THE FILMMAKERS
BARBARA CELIS
DIRECTOR, PRODUCER, EDITOR, CINEMATOGRAPHER
She is a Spanish journalist and filmmaker who moved to London in October 2012. Before she lived in New York for 13 years, where she worked as a regular contributor for the Spanish newspaper El Pais. Her articles have also been featured on the LA Weekly, Vogue, GQ, Cinemania, Rolling Stone, ARS, La Repubblica, Susy-Q, and Ioncinema, among others. She specializes in arts and culture, but through her 15 years career she has covered all kind of news, from the 9/11 attacks to Hurricane Katrina to Occupy Wall Street. Surviving Amina is her first documentary, but she has extensive experience as a producer, having worked for The Family Film Productions in New York for over three years. She produced the feature film The other shoe, and the award winning short The Artist, among others. She has a BA in Media and Communications by Universidad Complutense de Madrid and a MA in Journalism by Universidad Autónoma de Madrid/El Pais. She was recently awarded the IX Premio de Periodismo Ciudad de Badajoz 2012, the award V Premio Paco Rabal de Periodismo Cultural 2011 (Paco Rabal Award of Cultural Journalism 2011-Spain) for her blog Crónicas Barbaras and the USC Annenberg/Getty Arts Journalism Fellowship 2009. She has also worked as a communications advisor of Instituto Cervantes New York for two years.
CARLOS NOAIN
ORIGINAL MUSIC COMPOSER
Carlos Noain is one of the leading musicians of his generation in Spain. He has an MA in Music by the The Juilliard School and a MA in Bass Clarinet by the Rotterdam Conservatorium. He has been member of many prestigious youth orchestras in Europe, including the Youth Orchestra of The Basque Country (EGO), the International Youth Orchestra of Oviedo (JOICO), the National Youth Orchestra of Holland (NJO) and the World Youth Orchestra of Jeunesses Musicales (JMWO). He is also a member of the indie rock band Cedric Needs Us and the experimental duo Naica. He lives and works in New York. Surviving Amina is his second documentary score.
CHEREE DILLON
EDITOR
Cheree Dillon most recently edited Off and Running: An American Coming of Age Story. It is a co-production of ITVS, in association with American Documentary/P.O.V. and The National Black Programming Consortium. This feature-length documentary premiered at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival and is slated to air on PBS’s series, P.O.V. in 2010. Cheree began by editing commercials in Chicago. Since moving to New York, she has edited advocacy videos for The American Jewish World Service, Positive Planet, Passionists of Harlem, and V.O.W. (Voices of Women of Color with HIV/AIDS), She was Editor/Producer of Song of Hannah, distributed by The National Center for Jewish Film and Avoda Arts. Her other broadcast experience includes editing for NBC’s The Today Show, The Science Channel’s Exploring Time, PBS’s History Detectives, and other works for the Discovery Channel, HBO, HGTV, and NYC-TV. www.chereedillon.com
JULIEN BETORET
EDITOR
is a seasoned editor from Barcelona with seven years of experience in the field. He works for Mamma Team Production Company, which specializes in advertising and music videos. He has worked as an assistant editor for Vodafone, Orange, Repsol, Skoda and the Justin Timberlake´s music video Sexy Back, among others. He edited three short movies and a feature film. Surviving Amina it’s his first documentary film.
MIKAEL SANDGREN
SOUND EDITOR
A native of Gothenburg, Sweden, Mikael Sandgren studied both Classical and Jazz music before launching into a successful career spanning numerous roles in the recording, film, and television industries. His body of work includes scores for independent films, documentaries, interactive games and more than 50 TV ads. He received a best music BAFTA nomination for the ethnic/orchestral score to Command & Conquer “Generals” (EA). In 2004 he received an “Addy” award for best music for the Budweiser “True Refreshment” comercial. In the pursuit of “aural visions” Mikael has done sound design for video artist Bill Viola since 2000. He identifies the projects as composition with non-tonal elements. In 1991 he began producing recording artists on his Guerilla Music label. He has worked with an array of artists and across styles with R&B greats such as George Benson, Carl Anderson, Bobby Lyle, Phil Ingram, Gerald Albright, and Phil Upchurch (with partner Gerald McCauley). Between 1999-2006 he was resident composer & creative director at Soundelux DMG, the largest independent post-production company in Hollywood. Web site: www.mikaelsandgren.com
ALESSANDRA ZEKA
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER
Alessandra is a documentary filmmaker with over 12 years experience behind the camera. She has developed a dynamic and intimate style on her work, frequently focusing in gender identity and the life of women. In 1998 she traveled to Albania to direct Te Dürosh, (To endure) film that portraits the life of 3 generations of women after the falling of the communist regime. Her most recent documentary Harsh Beauty, which she made while living in India for 18 months, tells the stories and hard situation of the eunuchs in India. She is the founder of Adrenaline Films, a company whose documentaries have been broadcasted on CNN International, Al Jazeera,TV3, HKN, ARTE, RAI2, among others. She is currently working on A quiet inquisition, a documentary that focus on the experience of women, doctors and activists in El Salvador and Nicaragua where the termination of pregnancy, even if it is in response to a result of rape, incest, or to save the woman’s life, is a criminal offense that is actively prosecuted.
