Southern Exposure Film Fellowship

04/12/2024

Applications for the 2025 Southern Exposure Film Fellowship are now open!

Now in its 13th year, the Southern Exposure Film Fellowship program provides a challenging learning experience to exceptional film students and emerging filmmakers from across the country seeking to explore and develop their talent as environmental advocates through nonfiction storytelling. This innovative summer fellowship equips students with the skills, equipment, content knowledge and contacts to create authentic, engaging, inspiring films intended to raise public awareness about important issues facing Alabama’s environment — from the mountains to the coast.

Learn more and apply here: https://alabamarivers.org/se2025

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10/10/2024

25/09/2024

Want to learn more about the environment? Check out these series of films that will be showcased for FREE later this month. JD

25/09/2024

In "Saving Seagrass: Alabama's Underwater Nursery", we dive underwater with Mobile Baykeeper to discover a “whole ‘nother living world under there in the seagrass that nobody ever sees”, full of critters and life and we learn what must happen to protect this Submerged Aquatic Vegetation vital to the health of Mobile Bay and the communities and industries that rely on it.

See the full film, along with the other 2024 films, on September 27 at The Altamont School at the Southern Exposure Films World Premiere!

25/09/2024

We remain forever grateful and honored to partner with Black Warrior Riverkeeper and Birmingham Public Library system to make sure all of the Southern Exposure Films are accessible for free across Birmingham and beyond. This ongoing collaboration with BPL continues to help us and our partners amplify the inspiring stories and critical issues within our communities, featuring those special Alabamians protecting our rivers and enriching the heart of the Black Warrior River watershed, year after year!

Thank you for making this happen, Charles Scribner, Roy Williams, Caleb West and the whole BPL team!

More info: https://blackwarriorriver.org/southern-exposure-in-bpl-2024/

25/09/2024

We can't wait to share the NEW Southern Exposure Films with you this Friday evening at The Altamont School in Birmingham (and other cities and towns across Alabama and the region coming soon!)

Check out this short sneak peek. In "The Cost of Forever", we uncover the hidden and costly dangers of 'forever chemicals' in our rivers and drinking water sources, following Riverkeepers and water protectors as they strive to protect communities—and themselves—from PFAS contamination.

See the full film, along with the other 2024 films, on September 27 at The Altamont School at the Southern Exposure Films World Premiere!

This film features the awesome work of Coosa Riverkeeper, Cahaba Riverkeeper, Choctawhatchee Riverkeeper, SELC, Brenda Hampton and more!

25/09/2024

We can't wait to see you at the Southern Exposure Films World Premiere! on Friday, September 27 at The Altamont School. Don't miss this eagerly awaited night of storytelling that will inspire, ignite and unite us all in the fight for Alabama's future!

Created in six weeks during the summer, the 2024 Southern Exposure films celebrate special people and places in Alabama while exploring complex issues and solutions. In this collection, we uncover the hidden and costly dangers of 'forever chemicals' in our rivers and drinking water sources following Riverkeepers as they strive to protect communities—and themselves—from PFAS contamination. We dive underwater to discover a “whole ‘nother living world under there in the seagrass that nobody ever sees”, full of critters and life and we learn what must happen to protect this submerged aquatic vegetation vital to the health of Mobile Bay and the communities and industries that rely on it. We travel across Alabama rediscovering our native plants, meeting passionate plant people along the way who are making changes big and small in hopes of preserving the last vestiges of once vast ecosystems and Alabama’s unprecedented botanical biodiversity. Finally, we meet and celebrate three Alabama women who, out of necessity to protect the people and places they love, answered the call to advocate for their water, land and communities.

Friday, September 27
at The Altamont School in Birmingham
Mix & Mingle at 5
Films start at 6:30
Q&A + Discussion After

25/09/2024

We can’t wait to see you there!

Join Alabama Rivers Alliance and partners across the state for the FREE public screening of the 2024 Southern Exposure Films in Birmingham this Friday!

