Exclusive: AmDoc Announces Twelve 2025 Wyncote Fellows, Nominated by PBS Indies

American Documentary, the nonprofit organization behind POV, POV Shorts, and America ReFramed, announces the 12 Wyncote Fellows who will attend the PBS Annual Meeting (May 19–21, Atlanta, Georgia).

A curated program introduces independent filmmakers to the PBS Annual Meeting, the eight annual Wyncote Fellowship is coordinated by AmDoc in collaboration between PBS indie partners. This year, nominations were from POV, Firelight Media, ITVS, Reel South, WORLD, and the five organizational members of the National Multicultural Alliance: Black Public Media, Center for Asian American Media, Latino Public Broadcasting, Pacific Islanders in Communications, and Vision Maker Media. 

This year’s PBS Annual Meeting will take place in the shadow of hostile federal and state government actions against public broadcasting. Earlier this week on PBS NewsHour, PBS CEO Paula Kerger acknowledged that the Trump administration is expected to ask Congress to rescind more than US$1 billion in funding from CPB, which provides funding for PBS, PBS member stations, and PBS indies. 

The Wyncote Fellows will attend curated events during the PBS Annual Meeting, including one-on-one meetings with station representatives and “key figures from the local Atlanta film community.” AmDoc Executive Director Erika Dilday explains the fellowship’s goal is “to introduce documentary filmmakers to the public media landscape and help them cultivate a strong and lasting network of industry peers and PBS station staff.”

According to a press release, Wyncote Foundation Board Member David Haas said, “Wyncote Foundation is honored to support this fellowship, now in its 8th year, which brings together a group of talented independent documentary filmmakers who recognize the value in sharing their work on public media. We’re especially grateful to the PBS indie community for their participation and partnership in this important initiative.”

The most notable alumni is 2021 Wyncote Fellow Elegance Bratton (Pier Kids), whose fiction feature debut The Inspection (2022) went onto a nationwide release from A24 and a Golden Globe nomination.

The shortened biographies of the selected 2025 Wyncote Fellows are republished below.

Tarek Albaba is an-award winning filmmaker whose work has been featured on major platforms such as Disney+, National Geographic, History, Discovery, NBC/Universal, and Apple TV+. His feature documentary debut, 36 Seconds: Portrait of a Hate Crime, premiered at DOC NYC in 2023, where it won the Subject Matter award. In the same year, Tarek was named to DOC NYC's 40 Under 40. In 2024, 36 Seconds: Portrait of a Hate Crime won the Audience Award at the prestigious CAAMfest. Tarek continues to develop and produce powerful narratives that not only captivate audiences but also advocate for a more just and compassionate world.

Isabel Alcántara Atalaya is a Mexican producer and director with a background in journalism. Currently, she is the Production Manager at More Perfect Union, a progressive media organization and digital news platform focused on covering economic, labor, and social justice issues. Isabel was part of Chicken & Egg Pictures’ inaugural Accelerator Lab, a 2017 BAVC MediaMaker Fellow, a 2018-2019 Firelight Doc Lab Fellow, and an International Women in Media grantee. Her first feature documentary, The Age of Water, had its world premiere at the Morelia Film Festival in Morelia, Mexico. She is an avid birder.

Deborah Riley Draper is an award-winning filmmaker known for her compelling storytelling and ability to amplify diverse voices and journeys. A 2025 Film Independent Episodic Directing Fellow, Deborah also received a 2025 NAACP Image Awards nomination for Outstanding Directing - Documentary for the Questlove and Mick Jagger executive-produced docu-series James Brown: Say it Loud. She is the director and executive producer, alongside Cedric the Entertainer, of the August 2024 CBS/Paramount+ documentary 13 Days in Ferguson. Draper previously directed the 2-part series The Legacy of Black Wall Street for OWN/Discovery+, earning an NAACP Image Awards nomination for Outstanding Breakthrough Creative (Television).

Luchina Fisher (she/her) is the Emmy Award-winning director and producer of The Dads, about five fathers of trans kids bonding on a weekend fishing trip. The short documentary, executive produced by Dwyane Wade and acquired by Netflix, received the 2024 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Short Form Program and a Special Recognition Award from GLAAD. Her directorial debut, Mama Gloria, about a Black trans elder activist, was nominated for a 2022 GLAAD Media Award and broadcast on PBS. Her new project, Hiding in Plain Sight, about the unsung history of Black queer presence in music was the winner of the 2023 PitchBLACK Film Forum. Luchina has directed two scripted short films and written and produced several nationally broadcast documentaries. 

