Emmy and BAFTA award winning Director of Photography from the United Kingdom. He specialises primarily in long lens and aerial animal behavioural work, often using gyro-stabilised camera systems and drones. These tools are used to allow precise stabilised camera positioning and movement through the animal’s habitat. He enjoys the challenge of using these complex gimbal systems to capture animal behaviours in a way that immerses the viewer in the scene. Over the last 14 years, Tom has worked across five feature films for Disneynature, as well as many landmark series with National Geographic, Netflix, BBC and Disney. These include, BBC: Planet Earth II/III, Dynasties II, Seven Worlds One Planet, and Perfect Planet, Nat Geo/Disney+: Underdogs, Queens, America the Beautiful, Animals up Close and Animals even Closer, Netflix: Our Planet and Life On Our Planet. Tom is currently filming across three forthcoming National Geographic series.
Lars Skree
Cinematographer
Lars Skree
Cinematographer
Lars Skree is a Director of Photography from Copenhagen from the Danish National Film School. Skree’s filmography includes several award-winning works, such as Putin’s Kiss, for which he won the Best World Cinema Cinematography award at the Sundance Film Festival in 2011. He was also Emmy-nominated for his work on the documentaries Armadillo, the Oscar-nominated The Act of Killing, and The Look of Silence directed by Joshua Oppenheimer. In addition, Skree won the Golden Frog award at Cameraimage in 2015 for his outstanding work on The Look of Silence. Recently, Skree won the Sundance Film Festival award for Best American Documentary in 2018 for his work on The Prize of Free. He also worked as the Director of Photography on two Emmy-nominated films in 2019 – The Prize of Free and Stolen Daughters: Kidnapped by Boko Haram for HBO/BBC. Most recently, Skree’s work as Director of Photography for the documentary Simple As Water has been shortlisted for the Oscars in 2022.
Thor Thielow
Cinematographer
Thor Thielow
Cinematographer
Thor Thielow is an Emmy & Cinema Eye Honors winning Cinematographer, Producer & Director based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Liz Nord
NYU Production Lab
Liz Nord
NYU Production Lab
Liz Nord is an Emmy-winning producer and documentary filmmaker who has created and shown work across the globe. She is Head of Programs and Creative Development at the NYU Production Lab, where she runs the Feature Film Development Studio. She recently served as Director of Content at Sundance, where she helped develop Sundance Collab into the premiere global learning destination for emerging filmmakers. Previously, she served as the Editor-in-Chief and Lead Producer at No Film School. Liz is also an advisor for several artist development programs including Latino Public Broadcasting’s Emerging Filmmaker Fellowship and the Jewish Writers’ Initiative. She has presented extensively on creative practice and the film and TV industry, notably at TEDx and SXSW.
2:00-3:15PM
Spotlight: DOC NYC Films and Visual Voice
DOC NYC’s programming celebrates the many ways filmmakers craft a visual language that pulls us into their worlds. In this session cinematographers from across the festival lineup reflect on the creative decisions that define their films’ look and feel. Together, they’ll explore how visual tone, texture, and composition turn real-life stories into cinematic experiences that stay with us. Moderated by Will Thwaites (Crime & Parody) and including co-directors Khoa Ha and Victor Velle (Y Vân: The Lost Sounds Of Saigon), director/DP Marc Lesser (The Memories of Others), and DP Martin DiCiccio (Heightened Scrutiny), we explore three films from this year’s program.
Will Thwaites
Filmmaker
Will Thwaites
Filmmaker
Will Thwaites is a documentary filmmaker based in Brooklyn, New York. He’s worked on projects for Netflix, Amazon, National Geographic, and PBS. Will was a producer on two acclaimed Netflix series: Full Swing and My Next Guest with David Letterman. He started his career at Kartemquin Films (Oscar-nominated producers of Minding the Gap and Hoop Dreams) where he worked on the Emmy Award-winning film, The Homestretch. Will’s directorial debut, a feature documentary called Crime & Parody, will premiere in 2026.
Khoa Ha
Filmmaker
Khoa Ha
Filmmaker
As a first-generation Vietnamese American, my journey from Saigon to the U.S. has always been driven by a need to create, to remember, and to reclaim. For over a decade, I worked as an art director and designer, shaping stories through visuals, but film has given me a way to speak from the soul. Y Vân: The Lost Sounds of Saigon is more than a creative leap; it’s a calling. A love letter. A rebellion. I’m here to tell the story only I can tell: to revive a legacy nearly erased by war, time, and silence. My grandfather’s music lives in my blood, and through this film, I’m bringing it back into the light where it belongs. This is about memory as power, identity as resistance, and art as the bridge between generations. Because it was never truly lost, only waiting to be remembered.
Victor Velle
Filmmaker
Victor Velle
Filmmaker
From an early age, I was drawn to storytelling in all its forms. What began as a love for narrative soon grew into a deep commitment to uncovering and sharing remarkable true stories through documentary filmmaking. Y Vân: The Lost Sounds of Saigonbrought new challenges. As a non-Vietnamese filmmaker stepping into a profoundly personal story, I knew it was essential to lead with humility and care. Co-directing with Khoa Ha—Y Vân’s granddaughter—I focused on supporting her voice, her perspective, and her family’s journey. Though I began as an outsider, the film’s emotional depth and universal themes quickly made it feel like home. It reminded me that the most powerful stories often transcend borders, cultures, and language.
