Film Forum

Since the start of his filmmaking career, Hasan Oswald (Director & Producer) has established an ability to capture the human experience through verité cinema. He has covered the water crisis in Flint, Michigan (FORGOTTEN USA), drug trafficking and homelessness in Camden, NJ (HIGHER LOVE), and the international diaspora of conflict refugees for NatGeo (HELL ON EARTH). Hasan was named one of DOC NYC’s 40 under 40 documentary rising stars to watch co-presented by HBO Documentary Films.

Mediha Alhamad (Film Subject & Cinematographer) was an integral part of the making of the MEDIHA documentary. She filmed herself and her family for three years, bringing the audience into the most authentic telling of her story. She’s brave and determined beyond her years and has become an advocate for her community. She has the potential to help other Yazidi women and girls in very similar circumstances, and the filmmaking team believes that she, a Yazidi survivor herself, is the best person to do this.

Carol Dysinger is an Oscar® and BAFTA-winning director, known for her short documentary Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl), which also earned accolades from IDA and Tribeca Film Festival. Her 2023 feature-length documentary ONE BULLET explores her friendship with the mother of an Afghan teenager who was shot outside his home, and the long-term impact on the family; the film has won Best International Feature at the Galway Film Festival and was selected for several international film festivals. Dysinger's recent short documentary, Come Hungry: A Day in the Luzhou Night Market, provides a 24-hour glimpse into Taiwan's food-cart chefs and is streaming on Taiwan Plus. She is also known for CAMP VICTORY, AFGHANISTAN, which premiered at SXSW 2010 and was funded by the Sundance Doc Fund and Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Before transitioning to directing, Dysinger edited numerous documentaries and feature films, including DEADLINE, RAIN, SANTITOS, and PUNK. As a screenwriter, she contributed to projects for major studios like Paramount and Disney. Dysinger's work has won numerous awards, including a Student Academy Award and a Hugo Award, and she is a Guggenheim Fellow currently developing an interactive live documentary about her war experiences.

Supported by a Humanities New York Action Grant

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