Logan Nonfiction Welcomes 12 Fellows to Rensselaerville Campus
Internationally renowned journalists and filmmakers will be at work on books and documentaries in residence
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 12, 2022
Media Contact: Carly Willsie, carly@logannonfiction.org
Rensselaerville, N.Y. — The Logan Nonfiction Program is pleased to announce the pending arrival of a new class of fellows at its campus in upstate New York. Twelve acclaimed journalists and documentary filmmakers from four different countries and seven states comprise the latest class, which will be in residence at the Carey Institute for Global Good in mid-July and again in mid-September.
During their time in Rensselaerville, fellows will complete long-form works of nonfiction on the most pressing issues of the day. Fellows were selected from a record-breaking number of applicants and were chosen based on the depth of their reporting, the relevance of their projects to current issues in the U.S. and the world at large, as well as the skill of their storytelling crafts.
“There is no better response to mounting societal challenges than the kind of work being produced by these Logan Nonfiction fellows,” said Joshua Friedman, a Pulitzer-winning journalist and founding trustee of the Logan Nonfiction Program. “We are proud to host them.”
Incoming fellows include Nikhil Eapen, an Indian journalist at work on a book about the biodiversity crisis in South Asia; Scott Faris, co-director of “Impossible Town,” a documentary about a doctor working in a rural West Virginia village overrun with cancer-causing chemicals; journalist Julia Harte, writing “Undomesticated: An Alternative History of American Radicalism,” which explores the history of American activists who traveled abroad to join revolutionary liberation movements; filmmaker Suzannah Herbert, at work on a documentary project about history and fantasy in the American South; and Peter Klein, a filmmaker who will be working on a feature documentary about global commerce and the corruption that accompanies it.
Fellows also include Oscar Lopez, a New York Times journalist writing a book about forced disappearances in Mexico; writer Molly O’Toole, who is completing a book about the new migrant underground, forthcoming from Random House; filmmaker Ariel Ritchin, making a film about the residents of Hoosick Falls, N.Y and the PFOA-contaminated drinking water in Rensselaer County; Jiayan “Jenny” Shi, an Emmy-nominated filmmaker at work on a new, undisclosed project; filmmaker John D. Sutter, who is currently working on a longitudinal documentary about children growing up during our time of climate crisis; Pilar Timpane, a filmmaker completing a feature documentary exploring the changing role of women in the Catholic church; and filmmaker Julie Wyman, who is working on a documentary about newly released drugs being used to make little people taller, causing differing opinions and ethical questions in the community.
“We are honored to support the work of these brilliant writers and filmmakers,” said Carly Willsie, head of Logan Nonfiction. “By providing nonfiction creators with time, space and community, we hope to support the distribution of groundbreaking works of journalism and reporting, which are the bedrock of a democratic society.”
The group will comprise the 15th class of Logan fellows since the program’s inception in 2015. Traditionally an in-person residency, COVID forced the fellowship to move online throughout 2020 and 2021. This year, Logan Nonfiction is a hybrid program, with fellows participating in two separate week-long residencies at the Carey Institute that bookend eight weeks of virtual programming. Participants receive focused workspace, mentoring, workshopping and networking opportunities during their time in the program, as well as lodging, offices and meals while on campus in Rensselaerville.
Alumni of Logan Nonfiction have completed more than 50 films and books to date, a number of them recognized by major prizes, including a Sundance award, the Hillman Prize, the J. Anthony Lukas Prize and multiple Pulitzer Prizes. Most recently, alumna Andrea Elliott’s book, “Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival and Hope in an American City” was awarded this year’s Pulitzer in General Nonfiction.
For more information on the Logan Nonfiction Program, visit www.logannonfiction.org.
Primary funding for the Logan Nonfiction Program is provided by the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation — empowering world-changing work in investigative journalism, documentary film and arts and culture.
Additional foundation support is provided by the Open Society Foundations.
The Logan Nonfiction Program’s mission is to empower writers, documentary filmmakers, photojournalists and multimedia creators to complete the nonfiction that changes our world. Logan Nonfiction fellows are known for bravely revealing inequality, illuminating untold truths and investigating the most pressing issues of the day through long-form narrative.
The Jonathan Logan Family Foundation supports organizations that advance social justice by empowering world-changing work in investigative journalism, arts and culture, and documentary film.
The Open Society Foundations work to build vibrant and inclusive democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens.