Northstar Unplugged #037. Suzan Beraza: Festival Director of Telluride’s Mountainfilm; filmmaker addressing single-use plastics, uranium mining, humanitarian crisis in the Dominican Republic
Suzan is an Hispana-Latina-American and was born and raised in the Caribbean. Her films have been shown on Independent Lens, World Channel, Pivot TV and on the Documentary Channel, at Lincoln Center, and at many festivals. Her first film, BAG IT, was a winner of the Britdoc Impact Award in Berlin and has been televised in over fifty countries. URANIUM DRIVE-IN was a recipient of Sundance Institute and Chicken and Egg funding and was featured at Good Pitch and at Hot Docs Pitch Forum. The film was awarded the Big Sky Award, was honored for documentary excellence by the Alliance of Women Film Journalists, and was part of the American Film Showcase, an international film program of the U.S. State Department. Her most recent film, MASSACRE RIVER: The Woman Without a Country aired on PBS in 2019, is the recipient of ITVS funding, and was selected for the Latino Media Market, Camden International Film Festival Points North Fellowship, and IFP Spotlight on Documentaries. Suzan became Festival Director for Mountainfilm festival in Telluride, Colorado in 2017, and is currently Chair of New Day Films’ Steering Committee.
Uranium Drive-In
Massacre River | watch page
Suzan’s film recommendations:
Close to Eden (original title: Urga). (1991) Directed by Nikita Mikhalkov.
American Factory (2019) Oscar winner directed by Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar
Minding the Gap (2018) Audience Choice and Best Doc Winner at Mountainfilm. Directed by Bing Liu. (on Hulu)
Film festivals recommended by Suzan:
Mountainfilm | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram (Telluride, CO)
Telluride Film Festival (Telluride, CO)
Big Sky Documentary Film Festival (Missoula, MT)
Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival (Arkansas)
Hot Docs (Toronto)
Camden International Film Festival (Maine)
Sundance Film Festival (Utah)
Additional Resources:
Protect Our Winters
New Day Films