With Kevin B. Lee, Lynne Sachs, Gala Hernández López and Jane Gaines

“You didn’t know, and couldn’t know, and didn’t care, safe in your pram”
— A Diary for Timothy (1945), Humphrey Jennings

When we make a documentary, we rarely know who will ultimately watch it. Films travel through time, across contexts and generations. They may be seen years—or decades—after they are made. So how do we speak to or project to an audience we cannot know?

In this workshop, essay filmmaker, critic and scholar Kevin B. Lee (Transformers: The Premake, Afterlives) will explore this idea of “projective documentary”, asking  how filmmakers address audiences that are distant, unknown, or yet to come. A pioneer of the desktop documentary and a master of the essay film form, Kevin will guide participants through ways of thinking about documentary as a conversation across time.

Essay films often speak directly—to a person, a community, a future viewer, or even to someone who may never respond. This act of address allows filmmakers to reflect on the present while imagining how it might be understood in the future. What does it mean to document our moment with viewers we cannot yet see? And how might the way we speak shape how that future understands us?

Across three days of artist talks, screenings, and feedback sessions, participants will examine different ways documentary filmmakers have addressed their audiences—from wartime letter-films to contemporary desktop documentaries. Together we will think about how voice, form and structure can help create films that endure beyond the moment in which they are made.

The workshop will revolve around questions such as:

What does it mean to make a film for someone who cannot respond?

Who gets to speak—and who is spoken for?

How might we represent the present for viewers in the future?

Do we ever truly know who our films reach?

What forms work best when addressing an unseen or unknown audience?

How might emerging technologies, including generative AI, change how we imagine the future viewer?

What happens when images are generated rather than captured?

Joining Kevin for the workshop is a group of invited filmmakers, thinkers and researchers working across moving-image practice. Film scholar Jane Gaines will bring a historical approach to projective documentary. Filmmaker Gala Hernández López will join remotely to discuss how AI and digital culture shape her approach to documentary and essay filmmaking. And Lynne Sachs will walk participants through her extensive experience with the essay form. Participants will also be encouraged to share their own work in the context of a creative feedback session with Kevin.

Register below, spots are limited. Hope to see you there!

Friday, May 1st

10:00am – 10:30am Welcome & intros 

10:30am – 12:30pm Intro session with Kevin B. Lee

12:30am – 2:00pm Lunch

2:00pm – 4:00pm Session with Jane Gaines

4:00pm – 4:30pm Wrap Up Discussion with Kevin additional exercises / discussion

Saturday, May 2nd

10:00am – 10:30am Warm up, inspiring references, case studies

10:30am – 12:30pm Remote Session with Gala Hernández López

12:30am – 2:00pm Lunch

2:00pm – 4:00pm Session with Lynne Sachs

4:00pm – 4:30pm Wrap Up Discussion with Kevin, additional exercises / discussion

Sunday, May 3rd

10:00am – 12:30pm Creative work-in-progress session with Kevin

12:30am – 1:30pm Wrap-up discussion and final thoughts

Each day follows this general structure, with some minor variations and substitutions:

10:00a Warm up, inspiring references, case study, eye training.

10:30a Presentation by guest speaker + individual work-in-progress critique

11:45a Discussion

12:30p Share / Discussion / Exercise

1:00p Lunch (on your own)

2:00p Presentation by guest speaker + individual work-in-progress critique

3:15p Discussion

4:00p Workshop Exercise + Critique

5:00p Wrap Up