Alabama Rivers Alliance is proud to announce the selection of our 2025 class of documentary filmmakers for the Southern Exposure Film Fellowship, kicking off on June 16. During this innovative six-week summer program, the fellows will create short documentaries telling powerful stories about Alabama’s special people and places. The films amplify the vital work of Alabamians dedicated to preserving our rich biodiversity, while highlighting solutions for audiences.
This year, Alabama Rivers Alliance will be working with our partners across the state to explore the following topics:
- Salamanders! Spotted, Red Hills, Webster’s, waterdogs and others you’ve never heard of – we’re diving in to their world and the people working to protect them throughout the state!
- Pipelines / Data Centers: Increased energy and water demands from the rapid development of large data centers, driven by technological advancements like AI, are increasing threats to communities across the Southeast, including Alabama.
- Quarries: We’ll explore the outdated practice of quarrying, and its devastating impacts on nearby communities. We’ll hear directly from those who face the blasts up close and how the current inadequate regulation of this industry puts communities at risk.
- For many Veterans, rivers, forests, and nature have offered peace, healing, purpose, and even survival. This summer, we’ll explore how access to nature and Alabama’s rivers is a lifeline for those who’ve served our nation.
Meet the 2025 Southern Exposure film fellows:
MAYA ESTRERA
Maya Estrera is a recent graduate from Swarthmore College with a degree in Film & Media Studies and Environmental Studies. Her most recent project, “Ignited”, incorporates multi-media cinematography to depict queer existence in nature and was an official select at the Tri-Co Film Festival. She is excited for her two areas of interest to collaborate more in this fellowship and explore the power of film for social and environmental change. Working for a Philly-based freelance photographer, Maya helps to film and photograph events across the city. She has made an assortment of videos, ranging from promotional videos for dance groups to nightclubs to artists. In her free time, she enjoys film photography and being outdoors.
LILY HUFFMAN
Lily Huffman is a documentary filmmaker and science communicator passionate about capturing the stories of resilience, ingenuity, and hope in the realm of environmental conservation. Lily started her career in science communication after receiving a BS in Conservation Biology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a Master of Environmental Management in Coastal Environmental Management from Duke University. However, her passion for visual storytelling led her to pursue a MA in Film and Media Production at American University, which she completed last summer. She is passionate about stories focused on environmental, conservation, and sustainability issues that impact communities and resource users, and how those communities are tackling the problems before them to move toward a sustainable future. Through her combination of education and passion, she hopes to bring a unique voice to conservation storytelling to promote community-based action.
NICHOLAS HESS
Nicholas Hess is an award winning wildlife photographer and emerging conservation storyteller and filmmaker specializing in reptiles, amphibians, and the underwater world. His passion for photography and conservation began in 2011 in Southern California where he learned to take photos of snakes and tidepool creatures. He earned a B.S. in Marine Science at Eckerd College in 2025 with minors in Film, Journalism, and Spanish. In alignment with his interdisciplinary education he strives to tell conservation stories through mediums of film, photography, and writing, to speak for the misunderstood, undervalued, and poorly-known species in nature. His studies and work has taken him across Latin America, the South Pacific, Australia, and Southeast Asia in pursuit of revealing the beauty of the weird and wonderful. Now, he seeks opportunities to highlight the challenges of conservation, and celebrate wins, species, places, and people.
PATRICK KIRBY
Patrick Kirby is a passionate filmmaker who finds inspiration in both family life and the natural world around him. With an M.A. in Film and Media Arts from American University, Patrick crafts visual narratives that connect with audiences on a deeply human level. Whether he’s exploring environmental issues, translating complex science, or documenting the experiences of veterans, Patrick is always looking for the people behind the story. He believes the heart of every project lies in the individuals at its center and he uses his skills to help them tell their stories with authenticity and impact.
His filmmaking journey has taken him across diverse landscapes and important causes, creating environmental stories for the National Park Service, making science accessible for the Environmental Protection Agency, and capturing veterans’ voices at the VA, and highlighting Soldier Stories with the Army both stateside and deployed.
Drawing from his own background as a veteran, Patrick brings a unique perspective and a deep respect for the people he documents. He’s particularly passionate about using documentary film to explore the relationship between people and their environment, finding the emotional core that resonates with viewers and inspires connection and change.
ERIKA WADE
Erika E. Wade, a writer, producer, and actor from Birmingham, is committed to fostering diversity in the arts. She published her poetry book eyestodewhurld as a teenager and has headlined Off-Broadway in New York City, in Los Angeles festivals, and other stages and screens across the country. An MFA graduate of Savannah College of Art and Design, Erika was deemed one of the top 22 playwrights in the nation by the 2016 Kennedy Center MFA Playwright’s Workshop. She is the founder of Glenda’s Baby Productions, a Southeast EMMY award-winning voice actress, and Workshop Consultant for PEN America programs in Birmingham.
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 13th season, the Southern Exposure film fellowship has created 45+ 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.