Nelson Walker (he/him), INTERIM executive DIRECTOR
Nelson is a New York-based cinematographer and documentary filmmaker whose work spans production, education, and film programming. He got his start in cinematography working alongside the late Albert Maysles, and since then his work has appeared in many notable films, such as MAKING A MURDER, IRIS, WATCHERS OF THE SKY, CIVIL WAR, THE FIGHT, CAPTURING THE FLAG, THE REVEREND and most recently NAM JUNE PAIK: MOON IS THE OLDEST TV and INVISIBLE BEAUTY. With his partner Lynn True, Nelson also shoots and directs his own films, including LUMO (winner of the Student Academy Award), SUMMER PASTURE (winner of the Peabody Award), and IN TRANSIT, which he co-directed with Albert Maysles and others. In addition to his work as a filmmaker, Nelson is founder of the Congo in Harlem film series (www.congoinharlem.org) and the Kham Film Project (www.khamfilmproject.org), which seeks to expand opportunities for Tibetan filmmakers. Nelson currently serves as Interim Executive Director of Maysles Documentary Center, a Harlem-based non-profit cinema that uses film to promote community, education, and social justice (www.maysles.org). Nelson is a graduate of Brown University and Columbia University School of the Arts.
Vithya Truong (he/him), Bookkeeper
Vithya has been with MDC since 2017, and is responsible for our general accounting. When he is not crunching numbers at MDC, he is in his painting studio and caring for his two daughters. He has a BS degree in Accounting from Northern Illinois University with a CPA certification, and a MFA in painting from the New York Academy of Art.
Art Jones (he/him), Lead Film educator
Art Jones works with film, digital video, and interactive media in the roles of director, director of photography, motion graphics designer, and editor. He has produced and directed pieces for organizations including MTV , Deep Dish Television, and the Women’s Health Project (New York City Department of Health). He has served as Director of Photography on projects for clients including Red Bull, The New York Times, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and on numerous short and long-form films and videos. Jones’ films and new media projects have been presented at the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum, London’s Tate Gallery, and media festivals and broadcast outlets internationally. Jones works in a variety of genres, most significantly in documentary and music related pieces.
Mónica Sánchez (she/her) is a licensed Creative Arts Therapist and the Director of the Mental Health Services Program at a CBO in East Harlem, NYC. As an immigrant woman herself, she is committed to developing and implementing culturally appropriate and trauma-informed care programs to support immigrant families. In her role, she continues to design, develop, and provide high-quality therapeutic interventions for immigrant women and their families who have experienced sustained trauma. Mónica tailors mental health programming specifically to the needs of each population with whom she works.
She has presented her work at institutions and conferences such as NYU Silver School of Social Work, Teachers College-Columbia University, the Philadelphia Trauma Training Conference, New York Women’s Foundation, The Museum of the City of New York, and El Museo del Barrio. Mónica was selected to participate in the prestigious Coro Immigrant Civic Leadership Program fellowship from July 2019 to April 2020. In May 2023, Mónica co-authored a book chapter entitled "Art Therapy with Latin-American Women" in a book titled "Exploring the Benefits of Creative Art Therapies for Children, Adolescents, and Adults."
Emily Rose Apter (she/her), Director of Programming / Cinema manager
Emily is a programmer, filmmaker, and community organizer based in brooklyn. She has programmed at cinemas, museums, and schools around the country including Spectacle, Peephole Cinema, Museum of the City of NY, City College, Harlem Stage, the Film-Makers' Cooperative, among others, archives, labor, landscapes, and collective struggle are core themes of her work.
Langston sanchez (he/him), projection manager Langston is an artist, educator, and technician. As Technical Manager/Projectionist, Langston enjoys both detailed plans and spontaneous action, tending to the cinema’s audio/visual and front of house needs. As an artist, his work draws from the foundations of cinema verite. When not working below the line or behind the curtain, Langston shares his knowledge of film, technical theater, and production with young people across the city.
Kazembe Balagun (he/him), guest curator
Kazembe is an internationally-presenting public speaker, writer, and activist originally from Harlem, New York who employs cultural history as a tool for political discourse and movement building. The youngest son of Ben and Millie, Balagun inherited and experiments with the intellectual, political, and aesthetic values shaped by 20th-century crossings of varied Blacknesses in Uptown New York that continue to shape practices of meaning-making across artistic disciplines and around the world.
Balagun’s writings have been published in several anthologies including Imagine: Living in a Socialist USA (Harper Collins, 2014) and Finally Got the News: The Printed Legacy of the U.S. Radical Left, 1970-1979 (Common Notions, 2017). In 2006, Balagun conducted Octavia Butler’s last interview for the radical newspaper, the Indypendent, of which he is a staff writer emeritus. He has presented at institutions including the Black Archives in Amsterdam, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Maysles Documentary Center, and Metrograph Theater.
From 2008-2013, Balagun facilitated dialogue around the relationship between culture, Marxism, and the Black Radical tradition as Director of Outreach and Education at the Brecht Forum, through programs that centered performance art, LGBT history, film, and jazz. Thereafter, he served as a project manager with the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung--New York, where he focused on transatlantic racial solidarity and the right to the city until 2022.
akeema-Zane (she/her), film educator Akeema is an artist and researcher working in the mediums of literature, film performance and sound. a²z is the arm which houses some of the artists’ music/sound practice which includes deejaying, composition and scoring/sound design. She is currently serving as board chair of The School of Making Thinking and on the board of Cucalorus Film Festival.
Astrid dong (they/them), projectionist
Astrid is a filmmaker, community organizer, and projectionist. At MDC, they tend to the technical aspect of film screenings to share stories with audiences. They graduated from SUNY Purchase, where they produced their thesis film, Joyrider, with the reception of the Elayne Rubinoff award. They are a Telluride Film Festival Student Symposium alum, and a PitchNY Participant (Tribeca, NBC Universal, NYS-MPTV). Astrid lives in Brooklyn, NY.
Victor sanchez (he/him), House Manager
Nasri Zacharia (he/him), Film Educator
Nasri is a co-founder of, and the Director of Programming for, the Harlem International Film Festival. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from the University of California at Davis, and earned his MFA in directing and cinematography from New York University’s Graduate Film School.
Lucas C. Ospina (he/him), Print traffic manager
Lucas is a filmmaker and photographer living in Queens, NY. He was born in California.
Tiffany wang (she/her), projectionist Tiffany is a film projectionist living in Brooklyn, NY
Nia Whitmal (she/her), Summer-fall intern
Nia is a phD student in sociocultural anthropology at Cornell University. My research interests include the Black middle class and Black homeownership in New York City. I am particularly interested in Black Harlemites who own and/or will inherit historic brownstones from their forebears. Alongside doctoral research, I teach undergraduates documentary production and work on independent films in New York.
Benji Santos (they/them), projectionist
Benji hunches in booths across New York, Olympia, and San Diego..
Iman Rose Louis-Jeune (she/her), projectionist
Iman is an interdisciplinary artist from Brooklyn, NY. Her work is inspired by science fiction, current events, and familial relationships. Through movement, lens-based media, design and production she is focused on creating dance films, photo prints, and design work exploring mental health, racial inequities, and her diverse cultural upbringing.
Beau Gaines (he/him), rentals coordinator
Beau is a documentary filmmaker originally from the Bay Area, who now lives in Harlem. His experience in film ranges from archival research to production management and producing. Working for both major studios and innovative start-ups on multiple critically acclaimed projects, Beau is enthusiastic about contributing to the community, education, and culture of championing diverse voices at Maysles.
