In The News
New Wave: A See Change Project is a video series highlighting leaders across all areas of media. It is part of Film Streams' See Change initiative which strives to bring focus to women directors and reach gender parity in the films that we program by 2021. To learn more go to filmstreams.org/seechange
In this episode Artistic Director Diana Martinez talks to Gabriela Watson-Burkett, Kristal Sotomayor & Melissa Beatriz, the co-founders of ¡Presente! Media, a Philadelphia-based collective led by Latinx filmmakers and journalists focused on social justice.
Film Streams' Visiting Artists program in generously supported by Bridges Trust.
Notable Mentions
The community journalists of Brazilian, Peruvian, and Uruguayan descent have won multiple awards for their work and leadership covering racial and immigrant justice, education equity, arts and culture, and gender and LGBTQ rights. They have received awards from the Sundance Institute’s Press Inclusion Initiative, the International Documentary Association, the Lenfest Next Generation Fund, Leeway Foundation, the Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival, and the BlackStar Film Festival.
With productions in English, Spanish, or Portuguese, the journalism collective has produced 13 articles, four videos, and a 30-minute documentary about the social inequities impacting Latino neighborhoods and communities of color, with financial support from the Independence Public Media Foundation’s Community Voices Fund, the Solidarity Fund for COVID-19 Organizing from the Bread & Roses Community Fund, and the Delaware Valley Legacy Fund.
In December, the media makers were selected by Doc Society and PhillyCAM for the Good Pitch Local Philadelphia 2020 grant-funding program — for high-impact storytelling focusing on community and social change.
— Jesenia De Moya Correa, The Philadelphia Inquirer
“La Receta de Alma (Alma’s Recipe) directed by Gabriela Watson-Burkett — an award-winning Philadelphia-based filmmaker, producer, and multimedia journalist — follows Alma Romero’s routine as a health promoter for Puentes de Salud, a nonprofit offering medical care to the Latino and immigrant communities in Philadelphia.
Produced with ¡Presente! Media and commissioned by the Lenfest Institute of Journalism, the film takes the audience to South Philly’s Puebladelphia, an area that is home to many Mexican immigrants from Puebla, to watch Romero, a longtime community activist and popular restaurateur, in her service to her community.”
— María Paula Mijares Torres and Jesenia De Moya Correa, The Philadelphia Inquirer
“By early 2020, Kristal Sotomayor had spent three years discussing the idea of creating a platform for indie filmmakers with Melissa Beatriz and Gabriela Watson Burkett, two peers with similar backgrounds in independent filmmaking. The result was ¡Presente! Media, a collective led by Latinx filmmakers and journalists with a commitment to social justice.
¡Presente! Media quickly went to work in producing written articles and videos on issues affecting the Latinx community and other communities of color. It has already received financial support from the likes of Independence Public Media Foundation, Bread and Roses Community Fund and the Delaware Valley Legacy Fund.”
— Michael Butler, Technical.ly
“¡Presente! Media es un nuevo colectivo de periodismo digital y producción audiovisual en Filadelfia, que busca crear una plataforma de contenido centrada en temas relacionados a la justicia social y orientada a los miembros de la comunidad de color: latinex, afrolatina y caribeña.”
— Carmen Marcet, Impacto
Since Tuesday, the Lenfest Institute has been hosting an online summit dedicated to reimagining journalism in Philadelphia (the event continues today). Yesterday morning, ¡Presente! Media—a Philadelphia-based bilingual media collective—presented a documentary about three Philly locals, highlighting the ways in which media can either limit or support the roles that people play in their communities.
— Lauren Harris, Columbia Journalism Review
“It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.”