Nikki's Time at Tribeca

I've been making films since I was little, with my cousins and a home video camera. The Tribeca Film Fellows program has allowed me to further my passion for film making. Through contact with working professionals, I learned more about how films are made, and about all the different people who are involved in this process. I loved meeting Jeremiah Zagar and Ross Kauffman, and hearing what they had to say about the art of film making.

One of the best parts of being a Tribeca Film Fellow was the opportunity to see unique and thoughtful films, made by filmmakers without Hollywood budgets, who were passionate about the stories they wanted to tell. I was especially impressed by Ross Kauffman's film, Born into Brothels, a documentary about the children of prostitutes in the red light district of Calcutta, India. It effectively told a story, at the same time as educating the audience about the lives of people in another part of the world. The film Pray the Devil back to Hell accomplished a similar task. It told the amazing story of women who brought about peace and political reform in Liberia, and also inspired its audience to believe in the power of ordinary people to effect change.

Perhaps the most inspiring aspect of the Tribeca Film Fellows program was spending time with the other film fellows. Every young person in the program was passionate about film, and had his or her own style of filmmaking and stories each wanted to tell. I witnessed this during our filming of Cityscapes, and through learning about other fellow's film proposals. The program allowed the fellows to develop a bond as a group, and introduced us to other young people whom we hopefully can work with in the future.