The Filmmakers
Jeff L. Lieberman is an Emmy & WGA-nominated Director, Writer, Producer, Filmmaker and Journalist. He is the founder of Re-Emerging Films, whose films include “Bella!”, “The Amazing Nina Simone” & “Re-Emerging: The Jews of Nigeria”.
Lieberman has been honored with a 2024 Writers Guild of America Nomination for his writing of the Documentary Screenplay of his newest film, “Bella!” The documentary profiles the trailblazing congresswoman, Bella Abzug and is the winner of the 2022 Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film. Bella’s inspiring story and crusading work on behalf of women, the working class, and the LGBTQ+ community is told through brand new interviews with Barbra Streisand, Shirley MacLaine, Hillary Clinton, Lily Tomlin, Nancy Pelosi, Gloria Steinem, Maxine Waters, Phil Donahue and many more. Using never-before-seen home movies, audio diaries, and a vast trove of newly-discovered news footage, the film is not just a story about one woman, but takes viewers into a colorful and gritty era with deep similarities to events of today.
Lieberman’s previous films include the documentaries: “The Amazing Nina Simone” and “Re-Emerging: The Jews of Nigeria” which have been seen in more than 100 theatres in 21 countries and currently stream on Amazon, iTunes and a number of streaming services. “The Amazing Nina Simone” (2015) has been called the best of the three Nina Simone films by The New Yorker Magazine, and “The Nina Simone film we should all be watching” by Blavity. It was nominated for Outstanding Documentary by The Black Reel Awards and heralded by The New York Times, BBC News and The Hollywood Reporter for its in-depth research into the often misunderstood singer and civil rights activist. It followed Lieberman’s Academy Award-Qualifying documentary film, “Re-Emerging: The Jews of Nigeria” which was proclaimed as “one of the must-see documentaries of 2013” by New York’s Amsterdam News.
Lieberman has previously held roles as a Co-Executive Producer on Vice’s “Sex Before The Internet”, a Senior Producer at CNN, a CBS News National Producer and a Video Reporter for The New York Post. At CNN, Lieberman led a team through the production of the Emmy-nominated film: “Taking on Taylor Swift” which had a 2022 primetime broadcast on CNN. Lieberman has also directed many short films including “In the Mix: 25 Days and Not a Minute More” starring Usher, and the viral election video, “Call Your Zeyde”.
Lieberman is next set to direct the feature narrative entitled “My Harlem” based on his recent screenplay.
Jeremiah Lockwood
COMPOSER
Jeremiah Lockwood is a scholar and a storyteller; a singer, guitarist and composer with an expansive knowledge of musical traditions and techniques that range from cantorial sacred music to Piedmont blues. His career as musician and academic engages with issues arising from peering into the archive and imagining the power of “lost” forms of expression to articulate keenly felt needs in the present.
