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Karola Ritter, of
German origin, is a multi-media visual artist, painter, photographer,
videographer and documentary filmmaker. Her childhood was spent in Switzerland
and France surrounded by a family of painters, actors and musicians. She
obtained a Masters degree in philosophy at the Sorbonne, and a DEA in
Cinematography under filmmakers Eric Rohmer and Jean Rouch. Her first
film, Colorado, won her a post-gaduate fellowship from the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs that brought her to MIT. Later, she traveled around the
world with renowned cinéma verité filmmakers, the Maysles Brothers.
Her paintings, photos and video installations have been shown at the
"Figuration Critique" in San Francisco, at the Grand Palais
in Paris, France, at the Kunstkredit in Basel, Switzerland, 678 Broadway
Gallery in New York City and in galleries and museums in Long Island's
the Hamptons, where she settled with her son in 1995.
Karola's films have been screened at the CNC (Centre National de Cinema)
and the Cinematheque in Paris, the Kitchen in New York City, at Guild
Hall in East Hampton, and during the Hamptons International Film Festival.
In the past 7 years, Karola has produced over 300 local television shows;
she also did principal photography on the documentary, "Farmingville,"
which just won the special documentary jury prize at the 2004 Sundance
Film Festival.
Karola's work is dedicated to the search for a more sensitive and humane
spiritual ethic beyond the dichotomous linear, patriarchal world-views
and philosophies of western civilization, which have led to the destruction
of our environment and eradication of other cultures. Many of her documentaries
are dedicated to environmental and minority issues, predominantly documenting
Native American struggles.
Karola's artwork over the past ten years is a reflection of this endeavor.
Her video installation "Digital Swamp" for "Energia"
at the National Museum for Contemporary Art, XTAA,in Mexico City was a
homage to the life-giving element of water, which she captured with her
camera utilizing the moving abstractions created by the interplay of wind,
sun and seasons. These unaltered moving images (and nature sounds) were
the central piece of this installation. A Sioux Nation member has commented,
"Karola truly captures the spirit and the essence of these elements
in her work."
Alli Hunter Joseph,
a member of the Shinnecock Indian Nation, has been telling stories since
she invented Hooper, the diaper truck-driving dog who saved lives and
was a prize-winning baker, when she was five. Today, Alli is a writer,
author, reporter and television and film producer strongly interested
in documenting her Native history and culture through film.
In fall 2003, Alli created and curated the first-ever Native American
section at the Hamptons International Film Festival, entitled "Native
Focus," at which Alanis Obomsawin's "Is the Crown at war with
us?" was screened, as well as a Shinnecock-directed short, "Native
American Neighbors," which Alli also post-produced.
In her ten-year career, she's worked for such notable media outlets as
USA Networks, CBS News, TNT, Warner Bros. (Extra!), VH1 (Viacom), Cablevision,
Newscorp, AOL and Time, Inc. Alli once fell languidly into geekdom during
the Internet heyday as Director of Content at a still-afloat Internet
company. Useful in a high-stress newsroom or on-set on many levels, Alli
is also a certified Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) with a science
and technology background, though she hasn't had the time to save anyone
lately. This is mostly because she just completed her first book for Harper
Collins, about an American Shaolin kung-fu master from Harlem who saves
violent teens using the martial arts.
Alli attended the Bronx High School of Science, where she won a Westinghouse
scholarship, and began her media career in the Internet industry in 1995
after she was graduated from Vassar College with a BA in psychology/sociology.
Briefly pondering a life studying marine mammals, Alli was accepted into
a prestigious biology-psychology master's internship program at the University
of Hawaii Manoa, whereupon she moved to Oahu for a time and talked to
bottlenose dolphins. There was a meeting of the minds; alas, they told
her she was meant to be a journalist after all, and with a wave of their
flippers, they bid her adieu as she boarded a plane back to New York City.
Soon, Alli's path was redirected when she became the online personality
"Cyberbabe" for then-growing Internet service provider Prodigy,
and developed a large virtual following by helping people with their relationships.
Since then, Alli's work has run the gamut from coverage of the 1996 Republican
Primary and the 2000 Democratic National Convention, to Daytona Bike Week,
Sundance and the Oscars. Her writing has appeared in George, Premiere,
Maxim, Playboy, The New York Daily News, The Miami Herald, People Magazine,
The New York Post, and many other magazines and newspapers.
When not writing or doing documentary work, Alli has consulted for large
media companies, including Lifetime/ABC, Oxygen Media, and CBS, and maintains
relationships with New Line Television, MTV/MTVi, AOL, Time, Inc., Playboy,
Al Roker Productions, Cablevision, WB television, and CBS News.
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