Robie Flores is a filmmaker and editor drawn to telling stories that explore the nuances of her fronterizo and Mexican-American communities. Her first feature, The In Between, which received support from Ford Foundation and ITVS among others, had its world premiere at SXSW 2024 and its European premiere at FilmFest München. It is now streaming on PBS. Her other work has been presented on CNN, Bloomberg, Independent Lens, BET, Fusion and Teen Vogue.

Marquise Mays is a storyteller shaped by the rhythms of Milwaukee—a city that holds both his history and his vision for the future. As an award-winning filmmaker, professor, and cultural curator, his work explores the intimate textures of Black Midwestern life, offering careful and personal renderings of identity, memory, and place. Rooted in nonfiction, his films create space for Black Midwesterners to shape their own narratives—whether capturing a father’s quiet wisdom (Home Improvement), examining new remedies to trauma (Black Strings), or redefining the power of names (Monikers). Featured on Criterion Channel, PBS, and BET, his storytelling blends film, education, and cultural preservation, building a cinematic encyclopedia of Black Midwestern life.

Sandra McDaniel is a television producer known for her work on documentary and news programs. She joined the nonprofit news organization Retro Report in 2016 after stints at NBC News, The Documentary Group, and independent productions that co-produced public television programs including “Finding Your Roots” and “History Detectives.” She has produced short- and long-form stories on criminal justice, public health, and other topics, including a documentary on domestic violence and the “Burning Bed” trial. That short film won a Telly award and was an official selection of the American Documentary and Animation Film Festival. Sandra is a graduate of Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism. 

Sam Miller is a creative strategist, filmmaker, and entrepreneur based in Birmingham, Alabama. As the owner of Champ Creative, Sam leads a dynamic agency specializing in branding, marketing, and storytelling that resonates. With a keen eye for impactful narratives, Sam has built a reputation for developing campaigns that not only engage but also drive meaningful connections between brands and their audiences.

His latest project, I'm Still Here, has garnered national attention, winning audience choice awards and securing a spot for broadcast on PBS. The film showcases his dedication to telling powerful, historically significant stories that inspire and educate.

Jota Mun (they/them) is the director and producer of Between Goodbyes, which had its world premiere at the DMZ International Film Festival, where they won the Emerging Filmmaker Award. The film has been selected to screen at Chicago International Film Festival, Santa Fe International Film Festival where it won a Special Jury Award for Feature Documentary, as well as DOC NYC. As an editor, their credits include the Emmy-nominated Netflix series “Who Killed Malcolm X?”.

Brittany Shyne is an independent filmmaker based in Dayton, Ohio. Working in the narrative and non-fiction artform, her work seeks to depict the complexity of everyday life by examining themes such as personal histories, alienation and cultural modernization. Her debut feature, Seeds, recently premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, where it received the esteemed U.S. Documentary Grand Jury Award. Shyne received her MFA in Documentary Media from Northwestern University and a BFA in Motion Pictures from Wright State University.

Clay Tweel is a director/producer/editor with a passion for telling poignant and complicated character based stories. His works include Finders Keepers, The Innocent Man, Heaven’s Gate: Cult of Cults, Out of Omaha and Gleason - the last of which was shortlisted for an Academy Award and named one of the 5 best documentaries of 2016 by the National Board of Review. His projects have been distributed by Showtime, Netflix, HBO MAX, STARZ and Amazon Studios while working closely with companies that include Open Road, Campfire Studios and A24. Most recently, in mid 2024 Clay premiered his latest film, The Bitter Pill, about a lawyer taking on Big Pharma in the opioid crisis.

Laura Varela is a cultural translator and filmmaker whose work transcends cultural, linguistic, and physical borders. Raised on the U.S./Mexico border in El Paso, TX, and based in San Antonio, TX, she uses film and contemporary art to uplift Latinx/Chicanx communities and social justice movements. In 2025, American Sons, which she produced alongside director/producer Andrew James Gonzales, had its World Premiere at SXSW. Varela’s documentary As Long as I Remember: American Veteranos aired nationally on PBS from 2010 to 2016 via American Public Television. She is currently developing Queen of the Accordion, a feature film about conjunto musician Eva Ybarra, and Rebecca Flores: Under the South Texas Sun, a documentary with Anne Lewis.