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Lisa Russell

I am here for Friends and Networking

About Me

Lisa Russell is an independent filmmaker whose background in humanitarian and international development work has inspired her to produce films about the health and well-being of our global society. After completing her Masters in Public Health in International Health and Development in 1998, Lisa found her way toward filmmaking as a tool for health and human rights advocacy and has since produced a variety of independent and contracted films and news segments on development topics in countries including Brazil, Ghana, Niger, Malawi, Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Africa. Referencing her international experiences, Lisa actively screens her films around the country at universities, conferences, festivals and hill briefings and has engaged thousands of students, young people and others in a dialogue about U.S. responsibility in global affairs. In September 2005, Lisa collaborated with Grammy-nominated artist Zap Mama to create “The WOMAN Tour” – a three-week nationwide initiative of film screenings and musical performances to increase awareness of global women’s health. Lisa was one of 25 filmmakers chosen for the 2007 CPB/National Black Programming Consortium’s New Media Institute and is a recipient of a New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) grant. Currently residing in Brooklyn, NY, Lisa is also a teaching artist for Urban Word NYC where she leads workshops blending film screenings and creative writing/spoken word poetry/open mics to initiate awareness and dialogue about social issues affecting today’s youth. For more information about her work, please visit www.governessfilms.com.

My Interests

I'd like to meet:


WHERE I'M AT
May 2008
Filmming in Colombia and New Orleans for new Youth in Conflict/Crises project.
May 2008
Presenting at the Global Health Council Meeting: "Utilizing New Media and the Arts for Global Health Advocacy"
April 12-13, 2008
Screening at the Unite for Sight International Health Conference at Yale University.
March 2008
Filmming new project on unsafe abortion in Ethiopia for IPAS.
March 2008
Filmming in Liberia and Lebanon for new Youth in Conflict/Crises project.
February 2008
Editing "Bi-Racial Hair" for WGBH's Lab and NBPC Open Call.
January 2008
Editing in NYC.
December 2007
Editing new film on fistula in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
November 11-17, 2007
NBPC New Media Institute in Jackson, Mississippi.
November 1-11, 2007
Sound mix for WE WILL NOT DIE LIKE DOGS in Los Angeles.
October 1-6, 2007
Shooting Poetry Africa in Durban, South Africa.

Movies:

the revolution will not be televised, what i want my words to do to you, the ground truth, bus 174, jails, hospitals and hip hop, arna's children, ghosts of rwanda, war photographer, hedwig and the angry inch, you and me and everyone we know, eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, memento, capturing the friedmans, living in oblivion, requiem for a dream, the house of yes, slam, princess bride, evenhand, and all the films me and my friends make.

Heroes:

jonathan mann, african women, urban word poets