Raphaela Neihausen
Raphaela Neihausen is the founding Executive Director of DOC NYC. She co-hosts WNYC’s Documentary of the Week and executive produces the podcast Pure Nonfiction. She produced the 2017 Oscar® nominated short film Joe’s Violin and the feature documentary Miss Gulag. She has served as the founding executive director for several festival startups including Split Screens Festival, 51Fest, and the Montclair Film Festival. Prior to her film career, she worked for seven years at Mercer Management Consulting (now Oliver Wyman), advising Fortune 100 companies on strategic growth. She holds a BSFS/MA from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.
Jaie Laplante
Jaie joined the DOC NYC team in June, 2022. Prior to that, Jaie served for 12 years as the Miami Film Festival’s Executive Director and Co-Director of Programming, where his achievements included greatly expanding that festival’s documentary selections, as well as launching successful initiatives such as a digital screening platform, the GEMS festival, and the Google Talks on Gender & Racial Gaps in Film & Technology. He simultaneously oversaw year-round programming at the historic Tower Theater in Miami’s Little Havana. He previously served as Associate Director of the New York City Wine & Food Festival and as a programmer at festivals focused on shorts and LGBTQ+ films. He has served on numerous film festival juries, including the U.S. Competition jury at DOC NYC 2021.
Director of Industry and Education
Malikkah Rollins
Director of Industry and Education
As the new Director of Industry and Education at DOC/NYC, Malikkah will oversee a portfolio of projects including DOC NYC PRO, the festival’s line-up of educational courses and industry networking opportunities; Only In New York industry meetings for filmmakers with works-in-progress; and the 40 Under 40 list. Malikkah brings 15 years of experience in education, counseling, and professional development to the role. As a freelance doc producer, WIFV/DC board member, Sundance Collab Community Leader and D Word Ambassador, Malikkah’s passion is rooted in connecting people and building stronger, more collaborative film communities.
Director of Special Projects
Thom Powers
Director of Special Projects
Sarah Modo
Sarah has been immersed in the film industry since 2016, bringing her passion for the arts and self-expression to various roles. She currently works at the IFC Center and has been a driving force behind communications and operations at DOC NYC. Previously, she made impactful contributions at Pure Nonfiction, the Montclair Film Festival, and Argot Pictures. Possessing a BA in Television and Digital Media from Montclair State University, Sarah brings a unique blend of creativity and strategic prowess to her work.
Senior Programmer, Features
Karen McMullen
Senior Programmer, Features
Karen is a Features Programmer at Tribeca Festival, Director of Programming at TIDE and screener for Sundance Film Festival. She’s a juror at Pan African and Bentonville Film Festivals, Black Public Media and Cinema Eye Honors. She moderates for African Film Festival, Pure Nonfiction, Netflix, NYWIFT, HBO and more. She’s a guest speaker on television, radio and at filmmaking organizations. She’s a Brown University graduate and has editing credits on features, documentaries, and short films.
Senior Programmer, Features
Ruth Somalo
Senior Programmer, Features
Ruth is a Spanish programmer, curator and filmmaker. She has worked with DOC NYC for twelve years, programs for the Architecture and Design Film Festival and often curates independent nonfiction programs like “Holy Fluids” (UnionDocs), “Broken Senses” (Anthology Film Archives) and “The Limit Of Our Gaze” (KJCC). Ruth has programmed for International Festivals like DocumentaMadrid, was the co-director of Impugning Impunity Human Rights Film Festival and serves as President of The Flaherty Board of Trustees.
Senior Programmer, Features
Brandon Harrison
Senior Programmer, Features
Brandon Harrison began at DOC NYC as screener, before joining the programming team in 2019. He has curated features, shorts, and series at Brooklyn Film Festival, Nashville, and Tribeca, while also serving on various documentary juries and committees. He is currently a Development Executive at Words+Pictures.
Senior Programmer, Shorts & DOC NYC U
Samah Ali
Senior Programmer, Shorts & DOC NYC U
Samah Ali is a distributor and film programmer based in New York City and Toronto. A lover of documentaries and virtual reality, she programs for Academy Award qualifying festivals DOC NYC, Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, and Hot Docs Film Festival. She is also the founder of Sisterhood Media, a production and distribution company streaming films on their platform, Sisterhood Media TV. You can interact with her on Twitter @sistersamah.
