IMA alum + visiting artist professor Yehui Zhao @yehui_zhao is premiering her feature film, May the Soil Be Everywhere at BAM as part of the Prismatic Ground festival, co-presented by UnionDocs The film began as her IMA thesis. About the film: “In a remote Chinese village, a peasant family endured wars, the communist revolution, and the deadliest famine. Persecution and hardship eventually forced the family to scatter. Against the backdrop of China’s rapid urbanization, the filmmaker sets out to unearth her family’s enduring bond with this long-forgotten village, hidden deeply in the vast mountain range of Loess Plateau.” More info and tickets: https://www.bam.org/film/2025/prismatic-ground-may-the-soil And more about Yehui’s work: https://www.yehuizhao.com #Film #filmmaking #filmscreening #familyarchive @bamfilmbrooklyn @uniondocs @prismaticground

IMA alum Sasha Wortzel @sashawortzel is screening film, RIVER OF GRASS at the American Museum of Natural History @amnh as part of the Margaret Mead Film Festival @margaretmeadfilmfestival Info and tickets: https://www.amnh.org/explore/margaret-mead-festival/river-of-grass Sunday, May 4 3:30 pm | Kaufmann Theater New York Premiere Director in Attendance: Sasha Wortzel 2025 | 83 min | USA “There is no place in the world quite like the Everglades, which serves a fundamental role in the Florida ecosystem. Betty Osceola, a member of the Miccosukee tribe, has defended the Floridian swamplands for decades against fracking, agribusiness, and water pollution, protesting swamp drainage with multi-day prayer walks along major highways. The film’s title evokes a Miccosukee phrase describing the Everglades, emphasizing the region’s natural resilience in the face of climate devastation. “ #RiverofGrassfilm #Everglades #film #filmscreening #NYPremiere #climatedevastation #ecosystem #environment

IMA alum Chloe Smolarski @elevatorbingo has coordinated an event on April 24th at 6:30pm as part of Social Practice CUNY @socialpracticecuny called Choosing to Remember: Embodied Witnessing and Co-Creating a participatory assembly led by Chloe Smolarski, artist; Tasha Darbes, ethnographer; and Edge Effect Media Group @edge.effect.media Location: The James Gallery - 365 5th Ave, New York, NY 10016 Engage the climate crisis through art, embodiment, and conversation. Participants will interact with archival material as interlocutors, as they observe one another’s stories of climate change effects. This assembly will contribute oral histories to an archive of collective grief, as we recover the past, acknowledge the present, and dream about the future of our climate. Embedded within and inspired by the exhibits Holding Water and When Home Leaves You: Archiving Living Memories of Climate Change our space centers collective grief, as a way to transcend alienation and imagine responses. More info: https://archive.centerforthehumanities.org/programming/choosing-to-remember-embodied-witnessing-and-co-creating #archive #embodiment #conversation #events #history

Next Tuesday April 22nd, 6pm, join us for a screening of a rough cut of historian and filmmaker Beau Lancaster’s documentary “Gay, Black, and Blue: Raid on Blues Bar” on the 1982 violent NYPD raid at Blues Bar, a Black and latine LGBTQ bar in midtown Manhattan and discussion with the filmmaker. The event is coordinated by students in IMA class, Sites: Sound: Process: Place with Professor Kara Lynch. Tuesday April 22, 6pm - TV Studio RSVP via link in bio. flyer by IMA student Amara Thomas @amara.idk #documentary #filmmaking #roughcut #visitingartist #filmmaker #historian #event #TVStudio

IMA alum Melissa Montero @melisita.zoe is sharing her thesis film, Memorias de Mi Familia at the Hoboken Historical Museum tomorrow night, April 17th 6-9pm! hosted by the Boricua Community Center boricuacommunitycenter Memorias de Mi Familia is a heartfelt documentary honoring Puerto Rican identity, memory, and home. A Q&A with Melissa after the screening. Thursday, April 17 | 6–9 PM Hoboken Historical Museum | 1301 Hudson St Advance Tickets: $10 | Door: $15 Celebrate culture, heritage, and community through film and poetry. Tickets + info: bit.ly/3XNxsxz #filmscreening #puertoricanvoices #storytelling #documentary #IMAThesis #archive #familyarchive (stills from the film)

Photos of our most recent new 1-credit intensive course called, From Body to Movement: Performative Art and Film with mixed media artist, filmmaker and IMA alum Yehui Zhao @yehui_zhao The class met for three Saturdays and connected about the ways that performance art has played a significant role in deconstructing colonialism and how it explores the intersection of identity, history, and the impact of globalization across communities. One of the sessions took place at nearby Central Park where the class reflected about Seneca Village (1858-1862) which was home to 264 residents, the majority of whom were African American. By 1857, everyone was forced to move, and Seneca Village was erased by the creation of the park. On Saturday March 15th, the class gathered at the former site of Seneca Village and retraced its legacy through their embodied performance. Photos by IMA alum, Nate Dorr @rock_hyrax During the last class session, the film and media artists enrolled shared a performance piece that they developed for the class, which could be film, audio, or live performance. #Performance #film #audio #1creditIntensives #collaboration #CentralPark #SenecaVillage #history #movement