Concordia Studio has selected four filmmakers for its 2025 Documentary Filmmaker Fellowship, a prestigious artist development program cultivated within the independent film and television production studio co-founded by Oscar winner Davis Guggenheim.
The fellows, selected on the basis of “excellence in craft, collaboration, and cinematic exploration of unknown worlds,” are Contessa Gayles, Jason M. Harper, Mohammed Naqvi, and Jennifer Tiexiera. Read more about the filmmakers below.
“At a time of rapid and dramatic changes in our film ecosystem, one thing has remained consistent; the bright light of creative imagination of filmmakers like these,” commented Rahdi Taylor, EVP of The Concordia Fellowship. “That’s why we believe that now more than ever, creative, strategic, financial and convening support can help visionary filmmakers chart their course to the future.”
Fellowship candidates are eligible for consideration by direct invitation and private nomination only, Concordia Studio notes. “Nominators for the 2025 Fellowship class included industry veterans from CAAM and True/False Film Festival, representing the program’s commitment to diverse storytellers and regional voices in documentaries.”
Current Documentary Filmmaker Fellows include Rita Baghdad (Sirens, My Country No More); Edward R. Buckles Jr. (Katrina Babies); Jarrod Cann (Good White People); Lindsey Dryden (The Callers, Lost and Sound); Twiggy Pucci Garçon (MnM); Tracy Jarrett (Victim/Suspect, The Fire That Took Her), and Cinque Northern (Angola Do You Hear Us?).
Alums of the fellowship incude Elizabeth Lo, whose documentary Mistress Dispeller was recently acquired by Oscilloscope Laboratories; Isabel Castro, whose documentary Selena y Los Dinos premiered at Sundance, which Netflix has been circling; Oscar nominee Garrett Bradley (Time); Oscar nominee Bing Liu (Minding the Gap); two-time Oscar nominee Smriti Mundhra (I Am Ready, Warden; St. Louis Superman); Oscar nominee Christine Turner (The Barber of Little Rock), and Dominque Ulloa, editor of We Need to Talk about Cosby and Surviving R. Kelly.
‘Deaf President Now!’
Concordia Studio
Concordia Studio’s latest project is Deaf President Now!, co-directed by Nyle DiMarco and Davis Guggenheim, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. The film will debut on Apple TV+ on May 16.
2025 FELLOWSHIP RECIPIENTS
CONTESSA GAYLES
Contessa Gayles is an award-winning filmmaker who tells stories about identity, healing, Black liberation and the radical imagination. Her feature documentary-visual album, Songs From the Hole (2024, SXSW) won the Audience Award at SXSW. The film earned an IDA Award Nomination and won the 2025 Cinema Eye Honors Heterodox Award. The Debutantes premiered in documentary competition at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival and her short Founder Girls (2023, Tribeca) broadcast on BET. Formerly a journalist at CNN, she directed and produced award-winning non-fiction including the feature documentary, The Feminist on Cellblock Y. She has been supported by Impact Partners, IDA, Sundance Institute, Film Independent, Firelight Media, Chicken & Egg Films, Queen Collective, SFFILM, BAVC, Open Society Foundations and many others. She is a 2025 ConcordiaFellow.
JASON HARPER
Jason (J.M.) Harper is an editor and director who uses his creative voice to bend the worlds and blend the genres of art, film, and hip hop across documentary shorts, features, and series. He made his directorial debut with As We Speak (2024, Sundance, Paramount+), which artfully explores the use of rap lyrics in criminal trials. His critically acclaimed editing credits include the Emmy-nominated Jeen-Yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy (2022, Sundance, Netflix), A Kid From Coney Island (2019, Netflix) and Down a Dark Stairwell (2020, PBS, Criterion Channel), as well as the short Don’t Go Tellin’ Your Momma (2021, Sundance and SXSW). Jason was recently named to DOC NYC’s 40 Under 40 list in 2024. He is a 2025 Concordia Fellow.
MOHAMMED NAQVI
Mohammed “Mo” Naqvi is an award-winning filmmaker who grew up between Pakistan and the United States. His films examine high-stakes global issues, often involving unprecedented access to environments and individuals. He directed Emmy nominated films The Accused: Damned or Devoted? (2020, PBS World) and Among the Believers (2015, PBS World), and his documentary Pakistan’s Hidden Shame won the U.N Association Festival Grand Jury prize (2014, Channel 4 UK). Naqvi received the inaugural Television Academy Honor for his film Shame (2006, Showtime), and was a co-executive producer on two seasons of the Netflix Original series Turning Point. Mo has been nominated for an Independent Spirit Award, a Cinema Eye Honor, and the UNESCO-FELLINI Prize. He is a member of AMPAS and a 2025 Concordia Fellow.
JENNIFER TIEXIERA
Jennifer Tiexiera is an award-winning filmmaker noted for her insightful and ground-breaking creative collaborations with film participants and other creatives. Her latest documentary Speak had its world premiere in U.S. Competition at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Tiexiera recently directed the three-part series Unveiled: Surviving La Luz del Mundo for HBO (2022, Emmy and a duPont-Columbia Award nominee). Her documentary Subject explored the life-altering experience of sharing one’s life on screen (2022, Tribeca), and she co-directed P.S. Burn this Letter Please (2021, Tribeca, OutFest Audience Award) about a forgotten part of LGBTQ+ history in NYC. Tiexiera is a co-founder of Lady & Bird, and a proud member of Brown Girls Doc Mafia, DPA, IDA, LatinX Directors, Women in Film, and Film Fatales. She is a 2025 Concordia Fellow.