Bedatri D. Choudhury
Bedatri is a culture journalist and documentary film professional. She has managed documentary projects at Doc Society, Working Films, The Gotham Film & Media Institute, and CAAM, among others. An alumna of the NYFF Critics Academy, Sundance and SXSW Press Inclusion Initiatives, the National Critics’ Institute, and Berlinale Talents, she lives in New York City. Presently, she is the Managing Editor of Documentary Magazine.
Murtada Elfadl
Murtada Elfadl is a culture writer, critic, and film curator. Originally from Khartoum, Sudan, he is currently based in New York City. His writing has been published at Variety, The A.V. Club, Backstage, among other publications. He hosts the Izzy and Murtada Picture Show podcast. In addition to DOC NYC, Murtada is also a programmer at NewFest, New York’s LGBTQ Film Festival.
DeWitt Davis
DeWitt has been working with film and cinema presentations for over 15 years. He has been with DOC NYC since the first year of the festival and an Associate Programmer of Shorts since 2018. Over the years he has worked for multiple North American film festivals in the technical and programming teams. He also worked in film restoration and taught classes in motion picture film for Kodak.
Anita Raswant
Anita is passionate about telling stories of minorities and having their voices heard through film and art. She is currently the Shorts Programmer and Program Manager for the Nantucket Film Festival and has done stints at Tribeca Film Festival, Hamptons International Film Festival, Philadelphia Film Festival, and more. Anita grew up in Rome, Italy but has been a loyal Queens resident after graduating with a B.A. in Sociology from St. John’s University.
Hannah Tyman
In addition to serving as DOC NYC’s Submissions Manager, Hannah works as the Festival Coordinator at the Nantucket Film Festival, and at NewFest. A graduate of Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film & Media Arts, she also is a writer and story analyst. Originally from Massachusetts, Hannah resides in Brooklyn.
Curt Heiner
Curt Heiner is a media artist and professional working in the film production and exhibition industry as a projectionist, technical coordinator, location sound mixer, cinematographer, and editor. He is currently the Festival Director for Mimesis Documentary Festival in Boulder where he earned his BFA in Film Studies from the University of Colorado. His creative work is geared towards analog and experimental filmmaking with a focus on projection performance, installation, and single-channel projects rooted in both documentary and narrative. In addition to his creative work, Curt is involved in the local, national, and international film community, serving as a board member with the Colorado-based nonprofit Process Reversal where he provides support and promotion for film, video, and sound artists through educational workshops, equipment distribution, and screenings.
Sarah Rogers
Sarah Rogers found her love of documentary film ten years ago in her home state of Maine by volunteering for the Camden International Film Festival. She now does everything for film festivals from building guest lounges, to managing volunteers, to supporting sponsor relationships. You can find her traveling to the next documentary film festival in her big red van with her dog Odin.
Isabella Jackson
Isabella Jackson is a filmmaker, writer and dancer from Pennsylvania. She moved to New York in 2010 to pursue dance at The New School where she received her BA with a double major in Dance Culture & Media studies. Out of undergrad she worked as an Assistant Editor for director Caveh Zahedi on his web series, The Show About The Show. Soon after she attended graduate school at Brooklyn College, graduating in 2020 with her Masters in Screenwriting. She began working in TV in 2020 as a Script Coordinator for the Paramount series, George & Tammy under showrunner, Abe Sylvia. She moved on to become a Writer’s Assistant for Sylvia at Apple TV where she was also the Writer’s Assistant for an upcoming David E. Kelly project. In between writer’s rooms she has worked as an Associate Programmer for the Hamptons International Film Festival and as the Features Programmer for The Rooftop Film Festival.