Created in six weeks during the summer, the 2024 Southern Exposure films celebrate special people and places in Alabama while exploring complex issues and solutions. In this collection, we uncover the hidden and costly dangers of 'forever chemicals' in our rivers and drinking water sources following Riverkeepers as they strive to protect communities—and themselves—from PFAS contamination. We dive underwater to discover a “whole ‘nother living world under there in the seagrass that nobody ever sees”, full of critters and life and we learn what must happen to protect this submerged aquatic vegetation vital to the health of Mobile Bay and the communities and industries that rely on it.. We travel across Alabama rediscovering our native plants, meeting passionate plant people along the way who are making changes big and small in hopes of preserving the last vestiges of once vast ecosystems and Alabama’s unprecedented botanical biodiversity.. Finally, we meet and celebrate three Alabama women who, out of necessity to protect the people and places they love, answered the call to advocate for their water, land and communities.

We hope to see you there!
Friday, September 27 at The Altamont School in Birmingham
Mix & Mingle at 5
Films start at 6:30
Q&A + Discussion After

19/08/2024

We are so proud to once again have our films screen at the Sidewalk Film Festival this weekend in Birmingham!

Check out LULLABY FOR SIPSEY by Palavi Ahuja, FL*SHING INJUSTICE by Astrid Malter and THEY NEVER LEFT by Quinn A. Smith during the event! Learn more at Sidewalk's website!

***ABOUT THE FILMS***

LULLABY FOR SIPSEY: In this micro-short film, enjoy as a captivating poem unfolds, gently celebrating the profound beauty found in the intricate details of the Sipsey Wilderness.

THEY NEVER LEFT: "We are our ancestor’s wildest dreams, and we are still here".

Some Indigenous people were never forced to leave what is now known as Alabama, and many across the continent are still intimately connected to their sacred homelands. Meet three Indigenous people who are answering their ancestor’s prayers to reclaim traditional lifeways, protect the environment, and teach us all how to better our relationships with the natural world and Native Nations.

FL*SHING INJUSTICE: Sherry Bradley and Perman Hardy met on an ordinary Friday afternoon. Amid national and international media recognition of the egregious sanitation and health challenges facing counties across the Black Belt, they helped create an extraordinary consortium of community members, academic institutions, nonprofits, and government agencies dedicated to finding practical solutions for wastewater issues throughout the Black Belt in Alabama.

The Black Belt Unincorporated Wastewater Project, UAB Sanitation Health and Equity program and other members of the Alabama Rural Water and Wastewater Management Consortium, are utilizing historic state and federal infrastructure funding to implement real solutions on the ground, transforming communities through education and bringing justice to areas that have long been overlooked and underserved for these basic needs.

06/06/2024

We are so so proud to announce the selection of five talented documentary filmmakers for the 2024 Southern Exposure Film Fellowship, kicking off on June 17! During the innovative six-week summer program, the film fellows will create short documentaries that tell impactful stories about Alabama’s unique people and places. The films amplify the vital work of Alabamians dedicated to preserving our rich biodiversity, offering audiences an intimate glimpse into the solutions and actions essential for ensuring a thriving environment for everyone.

Meet the 2024 Film Fellows!

*ROBERT BOYD*
Robert Boyd Wildlife Vlog (he/him) is a filmmaker, editor, narrator, Fulbright National Geographic Fellow, and lover of small and microscopic life.

Robert strives to create compelling narratives through reporting, writing, and filmmaking. While working as a video engineer intern aboard the Exploration Vessel Nautilus, he facilitated and filmed live educational interactions between Ocean Exploration Trust staff and on-shore educational groups. He also controlled and monitored ROV-mounted cameras, recording deep sea fauna found in the Gulf of California.

Previously, Robert worked with the National Park Service, using film to highlight the environmental and historical amenities of Manassas National Battlefield Park, Everglades National Park, and Indiana Dunes National Park. He produced a piece exploring zooplankton research at the Smithsonian Institution. Robert also served as a Post-Graduate Fellow with the Investigative Reporting Workshop and PBS Frontline, where he assisted with creating the Peabody-nominated primetime documentary “The Healthcare Divide”.

