Meet the 2023 Southern Exposure Fellows!

Alabama Rivers Alliance is incredibly excited and beaming with pride to announce the selection of five amazingly talented documentary filmmakers for the 2023 Southern Exposure Film Fellowship kicking off on June 12. During the innovative six-week summer program, the fellows will create short documentaries that tell impactful stories about Alabama’s environment and the important work required to protect its abundance of natural wonders and scenic beauty.

Meet the 2023 Southern Exposure fellows:

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ANNIE FOREMAN

Annie Foreman (she/her) is an emerging filmmaker from Huntsville, Alabama. She is currently pursuing a degree in Computer Science with a minor in Film at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Her first experience in documentary filmmaking was for an Ethnographic Filmmaking class where she created a short documentary about a landfill fire in Moody, Alabama. Through this experience, Annie discovered her passion for storytelling and advocating for communities through film. She adores the outdoors and has developed an interest in environmentalism during her time in Birmingham, speaking to nonprofits such as GASP and Cahaba Riverkeeper. Annie loves that the filmmaking process gives her an outlet to explore these passions and connect with people.

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NORA LONG

Nora Long (she/her) is a producer, director, and cinematographer dedicated to creating impact-focused, deeply inspired, carefully crafted digital content. Her work spans narrative and documentary films, as well as episodic, branded, and commercial content, with an emphasis on stories centered around the environment, animal rights, as well as gender and wealth inequality. She strives to use moving imagery as a medium for positive social change, exploration, and advocacy. She holds an MFA in Film & Television from the Savannah College of Art and Design, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Film, Video, and Theatre from Stevenson University. She is also an alumna of the Milton Hershey School in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

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ASTRID MALTER

Astrid Malter (she/her) is a filmmaker and printmaker from Brooklyn, NY. She earned her BA in Cinema & Media Studies from Carleton College in Minnesota. Her senior thesis film, The Sixth Borough, premiered at the Coney Island Film Festival and screened at the Downstream Environmental Film Festival. Her 2-D work has been exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum, the Brooklyn Public Library and the Weitz Center for Creativity. She hopes to use her creativity in the service of others, and she will never stop learning!

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LILY AHREE SIEGEL

Lily Ahree Siegel (she/her) is an award-winning documentary producer/director from Birmingham, Alabama, with work showcasing on Netflix, PBS, Slamdance Film Festival and was shortlisted as a BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Student.

Her storytelling started at age four when she began illustrating in sketchbooks. Eventually, she progressed to conceptual video art/installation and then to filmmaking after watching Les Glaneurs et la Glaneuse (The Gleaners and I) directed by Agnes Varda. Her learned experience as a person with many intersectional identities has a huge influence on her work.

Lily holds a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and a MA in Directing Documentary from the National Film and Television School in the UK. She is currently living and working in London, but looks forward to spending the summer back in Alabama.

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QUINN C. SMITH

Quinn C. Smith (he/they) is a Chickasaw/Choctaw documentarian and writer who utilizes storytelling to advance the flourishing of Indigenous peoples and the environment. He earned his BA in Public Policy from Duke University in 2023 and won the Terry Sanford Leadership Award for his advocacy work as President of the Native American/Indigenous Student Alliance.

He has directed creative projects for the U.S. Department of the Interior, All My Relations Podcast, Duke Gardens, as well as several independent documentaries and multimedia exhibits. Quinn also worked for Tripod Media on the Netflix documentary “Pamela: A Love Story”. As a freelance writer, Quinn has written about Native American history and contemporary issues for Ancestry.com and ClickView Education.

After Southern Exposure, Quinn will spend 10 months through the Hart Fellowship working for the Indigenous Leadership Initiative, a non-profit advancing Indigenous land guardianship and connecting First Nation environmental justice movements across Canada.

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MORE ABOUT SOUTHERN EXPOSURE

ARA’s partner groups work together throughout the year to develop a list of film topics from which the fellows work to create short documentaries, bringing attention to urgent environmental issues around the state, as well as highlighting the people, places and things that make Alabama special.

Now in its eleventh season, the Southern Exposure film fellowship has created 35+ films exploring important topics throughout the state. These poignant stories depict the triumphs of Alabamians, and the challenges we face. The films screen across the state with community groups, legislators and decision-makers, key stakeholders and people new to the movement and these issues. They also appear at film festivals all over the country (and beyond!), introducing a wider audience to Alabama, fulfilling the mission to spread awareness, appreciation, and inspire action on behalf of Alabama’s environment.