From Kate:

Dear friends and family,

I’m excited to announce that I’m participating in Collaborative Studio (CoLAB) at Union Docs Center for Documentary Arts and I’m currently raising funds to cover the program fees.
This year has brought with it a lot of questions around what it means to make films in a pandemic and how best to respond to current events as an artist. As the world shifts and we all reevaluate our surroundings, I feel it is crucial as an artist to look critically at one’s own practice, seek out spaces of radical education to grapple with the current moment, and reimagine a brighter future. CoLab provides a unique space to do just that.

I am in need of financial support to make this possible. If you know me personally, you know I make a point of donating regularly to crowdfunding campaigns. You also know that I would rather juggle 4 jobs at once than ask for help, but if there’s one thing this year has taught me it is that sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and reach out when you need to. Know that your support is tax-deductible and any donations via this platform can be written off.

This program will allow me to engage in theory and critical collaboration in order to support social and political movements while further solidifying my commitment to making thoughtful and meaningful films and promoting accessibility in film. Funds raised will go towards the tuition of this program.

Thank you for your support.

Kate E. Hinshaw is a tactile filmmaker and cinematographer who works with digital and film cameras alike. Coming from an experimental background, she is interested in using the cinematic gaze to render visible the interiority of the feminine. Tactily, she works with 16mm and super 8mm film through bleaching, scratching, painting, and burning the emulsion in order to tell stories through color and texture.

Her work has screened at Atlanta Film Festival, Denver Film Festival, Indie Grits, and several small festivals. She earned an MFA at the University of Colorado at Boulder in Spring 2020 where she was awarded a teaching excellence award for her work as a digital cinematography instructor. She currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia where she publishes and curates Analog Cookbook—a film zine that celebrates and shares knowledge of analog filmmaking, darkroom processes, and features artists from all over the world.

About the CoLAB:

The UnionDocs Collaborative Studio (CoLAB) is a program for a select group of media artists from the US and abroad. Based in one of NYC’s most exciting neighborhoods, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, CoLAB offers a platform for exploring contemporary approaches to the documentary arts and a process for developing an innovative collaborative project. The program consists of weekly production meetings, seminars, screenings and other public programs, along with regular masterclasses and critiques with visiting artists. In a recent article in The New York Times, film scholar Scott MacDonald, remarked, “UnionDocs has a healthy sense that the older definitions of what constitutes ‘experimental’ cinema and what constitutes ‘documentary’ are up for grabs.” Similarly, the UnionDocs Collaborative Studio represents a new and alternative fellowship model, offering residency and visa support for six participants coming from abroad and an equal number of spots for local, non-resident participants. It is designed to be affordable and, although participants are asked to make CoLAB their primary creative focus, the schedule does accommodate full-time or freelance work. The Brooklyn Rail summed it up with the title of their feature article: “UnionDocs Brings Auteurs Together”. For some, participation in the program may lead to further study. For others, it may lead to independent projects or strengthened careers within the industry. For all, it is an unparalleled immersion in the expansive field of documentary art.

UnionDocs hopes to build from our experience running the Collaborative Studio (read more about the 10 month CoLAB here), but retool this well established program to fit current necessities. This new opportunity will be shorter, but more concentrated with participation offered in-residence or remotely; still engaged with theory and practice, but geared to explicitly support political media production, mutual aid, direct action, and urgent praxis. You can find out more about this year’s Collaborative Studio, Another World is Possible.