Meet the 2026 Southern Exposure Film Fellows!

 

Alabama Rivers Alliance is thrilled to announce the 2026 class of documentary filmmakers for the Southern Exposure Film Fellowship, kicking off on June 15.

During this innovative six-week summer program, the filmmakers will create short documentaries telling powerful stories about Alabama’s special people, places and wildlife. The films feature Alabamians who are dedicated to protecting and restoring our rich biodiversity, while highlighting solutions for complex issues for audiences all over the state and region.

Meet the 2026 Southern Exposure Film Fellows

MOSES AUBREY

Moses Aubrey is a documentary filmmaker and science communicator who is endlessly passionate about urban wildlife and ecology. Growing up in Los Angeles, he didn’t realize that nature was in his own backyard until he was in his early 20s. Now he is on a mission to photograph, film and document all forms of life from Jumping spiders to Great Blue Herons to California Grunion and much more! His video series “Have You Seen Me?” aims to highlight urban biodiversity in LA and across the US. Moses believes bringing awareness to our neighbors will help people form deep and meaningful connections to nature, which ultimately helps conserve the lands we all care deeply about.

Currently, Moses works as a program manager in the Community Science Department of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles county where he brings various communities into nature. In addition to his work at the museum, Moses works as a freelance videographer and photographer for a variety of nature based organizations throughout Los Angeles and the Southern California region. In his free time Moses can be found with a camera in hand looking for urban wildlife to film and trying his best to upload all his observations to iNaturalist.

ETHAN KAUFFMAN

Ethan Kauffman is an emerging filmmaker dedicated to telling stories that inspire change. A recent graduate of the Film and Media Arts program at American University, his work spans both documentary and narrative filmmaking, with a focus on character-driven storytelling and environmental themes that connect audiences more deeply to the world around them. He has written and directed short narrative films, created short documentaries for the National Park Service, and produced Saving Chesapeake Bay: A Cleaner Future for Maryland Public Television. He also interned in the Natural History department at National Geographic within The Walt Disney Company, further developing his foundation in visual storytelling centered on the natural world.

Most recently, he has served as an Associate Producer for the Upstream, Downriver Media Project, bringing a strong sense of purpose and emotional depth to his work while using film to elevate human stories and inspire meaningful engagement.

ANNA LUECK

Anna Lueck is a documentary filmmaker who tells stories about the people and communities working towards a better world — particularly those in close relationship to rivers and oceans. She began her career at Brooklyn’s BRIC TV, where she helped produce videos on issues from climate activism to gun violence. Raised on a Puget Sound island, she now translates her love for Northwest lands and waters into frequent visual storytelling about conservation, environmental justice, and connection to nature. Her film hitoláayca (Going Upriver), a documentary short about the first contemporary Nez Perce person to receive a whitewater guiding license, was a finalist in the Redford Center and IF/Then Shorts’ Nature Connection Pitch and won awards at BendFilm and the Eastern Oregon Film Festival. Anna holds a Master’s in Multimedia Journalism from the University of Oregon.

CALLIE MEJIA

Callie Mejia (she/her) is a documentary producer and director committed to telling stories that deepen audiences’ relationship with the natural world. Raised in the Pacific Northwest, she developed an early understanding of nature not only as a place of beauty, but as an underlying force that shapes communities, identity, and stewardship. She earned a B.A. in Film and Television Production with a minor in Environmental Studies from Loyola Marymount University before moving to Denver to pursue nonfiction filmmaking at the intersection of science, environment, and public engagement. Her work is driven by a belief that documentary film can make complex environmental issues both accessible and emotionally resonant, inspiring viewers toward greater awareness and action.

GRACE SULLIVAN

Grace Sullivan (she/her) is a filmmaker and writer whose work has become progressively more rooted in environmentalism. Born in the Bay Area but raised in the Deep South, Grace has had the privilege of growing up surrounded by nature and immense biodiversity. Two months after graduating from Temple University’s Honors Program and Film and Media Arts Department, she began her current position as Manager for the Green Film School Alliance, an organization focused on promoting sustainable production and climate storytelling. She has been awarded two Environmental Media Association Green Seals for sustainable behind-the-scenes production practices, and was the first at her university to achieve this recognition.

Grace enjoys integrating experimental aesthetics into dramatic narratives, reflected by all of her directorial projects, including her first documentary and most recent work, Where the Water Goes. She strives to equally engage and educate audiences through her doc content as it screens at film festivals across American cities. This short sparked a newfound interest in documentary, leading to Grace’s current involvement with Bending the Arc Project, an Alabama docuseries, and the Titusville Environmental Heritage archival project.

Grace is thrilled to take on a new endeavor that combines her knowledge and passions and, most of all, connects to her hometown community!

 

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 14th season, the Southern Exposure film fellowship has created 50+ 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 as well as 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.