40 Under 40 Coordinator & Voices of Canada Industry Roundtables Producer
Kate Lemberg
40 Under 40 Coordinator & Voices of Canada Industry Roundtables Producer
In addition to her artist programs work at DOC NYC, Kate Lemberg is the Associate Manager, Industry Relations & Artist Programs at Points North; a staff programmer at RiverRun and Nashville; the Film Nominations Associate for the Independent Spirit Awards; the Creators Market Producer and an assistant programmer at Tribeca; and has screened for many other festivals in the U.S. She’s been a juror for the IDA Awards. Having begun her work in festivals in venue and ticketing operations, she still works in those arenas on occasion. Kate is a proud BA & MA alum of Cinema Studies at NYU Tisch.
Fever Content
Fever Content is a full-service digital marketing agency based in Los Angeles that builds innovative social media and paid media content for films, cinemas, film festivals, record labels, and musicians, by fusing traditional know-how with emerging technologies and platforms. Their creatively rich and data-driven strategies help clients achieve their goals by reaching audiences not just where they are, but where they are going.
Orange Static
Orange Static is a boutique design and web development agency that helps bring ideas to life. Since 2010, this team has built a niche in the storytelling community by creating purpose driven solutions that help projects breakthrough, stand out, and be unique in every way.
Joanna Lehan
Joanna Lehan is an editor and writer on visual culture. Formally a curator at the International Center of Photography, she produced publications there, as well as at Aperture Foundation. She has taught in ICP-Bard’s MFA program and Barnard College. Joanna holds an MA in Liberal Studies from The Graduate Center, CUNY, where she wrote on the intersection of documentary film and photography.
Visionaries Tribute Luncheon Producer
Allyson Morgan
Visionaries Tribute Luncheon Producer
Allyson Morgan is a writer, producer, performer, and the founder and Executive Director of the award-winning film and theatre collective F*It Club. Her film festival work has included Brooklyn Film Festival, Camden International Film Festival, Hamptons International Film Festival, Indie Street Film Festival, NewFest, and Nantucket Film Festival. She also serves as a producer for Craft Ed. Seminars, hosted by the IFC Center. Allyson was named one of just five winners out of thousands of entrants from over 63 countries in the Bombay Sapphire Imagination Series; her short film Need For Speed (Dating) premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. She has also twice been awarded a Juno Leadership Residency through the Omega Institute. Her short film, Sitting, is making its world premiere at SCAD Savannah Film Festival, followed by the Tallgrass Film Festival in October 2020, and First Date, her newest short film produced by Fox/Disney, is set to premiere on Hulu beginning October 2020.
Jordan Maelyn Smith
Jordan Maelyn Smith is a film critic, public librarian and musician who has been working in various capacities with DOC NYC since 2015. She currently edits the weekly Monday Memo and Weekend Watch newsletters. Her published work focusing mainly on documentary cinema has appeared at Senses of Cinema, Nonfics, Stranger Than Fiction, IONcinema, and Influence Film Club, and is a member of the Trans Journalists Association and the Online Film Critics Society. Jordan completed her undergraduate studies at the State University of New York Fredonia and completed her Masters degree at the University at Buffalo.
Christina D. Bartson
Christina D. Bartson is DOC NYC’s Associate Producer. She is a filmmaker and archivist based in New York and London. Her projects consider how historical narratives about conflict, people, and land are metastasized and mobilized through archival media with specific interest given to critical media theory and globalization.
As an associate producer, archival producer, and producer, she’s worked on feature and short non-fiction films that have been shortlisted for an Academy Award and screened and won awards at HotDocs, DOC NYC, Tribeca Film Festival, One World International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival, and more. Previously, Christina worked as producer, archival producer, and associate producer for productions with Vice News, Expectation TV, The SpringHill Company, McGee Media, PBS, MTV Documentaries, HBO Documentaries, Aubin Pictures, and the American Civil Liberties Union. Before film, she worked as a digital media journalist at National Public Radio.
Christina is a 2024 NBC Universal Original Voices Accelerator Fellow, a 2023 Global Research Institute Fellow (New York University), 2023 Moore Research Fellow (Swarthmore College), and the 2022-2024 Diversabilities Scholar at New York University. She holds her M.A. in Media, Culture, and Communication from New York University where her graduate research focused on critical media theory and war media, and her B.A. in Media Studies from Emerson College.