The Flaherty’s Fellowship program offers an immersive experience of the Seminar. In 2025, we will welcome Fellowship cohorts in New York City and Online. We seek Fellows who demonstrate a strong commitment to community engagement in their profession, practice, or field of study.
Applications close at midnight (EST) on April 6, 2025.
Meet our 2025 Fellowship Team
Anisa Hosseinnezhad
Fellowship Programmer
Anisa Hosseinnezhad stands against the genocide of the Palestinian people. She is an Iranian artist, filmmaker, and cultural worker whose practice moves between filmmaking, writing, research, and organizing. She explores displacement, the Orientalist imaginary, and the politics of representation in cultural production. She is a union steward of Documentary Workers United and a member of Communications Workers of America Local 9003. Her work has been published in Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media. Based in Los Angeles, she grew up in Bandar Abbas, Iran, and earned her master’s degree in Film and Media Arts from Temple University. She was a Flaherty Fellow in 2021 and she joined the Flaherty team in 2022.
Jemma Desai
Fellowship Program Contributor
Jemma Desai is writer and artist working across film, visual arts, and performance, and a somatic facilitator working with individuals and groups. She is a practice-based PhD candidate at Central School of Speech and Drama and has previously worked with the BFI, British Council, LUX and Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival. Current collaborations include United Screens, Blackstar Film Festival in Philadelphia where she is a Programmer, and BAM in Brooklyn where she is their inaugural Experience Fellow with part of her research focusing on the relationships between performance strategies and spaces of film gathering. Her work in film centres on the conditions that allow them to appear and circulate — how, where, and to whom. In recent years, attending to the how of showing films — as Ruth Wilson Gilmore would have it “Why this? Why this, here? Why this, here, now?” — has preoccupied her more than researching what films should or could be shown. This has meant films and programmes have rarely been assembled at all. She sees this space of absence as a space of desire.
Jules Rosskam
Online Fellows Coordinator
Jules Rosskam is an award-winning filmmaker, educator, and interdisciplinary artist. He was named a 2021 Creative Capital Awardee for his new film, Desire Lines, which premiered at Sundance in 2024. The film received the NEXT Jury award at Sundance as well as six additional jury awards at festivals around the world. He is also the director of the award-winning films, Dance, Dance, Evolution (2019), Paternal Rites (2018), Something to Cry About (2018), Thick Relations (2012), against a trans narrative (2009), and transparent (2005). Recent screenings include Anthology Film Archives, Sundance, BFI Flare, Maryland Film Festival, Provincetown International Film Festival, Palm Springs International Film Festival, Out on Screen, and Chicago International Film Festival. Rosskam holds an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and was a university professor for 17 years. Jules was a Flaherty Fellow in 2012 and was the Flaherty Online Fellows Coordinator for the past two Seminar editions in 2023 and 2024.
Agnès Varda leads a discussion at the 1976 Flaherty Film Seminar, programmed by Caroline Hennig
About the 2025 Flaherty Fellowship
The 2025 Fellowship program will run Wednesday, June 25, through Sunday, June 29. In-person Fellows will arrive in New York by Noon ET on Wednesday, June 25.
In 2025, the Fellowship cohorts in person and online will experience 4 full days of programming.
These include the 5 public programs available to all pods and seminar participants, as well as 5-8 additional Fellowship-only programs offered by the Seminar programmers Janaína Oliveira, Carlos Gutiérrez, and Richard Herskowitz, as well as programs and workshops with Jemma Desai. The In-Person Fellowship is led by Anisa Hosseinnezhad.
The Online Fellowship will be facilitated by Jules Rosskam and accommodates Fellows from all locations. The Online Fellowship meets for 4 hours each day June 25-29th, from 10am-2pm Eastern Time. The timing of the Online Fellowship means that Fellows in Asian and South Pacific time zones will be staying up late; Fellows on the West Coasts of South and North America will be getting up early. We invite Fellowship applicants to embrace this “window” outside of your regular routine to heighten your participation in this unique gathering format.
Fellowship participation includes:
Pre-Seminar Onboarding | Online sessions led by the Fellowship team to introduce Fellows to the program structure and expectations.
Pre-Seminar Workshop | Online session with an invited guest speaker.
Seminar Experience | Online and in-person Fellows receive full registration to the 70th Flaherty Seminar.
Fellows’ Screenings & Presentations | Opportunities to share work alongside Seminar programmers and artists.
Engagement with Seminar artists and programmers | Meeting opportunities and discussions with featured artists, programmers, and special guests.
