Alabama Rivers Alliance is pleased to welcome four emerging documentary filmmakers to Alabama this summer for the 2019 Southern Exposure film fellowship.
During the 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.
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.
Returning for its seventh year, the Southern Exposure film fellowship has created more than 30 films exploring important topics throughout the state. As a result of these poignant stories depicting the triumphs and challenges facing Alabama, numerous films from past fellowship years have been selected for screening in juried film festivals all around the country.
Live screenings and online distribution of the films continue to reach a variety of audiences, helping Southern Exposure fulfill the mission to spread awareness, appreciation, and inspire action on behalf of Alabama’s environment.
ARA and Southern Exposure’s Program Director Michele Forman are pleased to welcome this year’s fellows:
JEB BRACKNER is a filmmaker whose roots in Alabama stretch from his childhood as a Montgomery native to his education in film and psychology from the University of Alabama. Nature is one of Jeb’s leading inspirations, and he is very passionate about environmental justice, especially throughout his home state. Cinematic storytelling, whether it be narrative or documentary, is another of his passions, and he hopes to make a career out of it through a production company he’s creating with two of his college colleagues.
KRISTY CHOI is a Korean-American filmmaker and writer interested in themes of power, 
womanhood, and (un)belonging. The framework of environmental justice has profoundly shaped her politics and continues to underpin the way she sees the world as a documentarian. Her work has aired on “PBS NewsHour” and has been published in Teen Vogue, Washington City Paper, DeSmogBlog and more. She is currently producing a short documentary film with support from Glassbreaker Films on punk feminist legend Mimi Thi Nguyen. She is also executive producing an upcoming feature film on the Green New Deal. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Brown University and completed a multimedia DAAD Post-Graduate Fellowship at Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany. She is a proud member of Brown Girls Doc Mafia and the Asian American Documentary Network.
REMI ESCUDIÉ is a photographer and videographer from Miami, Florida with a strong passion for environmental advocacy. With his degree in Editing, Writing & Media from Florida State University and his background in environmental journalism, Remi intends to utilize documentary filmmaking to inspire preservation of our natural resources and protection of wildlife. He enjoys landscape, wildlife, and astrophotography, and prefers to sleep in the forest whenever possible. Remi plans to spend his life traveling to the highest peaks and most remote wildernesses in search of the perfect shot.
KENZIE GREER was born and raised in Birmingham, AL, where she just recently graduated from the
University of Alabama at Birmingham with a BA in Anthropology and Digital Storytelling. She has been passionate about photography since the fifth grade, and developed an even greater devotion for documentary filmmaking. With a background in Anthropology, Kenzie uses her films as a platform for social justice and environmental issues. She sees filmmaking as an opportunity to make a difference and connect with people in a profound way. Throughout Kenzie’s college career, she created or was involved in more than 20 films. She was awarded the 2018 undergraduate Media Studies Student Award and she was the co-founder of the UAB Steel Reel Film Festival. In some of her filmmaking experiences, she has had the opportunity to work with the National Holocaust Museum, UAB Institute for Human Rights, and more. Her other interests include photography, traveling, and outdoor exploration. Kenzie has had the opportunity to travel to 13 different countries over her lifetime and these cultural and global experiences have developed her enthusiasm for people and the environment.
For more information, please visit: www.SouthernExposureFilms.org