American University’s Brigid Maher Honored as July Filmmaker of the Month

Wednesday, July 1, 2015
Director, producer and educator honored for extraordinary contribution to the film community

The District of Columbia Office of Motion Picture and Television Development (MPTD) is pleased to honor award-winning producer, director, and educator Brigid Maher as the July Filmmaker of the Month.

Award-winning filmmaker Brigid Maher is an associate professor of film and media arts and associate division director of the Film and Media Arts Division at American University in Washington, D.C. Maher is also co-director of the Center for Media and Social Impact. Maher’s latest documentary, The Mama Sherpas, executive produced by Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein, is a powerful film providing an intimate look into how midwives across the country are working to improve how the hospital system approaches childbirth, both medically and spiritually. The film follows nurse-midwives, the doctors they work with, and their patients, over the course of two years.

The Mama Sherpas premiered in Los Angeles and San Francisco in May and is currently screening in theaters and community screenings across the country.  The film will have its digital platform premiere (iTunes, Amazon Instant, Google Play) on July 21. Her previous documentary, Veiled Voices, investigated the world of Muslim women religious leaders through the eyes of three women in Lebanon, Syria and Egypt.  The film was featured in film festivals internationally and appeared on screen on over 150 public television stations and three national broadcasts.   

Brigid’s documentary and narrative film work has received national and international distribution, and has been featured in various film festivals including the Al Jazeera International Documentary Festival, the Los Angeles International Women’s Film Festival, and the Flying Broom International Women's Film Festival.

Maher’s scholarly writing focuses on the evolving relationship between traditional film and new media theories. Her writings have been published by Cilect, the International Digital Media Arts Conference Journal and featured in the D|N|A Anthology. Maher received a Fulbright Senior Award to teach broadcast media in Lebanon in the spring of 2005.

Maher is a proud resident of the District of Columbia’s Ward 5.

MPTD launched the Filmmaker of the Month initiative to feature a District-based filmmaker who exemplifies the vast amount of talent and creativity based here in the nation’s capital. The Filmmaker of the Month initiative is part of MPTD’s mission to elevate the national and international profile of the city’s most talented filmmakers. Previous filmmakers honored include ThinkFilm producer Jonathan Zurer; Fatback Films Founder Be Steadwell; and veteran award-winning husband and wife filmmakers Marilyn and Hal Weiner.

You can visit the Filmmaker of the Month section to learn more about Brigid and previous Filmmaker of the Month recipients.