Additional Support for In-Person Fellows:
Stipend for the duration of the Seminar
Lodging for the duration of the Seminar
The Fellowship does not cover the cost of travel to and from New York City. Selected Fellows are responsible for arranging their own travel to and from the Seminar.
The 2024 In-Person Flaherty Fellows at the Thai Film Archive. Photo by Vinai Dithajohn
What is expected of a Flaherty Fellow?
Fellows are expected to participate in full-day Seminar programming starting Wednesday, June 25 through Sunday, June 29.
In addition, Fellows are expected to be available for Fellowship onboarding and workshops with Seminar programmers and artists in early June. Details and dates will be included in the acceptance package.
Flaherty Fellows conclude their Fellowship program through a series of written and/or verbal feedback sessions and reports.
In-person Fellows can contribute to the Seminar by facilitating breakout group conversations. Facilitation resources and support will be provided to interested Fellows.
Eligibility
We welcome Fellows who demonstrate a deep interest in community engagement within their field. While no academic background is required, applicants should:
Be active in the field through research, filmmaking, or related organizational or project-based work
Be 21 or older
Not have received an In-Person Flaherty Seminar Fellowship in the last five years
Be available for the full duration of the program
Fellowship-specific eligibility criteria: Please review the requirements for the specific Fellowship you are applying for, below.
The Flaherty encourages applications from BIPOC and Indigenous participants, as part of our unwavering belief that our community is at its best when it is heterogeneous and inclusive of many forms of knowledge and experience.
The 2023 Queer World-Mending Online Flaherty Fellows.
2025 Fellowships offered through our Open Call
All Fellowships are offered at no cost to their recipients, thanks to our many Fellowship Partners. In 2025, eleven In-Person and eight Online Fellowship recipients will be selected via our Open Call. The remaining slots are underwritten by academic institutions who select the Fellowship recipients internally.
ONLINE
IN-PERSON
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| IN-PERSON ONLY
The George Stoney Memorial Fellowship is awarded to an emerging or mid-career filmmakers, programmers, writers, scholars, archivists, or media professionals from the US or abroad whose work aligns with the activism and community engagement of the late George Stoney. An American documentary filmmaker, educator, and the "father of public-access television”, Stoney directed the revolutionary Challenge for Change initiative. His collaborative works screened at the first Flaherty Seminar in 1954, and have shown at the Seminar every decade since.
Eligibility Requirements:
Must be an emerging or mid-career filmmaker, programmer, writer, scholar, archivist, or media professional.
Open to applicants from the US and abroad.
Must demonstrate excellence in their craft and practice.
One George Stoney Memorial Fellow will be selected. Travel is not included.
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IN-PERSON ONLY
The Patricia Zimmermann Memorial Fellowship will be offered to a programmer, scholar, archivist, community organizer, new media theorist, and/or historian whose work is imbued with the curiosity, generosity, and fearlessness that Patty brought to all she did. As a connector and builder, Patty was an indomitable force. She inspired and nurtured the intellectual and generative processes of many scholars and artists while remaining curious and open to reinvention. Her legacy as an author, presenter, and visionary thought leader in the film world cannot be underestimated.
In addition to full registration to the 2025 Seminar and Fellowship programs, two of Patty Zimmermann’s books about The Flaherty (co-authored with Scott MacDonald) are included with the Fellowship package. Historians and scholars will be offered a stipend of $1000 to engage, post-Seminar, with an aspect of The Flaherty’s archive they find most aligned with their practice, alongside mentorship with a Seminar elder whose practice is relevant to the Fellows’ research interests.
Eligibility Requirements:
Must be an emerging or mid-career programmer, scholar, archivist, community organizer, new media theorist, and/or historian.
Open to applicants from the US and abroad.
Must demonstrate curiosity, interdisciplinarity, and fearlessness in their practice.
One Patricia Zimmermann Memorial Fellow will be selected. Travel is not included.
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IN-PERSON ONLY
The LEF New England Fellowship, supported by LEF New England of the LEF Foundation, provides funding for two New England-based documentary filmmakers to attend the Seminar in person.
Eligibility Requirements:
Must be living and working in one of the six New England states:
Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, or Rhode Island.
Must not have received a Flaherty Fellowship in the past.
Must not be enrolled in an undergraduate or master’s degree program at the time of application.
Three LEF New England Fellows will be selected. Travel is not included.
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IN-PERSON ONLY
Supported by the Philadelphia Foundation, this Fellowship enables Philadelphia-based film professionals and students to attend the in-person Seminar.
