FILMMAKERS
INES SOMMER
Director, Producer, Cinematographer Ines Sommer directs and produces genre-crossing films with topics ranging from the environment to the arts, civic engagement, and human rights. Past projects include the human rights documentary Beneath the Blindfold and the MacArthur Foundation-funded Count Me In, which aired on PBS stations across the nation in 2016. Ines’ company Sommer Filmworks LLC produces documentaries and commissioned videos for non-profit organizations, arts groups, and other clients. Ines' camerawork has been featured in numerous award-winning projects, including broadcast documentaries for leading Chicago production companies Kartemquin Films and Kindling Group. She co-founded and directs the non-profit media arts group Percolator Films and has organized and curated numerous film events, conferences, and festivals with an emphasis on community engagement. Ines currently teaches in Northwestern University's Radio/TV/Film Department. |
TERRA BROCKMAN
Producer The fourth of five generations of an Illinois farm family, Terra Brockman is the founder of The Land Connection, an educational nonprofit organization that trains farmers in resilient, restorative farming techniques and works to ensure that more Illinois farmland will be well-stewarded for future generations. Terra is also a speaker and author, whose work appears in many print and online publications, including Civil Eats, Epicurious, The Christian Century, Orion Magazine, The Wildbranch Anthology, and City Creatures: Animal Encounters in the Chicago Wilderness. Her book The Seasons on Henry’s Farm was a finalist for the James Beard Award in Writing and Literature. |
LIZ KAAR
Editor Liz Kaar is an independent filmmaker and editor based in Chicago. She has worked closely with Chicago’s documentary powerhouse Kartemquin Films for over a decade. She recently directed, produced, shot and edited Stranded by the State, a web series and TV mini series co-produced by In These Times magazine and Kartemquin Films, about the human cost of the two-year Illinois budget impasse. She co-directed and edited Hard Earned, Kartemquin's six-part series about people living on low wages across the U.S, airing on Al Jazeera America. The series won a prestigious Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Journalism Award in 2016 and was nominated for an IDA award. |
MELISSA STERNE
Editor Melissa Sterne recently edited Tod Lending's All The Difference, which aired nationally on the PBS POV series. Melissa was a producer and the supervising editor for The School Project, a collaborative web series about the state of public education in Chicago. Other editing credits include Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance, which aired on PBS American Masters and received a national theatrical release; Senator Obama Goes to Africa, which reached television viewers in over 100 countries; and Radical Disciple: The Story of Father Michael Pfleger, which garnered 3 stars from Roger Ebert and aired on PBS. |
NICK TAKÉNOBU OGAWA
Music Takénobu is the moniker for cellist and composer Nick Takénobu Ogawa. He has been a touring member of Kishi Bashi and is a composer for NPR's Invisibilia, Netflix's Last Chance U, and Jack Newell’s documentary 42 Grams. In live performance he is joined by violinist Kathryn Koch, who plays regularly with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Atlanta Opera, and Chattanooga Symphony and Opera. Takénobu has released 6 albums to date, including the recent independently released Reversal. |