Storytelling-Women in STEM

Immediately following the screening of Shorts Program III, this conversation will discuss the challenges and potential of bringing stories about women and science to life, engaging filmmakers in a conversation on the hurdles they face when trying to translate short films into features and other media. Panelists include Heather Berlin (neuroscientist, professor, and host of Science Goes to the Movies) and filmmakers A. Sayeeda Moreno and Lauren Orme.

This panel will be moderated by Athena Film Festival Programmer Opal H. Bennett

Panelists
Hazuki Aikawa
Heather Berlin
Lauren Orme
A. Sayeeda Moreno

Hazuki Aikawa work includes narrative films and documentaries, music videos, educational videos, live performance videography, and collaborations with networks such as NHK, BBC, Space Shower TV, Fuji Television, Kyodo Television, and Team Okuyama for Kazuyoshi Okuyama. Born and raised in Japan and having graduated from the University of Tokyo with a degree in biological sciences, Hazuki chose an unusual journey to her career in filmmaking—via science journalism. After obtaining a master’s degree in biomedical journalism at the New York University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, she worked as a medical editor for several years in New York City, followed by research and development for science/medicine-related programs. Born and raised in Japan, she is inspired by the quiet yet strong artistic nature of her culture. She characterizes her films and photography with metaphysical themes and spare composition. Conscience, memory, and faith are recurring motifs in her work. Influenced by the works of Lillan Bassman, Hayao Miyazaki, and Yasujiro Ozu, Hazuki is interested in creating moving images as type of painting.

Heather Berlin is a cognitive neuroscientist and Professor of Psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She practices clinical neuropsychology at Weill Cornell Medicine in the Department of Neurological Surgery. Passionate about science communication and promoting women in STEM, she is a founding committee member of the National Academy of Sciences’ Science and Entertainment Exchange, host of Startalk All-Stars with Neil DeGrasse Tyson, and has hosted series on PBS and the Discovery Channel.

A. SAYEEDA MORENO is a director, screenwriter and proud native New Yorker. Her Futurestates.tv/PBS  short, White, premiered at SXSW and screened at Tribeca Film Festival, BAMcinemaFest, MOCADA Museum, among other international venues. The feature-length script White won the San Francisco Film Society Hearst Screenwriting Award and was a 2018 Athena List winner. Sayeeda earned her MFA in Film from NYU where she was a dean’s fellow. She is a Film Independent and Sundance Women in Finance Fellow. Sayeeda was selected to be a participant in both the AT&T/Tribeca Untold Stories Pitch Competition and Tribeca All Access in 2017. Sayeeda is developingWhiteepisodically and her feature film I’m Not Down. Her current short, toy/tag/ break is included in Bushwick Beats, an anthology feature of short films by six directors, produced by Circle of Confusion. Sayeeda is an artist in residence at Bard College.

Lauren Orme is an award-winning director and animator based in Cardiff, South Wales. She specializes in 2D digital and mixed media animation.

 

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