Eligibility Requirements:
Must reside in Philadelphia.
Must not have received a Philadelphia Fellowship in the past five years.
Preference will be given to first-time Fellows.
Five Waterman II Fund Philadelphia Fellows will be selected. Travel is not included.
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Shine Global Fellowship | IN-PERSON ONLY
The Shine Global Fellowship, supported by Shine Global, provides funding for one filmmaker working in fiction and/or nonfiction form to attend the 70th Flaherty Fellowship. The Shine Global Fellowship applicants must be working on or have worked on a film centering on children's voices and aiming to improve children's lives.
Eligibility Requirements:
Must be working on or have just finished a film that is centering children's voices and has the goal of improving children's lives
Must not be enrolled in an undergraduate or master’s degree program at the time of application.
One Shine Global Fellow will be selected.
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ONLINE
The Flaherty Professional Development Online Fellowship is open to emerging or mid-career filmmakers, programmers, writers, scholars, archivists, and media professionals.
Eligibility Requirements:
Must be an emerging or mid-career filmmaker, programmer, writer, scholar, archivist, or media professional.
One or two Flaherty Professional Development Fellows will be selected.
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ONLINE
The Flaherty Curatorial Fellowship is designed for emerging or early-career curators, creating a pathway for more diverse voices in film and media curation.
Eligibility Requirements:
Must be an emerging or early-career curator.
Must demonstrate a commitment to advancing diverse perspectives in film/media curation.
One online Curatorial Fellow will be selected.
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ONLINE
The Corrientes Fellowship supports emerging to mid-career filmmakers, artists, and film programmers from or based in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Eligibility Requirements:
Must be an emerging or mid-career filmmaker, artist, or film programmer.
Must be from or based in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Two Corrientes Fellows will be selected.
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ONLINE
The Nazaara Media Lab is a political and visual anthropology lab at Cornell University focusing on aesthetics, spectacle, ethnographic film, documentary, borders, migration, state power, and beyond. “Nazaara” means sight, scene, show, or spectacle. It is related to “nazar”, a Perso-Arabic word used in South Asia to refer to gaze and the evil eye, and “nazar aana”, to be visible or to appear.
The Nazaara Media Lab Fellowship supports an early-career, South Asia-based applicant with active involvement in research, filmmaking, or related organizational project-based work in the above thematic areas.
Eligibility Requirements:
Must be an early career researcher, filmmaker, artist, film programmer, or critic.
Must be based in South Asia.
Researchers and practitioners familiar with visual anthropology, focusing on aesthetics, spectacle, ethnographic film, documentary, borders, migration, and state power are encouraged to apply.
One Nazaara Media Lab Fellow will be selected. The Selected Nazaara Media Lab Fellow is invited to offer a virtual session with the lab to share their work within 6 months of the Fellowship.
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Purin Pictures Fellowship | ONLINE ONLY
Purin Pictures is a film fund that supports independent cinema in Southeast Asia. Since 2017 under the Purin Foundation, Purin Pictures has looked for artists and organizations doing unique and essential work in a region lacking adequate governmental support. Managed by Anocha Suwichakornpong and Aditya Assarat, Purin Pictures funding programs cover film production, film post-production, and film-related activities.
The Purin Pictures Flaherty Fellowship is open to emerging or mid-career filmmakers, programmers, writers, scholars, archivists, and media professionals from and based in Southeast Asia.
Eligibility Requirements:
Open to emerging or mid-career filmmakers, programmers, writers, scholars, archivists, and media professionals
Must be from, living, and working in Southeast Asia.
Must not have received a Flaherty Fellowship in the past.
Must not be enrolled in an undergraduate degree program at the time of application.
Two Purin Pictures Fellows will be selected.
Applications close at midnight (EST) on April 6, 2025
Support for the 2025 Flaherty Fellowship program is generously provided by the LEF New England Foundation, the Waterman II Fund of the Philadelphia Foundation, the Kate Cashel Fund of The Community Foundation for the Greater Capital Region, California Institute of the Arts School of Film/Video, Duke University MFA|EDA, Cinematic Arts; and Vice-Provost of the Arts, The Film Study Center at Harvard University (FSC); Northwestern University Department of Art, Theory, Practice; University of California San Diego Visual Arts Department, Purin Pictures, Corrientes, The Nazaara Media Lab at Cornell University, California College of the Arts, Center for Documentary Media at the University of Colorado Boulder, Haverford College Department of Visual Studies, Shine Global, The Department of Cinema and Media Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, and The School of Media Studies and Eugene Lang College at The New School.
