blair dorosh-walther
Introduction (2-3 lines)
Under the neon lights of the gay-friendly neighborhood of New York City, four young Black lesbians were violently and sexually threatened by a man on the street. They defend themselves and were charged and convicted in the courts and in the media as a 'Gang of Killer Lesbians'.
Who has the right to defend themselves? This question is asked in Out in the Night, a documentary film that sheds light on the New Jersey 4 and how the media's prejudicial representation of these young women perpetuated harmful stereotypes and biases, leading to their wrongful incarcerations.
biography
blair doroshwalther stands in the at the intersections of activism + art.
Director and Producer, blair dorosh-walther identifies as gender non-conforming and uses both male and female pronouns, is a recent Guggenheim Fellow, a social issue documentary director and artist with a passion for inspiring action for social justice through media. blair graduated with a BFA in Film from NYU and was awarded the Adam Balsano Award for social significance in documentary filmmaking. Out in the Night had its international premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival June 2014 and has since been in over 140 film festivals, recently winning the 37th Annual Telly Awards. Out in the Night has also won the Goldene Perle for Best Documentary at PERLEN, the Queer Film Festival in Hannover, Germany, Third Prize at the Lesbisch Schwule Filmtage Hamburg / International Queer Film Festival, Hamburg Germany, Best Documentary Audience Award at the Fresno Reel Pride, Jury Award for Best Documentary at Out Here Now: Kansas City LGBT Film Festival, Audience Choice Award at the London Lesbian Film Festival, Audience Award for Best Film at the Baltimore International Black Film Festival, Audience Award and a Jury Award – Special Mention Documentary Feature at image+nation, Montreal, Jury Award at ARC Queer People of Color Film Festival, Audience Award at the New Orleans Film Festival, Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature at ReelQ, Audience Award and a Special Documentary Jury Prize for Courage in Storytelling at ImageOut, Jury and Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival.
They partnered with the United Nations’ Free and Equal Campaign to decriminalize homosexuality worldwide in 2014, ’15 and ’16. Out in the Night kicked off the 2015-2016 season of POV on PBS June 22nd with a simultaneous broadcast on the Logo Network. Out in the Night is hir first feature documentary.
Additionally, they focus on economic justice and housing for all policy changes in NYC, blair co-authored the report, "Reinvesting in Economic Justice, Equity, and Solidarity for Survivors," advocating for legislative change.