Martin DiCicco
Cinematographer
Martin DiCicco
Cinematographer
Martin DiCicco’s debut feature, All That Passes By Through A Window That Doesn’t Open (2017) won the Regard Neuf Award at Visions du Réel, the Cinematic Vision Award at the Camden IFF, and the Artistic Merit Prize of the Taiwan IDF. His short film, Here There Is No Earth (2018) has been exhibited at the 56th New York Film Festival, MoMA Doc Fortnight, Zinebi, Dokufest, and the Cinemateca Uruguaya. As a cinematographer, he shot the documentary features Union (Sundance), Sam Feder’s Heightened Scrutiny (Sundance), Iva Radivojevic’s When The Phone Rang (Locarno), Jem Cohen’s Little, Big, And Far (New York Film Festival) and forthcoming films by Angelo Madsen, Hao Wu, and Mishka Brown.
Marc Lesser
Filmmaker
Marc Lesser
Filmmaker
Marc Lesser is an Emmy nominated director and founder of Lucky Tiger Productions in New York City. Recent projects include producing and editing Keïta La a documentary short about renowned photographer Seydou Keïta, currently screening at the Brooklyn Museum; producing, directing, shooting and editing The Memories of Others: Akihiko Okamura’s Ireland a documentary short, screening at festivals worldwide; directing episodes of WeSpeak, a narrative television series that educates immigrants about their rights, that earned him several Emmy Awards nominations, including Best Director; producing and directing short documentaries for non-profits and cultural institutions such as the International Center of Photography and the International Red Cross Museum in Geneva. His VR piece The Immersive Saul Leiter Studio Experience, premiered at the Bunkamura Museum in Tokyo in July 2023. He was a producer and cinematographer for the award-winning feature length documentary Greenlit, which premiered at SXSW in 2010 and The Pathological Optimist, which was released theatrically in 2017. Marc received an M.F.A. in filmmaking from the City College of New York.
3:30-4:45pm
What DPs Wish Directors Knew
The relationship between a director and a DP is at its strongest when it’s deeply collaborative. Trust and shared vision bring a film’s visual language to life. Cinematographers Mia Cioffi Henry (Cover-Up), Ayana Baraka (In the Arena: Serena Williams) will explore with moderator Liz Nord (NYU Production Lab) what DPs are looking for in that partnership. How can directors support them? How do you define the “present tense” of a film and the “now” of the story that connects the pieces? Panelists will share insights into the dynamics that help these collaborations thrive and create images that carry the story’s emotional weight.
Special thanks to community partner the Hollywood Radio & TV Society for their support of this panel.
Mia Cioffi Henry
Cinematographer
Mia Cioffi Henry
Cinematographer
Mia Cioffi Henry is a Cinematographer, based in New York City and Italy. She travels all over the world to shoot feature films, television, commercials and music videos which have premiered in major film festivals such as Cannes, Venice, Berlinale and Sundance.
With a background in dance, production design and still photography, Ms. Cioffi Henry’s artistic approach is characterized by a focus on character perspective, heightened naturalism, and carefully composed shots. These intimate frames tell compelling stories and showcase a talent for capturing diverse skin tones.
Sorry, Baby (A24) directed by Eva Victor, premiered at Sundance in 2025 and went on to close Cannes Director’s Fortnight.
Cover-Up (Netflix) directed by Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus premiered at The Venice Film Festival in 2025.
Ms. Cioffi Henry received her MFA in Cinematography at NYU Tisch, where she is an Associate Arts Professor.
Liz Nord
NYU Production Lab
Liz Nord
NYU Production Lab
Liz Nord is an Emmy-winning producer and documentary filmmaker who has created and shown work across the globe. She is Head of Programs and Creative Development at the NYU Production Lab, where she runs the Feature Film Development Studio. She recently served as Director of Content at Sundance, where she helped develop Sundance Collab into the premiere global learning destination for emerging filmmakers. Previously, she served as the Editor-in-Chief and Lead Producer at No Film School. Liz is also an advisor for several artist development programs including Latino Public Broadcasting’s Emerging Filmmaker Fellowship and the Jewish Writers’ Initiative. She has presented extensively on creative practice and the film and TV industry, notably at TEDx and SXSW.
Ayana Baraka
Cinematographer
Ayana Baraka
Cinematographer
Ayana Baraka, named one of Variety’s 10 Cinematographers to Watch in 2024, is an Emmy-winning Producer and Director of Photography based in New York. A voting member of the TV Academy and one of only six Black female DPs in IATSE Local 600, she has had films premiere in consecutive years at Tribeca. Most recently, she shot ESPN’s In The Arena: Serena Williams (2024) and Paramount+’s Uncharted (2023), following Alicia Keys’ “She Is the Music” camp. Her credits also include Behind The Curtain: Eclipsed with Lupita Nyong’o and Danai Gurira, The Hunting Ground, United Skates, and Sundance 2022’s Aftershock.
Ayana has received numerous honors, including the Visionary Award from Black Film Space, the Innovative Storyteller Award from Nashville Film Festival, and a New York regional Emmy for My Asian. She was also recognized as a “person on the rise” in Hollywood by Mel Jones.
Her work extends into immersive storytelling with Greenwood Avenue: A Virtual Reality Experience, used to teach Black history in cities nationwide through partnerships with the Chicago Bulls, Oklahoma City Thunder, and others. A graduate of USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, she has been a YouTube VR Creator Fellow, Oculus Connect Fellow, and Black Public Media 360+ Incubator Fellow.
DOC NYC PRO is co-presented by:
