Risé Sanders-Weir
Sanders-Weir is an award-winning documentary filmmaker. Her most recent work is Guaranteed in Gary, a Firelight/CAAM Homegrown, PBS supported short documentary currently screening at festivals and available on PBS Digital. Other highlights include producing America to Me for Kartemquin Films/Participant/STARZ and directing/writing episodes of Chicago Stories for WTTW/PBS – her history of Sears & Montgomery Wards will premiere on November 10, 2023. Her projects have also appeared on History, National Geographic, CNBC, A&E, MSNBC, The Weather Channel, and others. And they have been recognized with Cinema Eye, Hugo and Telly awards – and nominations for Oscar, Emmy, and NAACP Image awards. As Director of Production and Post for Kartemquin Films she shepherded more than 10 films to completion (including two Oscar nominees and several Emmy nominees & winners). Her independent directorial debut Gadget Girls was selected for the U.S. State Department’s American Film Showcase and has been screened around the world. She teaches at Columbia College Chicago and Triton College, where she was awarded the Illinois Community College Trustees Association Adjunct Faculty of the Year award in 2023. She is a member of the Documentary Producers Alliance and teaches the DPA Guidelines for the Documentary Waterfall. She consults with other filmmakers about utilization of fair use and US copyright law.