DIRECTORS

Talena Sanders draws from their background in experimental film and studio arts to create ethically engaged, visually striking cinema that questions and destabilizes the documentary form. Largely working in 16mm film, Sanders is deeply engaged in historical analysis, materiality, and lives lived - her work asks critical questions of privilege and power in who gets to tell the stories of lived realities.

Talena’s work has been screened, exhibited, and collected internationally, including at the Museum of the Moving Image, Museum of Modern Art (SF and NYC), BFI London Film Festival, New York Film Festival, FID Marseille, RIDM, Viennale, and others. Talena is currently an Associate Professor of Communication and Media Studies at Sonoma State University, where they are developing a new undergraduate degree in Cinematic Arts and Technology. Their first feature documentary, Liahona, is distributed by Documentary Educational Resources. Talena is also the director of photography for director Angelo Madsen Minax’s documentary feature currently in post-production, A Body to Live In.