FULL CREW AND THANK YOU CREDITS
Editors: Julien Betoret, Cheree Dillon
Original Music: Carlos Noain
Sound Designer/Sound Editor: Mikael Sandgren
Additional Photography: Deborah Barkow, Rachel Gelhert, Scott Miller
Colorist: John Sawyer
Associate Producer: Alessandra Zeka
Post Production Consultant: Holen Khan
Transcripts: Guiomar Manso de Zuñiga
Titles: Martin Biehn
Post Production Facilities: Liberty Studios, Postbrooklyn
Website: Scott Poulin / Arsenal Productions
Design and art: Zago
Fiscally Sponsored by San Francisco Film Society
Director, producer, cinematographer, editor: Barbara Celis
With the participation of Television Suisse Romande (TSR)
THIS FILM WAS MADE POSSIBLE WITH THE GENEROUS SUPPORT OF:
Pedro Morales, Agustin Celis, Miranda D’Amico, Silvana D’Amico, Jose A. Castillo, Carlos J. Plaza, Angela D’Orazio, Carlos de Vega, Juan Pablo Nobrega, Soledad Alcaide, Juan Gonzalo Peces, Tania Ortiz de Zuñiga, Rosa Rivas, Katheleen Harris, Andres Fdz. Rubio, Rafa Ruiz, Justine Lackey
VERY SPECIAL THANKS
Eva Aragon, Michael Berens, Almudena Carracedo, Agustin Celis, Miranda D’Amico, Ralph Dfouni, Guillermo Escalona, Juan Fernandez, Jim Ferrell, Anthony Graviano, Gaspard Lamuniere, Juan Laguna, Idoya Noain, Lucas Nolla, Marta Sanchez, Jon Uriarte, Gloria Vilches.
Anne Lamuniere & Tommaso Tastini’s families and friends.
The medical team of doctors & nurses at Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and at NYU Medical Center 9 East Floor.
SPECIAL THANKS
Stefano Albertini, Barbara Alpuente, Celina Alvarado, Mercedes Alvarez, Matt Amato & The Masses, Sasha Anawalt, Franco Battiato, William Bednarz, Georgina Berrozpe, Joshua Samuel Brown, Celeste Carrasco, Mara Catalán, Flavio Celis, Andy Cohen, Javier Corcuera, Monica Coronatti, Gemma Cubero, Alejandro Chicheri, Diversion Mary, Antonino D’Ambrosio & La Lutta, Carlos Galilea, Doctor Farid Boulad, Doctor Adam Levy, Erik Eger, Raquel Fernandez, Carlos Fernandez, Carlos Fresneda, Mercedes Gallego, Philip Hood, Suzie Hwang, Ivan (I & L), David Jimenez, Adriá Juliá, Kelly Klaasmeyer, Lodge Kerrigan, Shawn Killebrew, Erika Latta, Isabel Lafont, Doug McLennan, David Maroto, Daria Masullo, Mi fantastico grupo I+D (Irene Fernandez, Fernando Gualdoni, Isabel Coello, Omar Khan, Alex Bolaños, Soledad Alcaide), Michelle Miles, Scott Miller, Veronica Mutti, Nick y Paloma, Raul Nagore, Ana Nieto, Carlota Nelson, Jose Nolla, Sonia Nolla, Antonio Ortuño, Scott Poulin, Yolanda Pividal, Sandro Pozzi, Javier Rebollo, Jon Rekdal, Randall Roberts, Raquel Sacristan, Nacho Sevilla, Charlie Sliebengerg, Dani Salorio, Oliver Santos, Stephen Tapert, Manuel Toscano, Javier Tolentino, Nicola Tranquillino, Michele Turnure-Saleo, Txiki, Julio y Mónica Valdeón, Neda Ulaby, Gina Villanueva, Jeff Weinstein, Matthew Westwood, Adrian Vogel.
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