For most of 2022, Robert was on assignment in Barbados for a Fulbright National Geographic Fellowship, where he created a documentary about the Barbados Threadsnake, one of the world’s smallest serpents.

*CHARLES CONNELL*
Charlie Connell (he/him) is a documentary filmmaker hailing from Rochester Hills, Michigan. After earning a BS in Advertising Management from Michigan State University, he enrolled at American University in Washington, D.C., where he is currently working toward a Film & Media Arts MFA with a concentration in Environmental and Wildlife Filmmaking.

A lifelong learner and a well-rounded teammate who loves to create, Charles has developed his skills while producing video projects for the National Park Service, having his work showcased on Maryland Public Television, and teaching others along the way.

Combining his love of the outdoors, fascination with the animal kingdom, a knack for storytelling, and an ever-present positive attitude, Charles looks to create fresh and unique documentary films that can educate, entertain, and bring about impactful change.

*OLIVIA HALL*
Olivia Hall (she/her) is a proud Alabama native and recent graduate from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. At UAB, Olivia discovered a passion for multimodal storytelling as well as a deeper love and appreciation for the South. Her student documentary short, “Up In Smoke,” created with Southern Exposure alum Annie Foreman, was showcased at the 2023 Sidewalk Film Festival. Olivia is particularly passionate about exploring the relationship between individuals and their environment through film, with a focus on the South’s natural beauty and charm.

*HANNAH SCHOETTMER AND KALEB MANSKE*
Hannah Schoettmer and Kaleb Manske are both recent graduates from the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California. They are both independently award-winning filmmakers and writers, having screened work in festivals like the Chicago Horror Film Festival, the Milwaukee Film Festival, Pareidolia Video Art Festival, and Panic Fest and they have published writing in venues like The Louisville Review, the Indianapolis Review, and Glass: A Journal of Poetry.

They met in a documentary production course, where they teamed up and co-directed a short documentary about P-22, a famous mountain lion who lived in Los Angeles. Over the course of that project, they realized that they challenged each other creatively in ways that bettered their work. They decided to continue making documentaries together as a team, and are excited to bring their skills to Southern Exposure.

Learn more about the fellows and the films they will be working on at the l i n k below!

Southern ExposureMeet the 2024 Southern Exposure Film Fellows! Posted on June 3, 2024June 6, 2024 by Alabama Rivers Alliance Alabama Rivers Alliance is proud to announce the selection of five talented documentary filmmakers for the 2024 Southern Exposure Film Fellowship, kicking off on June 17. Duri...

14/03/2024

Thank you to Black Warrior Riverkeeper for making sure all libraries in their watershed have access to the Southern Exposure films!

Seth Self, our intern from University of Alabama School of Law and UA College of Communication and Information Sciences, recently delivered Alabama Rivers Alliance's newest Southern Exposure Film Fellowship DVD to The Demopolis Public Library. More on Seth via Tuscaloosa Patch: https://patch.com/alabama/tuscaloosa/self-secures-second-summer-internship-black-warrior-riverkeeper

13/03/2024

The deadline to apply for the 2024 Southern Exposure Film Fellowship is FRIDAY! Tell all your friends and their friends, and then their friends!

Now in its 12th year, the Southern Exposure Film Fellowship program provides a challenging learning experience to exceptional film students and emerging filmmakers from across the country seeking to explore and develop their talent as environmental advocates through nonfiction storytelling. This PAID innovative summer fellowship equips students with the skills, equipment, content knowledge and contacts to create authentic, engaging, inspiring films intended to raise public awareness about important issues facing Alabama’s environment — from the mountains to the coast.

Learn more and apply:

SOUTHERN EXPOSURE FILM FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM Documenting the Struggle and Celebrating the Successes of Environmental Protection in Alabama A Multimedia Summer Fellowship Sponsored by the Alabama Rivers Alliance Fellowship Dates: June 17 more »