FILM FESTIVALS -- The first ever Women, Peace and Security Fellowships, created with support from the Compton Foundation to elevate stories of women’s efforts to end conflict and advance peace, were awarded to Molly Stuart for her documentary Objector and to Deann Borshay Liem for her documentary Crossings. In addition to financial support, fellows will receive a residency and benefit from mentorships and meaningful networking opportunities.
Molly Stuart is an emerging filmmaker based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Growing up on a small commune in the Santa Cruz mountains, she developed a critical lens on society and a drive to tell stories that can transform it. From a young age, she became an avid home video producer, documenting the many eclectic personalities that appeared in her living room.
As Stuart began to see the limits of communal idealism in affecting broad-scale change, she became a community organizer and worked on numerous grassroots documentary shorts. After studying sociology and film studies at Middlebury College, she went on to pursue a Master of Fine Arts at San Francisco State University.
Stuart’s film work has won awards at film festivals around the U.S. and has been published in outlets including The Nation and In These Times. She is the 2016 recipient of the Bill Nichols Excellence in Cinema Award from San Francisco State University.
Photo: In Molly Stuart’s documentary, 19-year-old Atalya prepares to refuse her mandatory military service in the Israeli Army. Photo courtesy of Molly Stuart.