2022 Year in Review

Mission-driven filmmaking during a pandemic, while homeschooling young kids, has been challenging but rewarding. A personal highlight of 2022 was attending the National Women’s Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in person (with my parents), which included a short video introduction that I created. This is a photo of former Senator Hillary Clinton and NY Governor Kathy Hochul watching the video, which used aerial cinematography to geographically and historically connect the Smith Opera House in Geneva, where the event was held, to Seneca Falls, home of the National Women’s Hall of Fame and the birthplace of the national women’s rights movement.

Indeed, one of the primary focuses of my work this year was telling the stories of exceptional women artists and entrepreneurs through collaborations with the National Women’s Hall of Fame and the Women Innovator’s Initiative at Cornell’s Center for Technology and Licensing.

I also had the pleasure of documenting Sara Jimenez’s fabric installation as part of the Cornell Biennial and the creation of new murals by Egypt Hagan, Brittany Johnson, and May Yuasa for my ongoing project about Ithaca’s social justice murals. You can see the results below.

Another major theme of my work in 2022 was health and public safety, which I explored through collaborations with Bike Walk Tompkins, Mother Up!, and with the Tompkins County Health Department, for whom I made a series of videos promoting KN95 masks and vaccination.

I also had the pleasure of collaborating with filmmaker Karen Rodriguez on videos for Cornell’s Maple Sugar Program and EmPRISE Robotics Lab, and helping local Real Estate agent Havana Jorrin with a video listing for one of Ithaca’s finest estates.

My final project for the year is a video for the Ithaca and Tompkins County tourism department highlighting our region as an “essential queer destination.” That video will be released early in 2023 so stay tuned. I’m also planning to complete two feature-length documentaries next year, my film about Ithaca’s incredible murals in partnership with Caleb R. Thomas of Ithaca Murals, and Motherhood Is a Joke in partnership with Yael Saar of Mama’s Comfort Camp, in which a group of moms, including myself, attempt stand-up comedy.

I love living in Ithaca and helping to document its quirkiness and creativity. To finish my year in review, here are some short videos of the Armadillos on the Cornell Arts Quad, the Krampusnacht Parade, and the 25th Annual Rutabaga Curl at the Ithaca Farmers’ Market. Enjoy and happy new year!