New Immigrant & Refugee Visions Training and Production Team
- Training, Production and Public Engagement Director: Michael Sheridan
- Training and Public Engagement Manager: Caryn Anderson
- Training and Post-Production Coordinator: Samantha Corsini
- Public Engagement Coordinators: Zayde Buti, Sarah Chapple-Sokol, Aakanksha Gupta
- Interns: Andrew Grant, Rachel Darke
- Volunteer Training Assistants and Advisors: Patricia Goudvis, Anuradha Desai, Christine Arveil, Denise Marika
- Video Editors: Zayde Buti, Peter Rhodes (volunteer), Lydia Eccles (volunteer), Dan Girmus, Alex Morelli, Monica Cohen, Devvrat Mishra, Jorgy Cruz, Beyza Boyacioglu, Heather Cassano, Hannah Engelson
- Volunteer Training Food Cooks: Anuradha Desai, Christine Arveil, Damien Boutillon, Carolina Melgarejo, Karen Carpenter, Kate Carpenter-Bernier, Mary Elizabeth Ford
- Communications and Outreach Volunteers: Stephanie Scherpf, William Bonney, Jorgy Cruz
- Event Volunteers: Susan Steele, Gary Shaw, Katie Bradshaw, Sue-Ellen Hershman-Tcherepnin
- Training site donated by: The Church of St Augustin and St Martin, Roxbury MA

Training Assistants
Pat Goudvis
Training Assistant
Pat’s professional career – first as a as a photojournalist and then as an independent filmmaker – has focused on the struggle for human rights and social justice in Central America. Her current project is the interactive digital documentary, “When We Were Young/There Was A War” (www.centralamericanstories.com). It continues the stories of the teens portrayed in her 1993 documentary film, “If the Mango Tree Could Speak,” as it explores the Central American civil wars and their aftermaths, as well as the connection between the people and history of the US and Central America.
She is excited to be a part of NIRV and looks forward to all the stories that will come out of the training. She believes that empowering immigrants to tell their own stories is increasingly urgent in today’s political climate, in the US and globally.
Pat contributed to training presentations, mentored trainees through exercises, story development, production and post-production and documented many days of activities.
Christine Arveil
Training Assistant
Christine wrote about and photographed the training activities, mentored trainees and contributed many delicious meals.
Denise Marika
Training Assistant
Denise Marika was an artist whose work ranged from installation and performance videos to art projects and documentary work in the field of social practice. Her exhibitions included solos shows at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston and MassMoCA as well as international galleries and screenings.
Denise died of a recurance of breast cancer in 2018. Her moral and financial support of the New Immigrant and Refugee Visions (NIRV) project were critical in making the training and the films a reality. Even as she struggled with breast cancer, she came regularly to the training sessions to share her wisdom, mentor our immigrant filmmakers, and inspire us all with her passion and joy. She is deeply missed.
Meet the Editors
Peter Rhodes
Editor, (Originally from England), Internet Movie Database Listing
- Worlds Apart at Home by Abdi Abdirahman
Alex Morelli
Editor
- Lift with Your Heart by Braulio Tellez-Vilches
- Campaign for a New American by Qin Li
Monica Cohen
Editor (Originally from Colombia), The Boom House Productions
- Rhythms of Respect by Katsyris Rivera Kientz
- Dreams of Chonta (Documentary Film Directed by Monica Cohen_Work in Progress)
- Wee the People and the Women’s March (Produced and Directed by Monica Cohen and Jesse Epstein)
- Artist as Citizen Conference 2016 (Produced and Directed by Monica Cohen)
“Documentary film is a bridge between worlds that normally won’t know or acknowledge each other. Giving voice and the tools to immigrants and refugees, gives us a window to incredible places, cultures, people and extraordinary stories that could inspire us to better our selves, our communities and our world.”
Jorgy Cruz
Editor, (Originally from Dominican Republic), LongWood Media
- Borrowing Fire by Kebrewosen Densamo
“I couldn’t help to think about all the people that reject immigrants and refugees without really thinking about it. They don’t give them a chance, if they could only see what I saw last night [at the NIRV training] maybe, just maybe they would change their minds and understand that these are people like you and me, trying to find happiness. Uganda, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Ethiopia, UK, USA, Cuba, so many countries together in one room, getting along, laughing out loud, having dinner, getting to know each other, all united by one thing: film and storytelling.” [from LongWood Media Blog]
Dan Girmus
Editor, www.dangirmus.com
Beyza Boyacioglu
Editor (Originally from Istanbul, Turkey)
- Navigating Hope by Sayed Najib Hashimi
Heather Cassano
Editor
- Pulse of a Dream by Mubarak Muwonge Nsamba
Devvrat Mishra
Editor (Originally from India)
- Navigating Hope by Sayed Najib Hashimi
- Seeking Settled Ground by Mohammad Arifuzzaman, Additional Editor
Zayde Buti
Editor and CSFilm Creative and Program Coodinator (Originally from Mars)
- She’s an American Child by Rafael DeLeon
- Seeking Settled Ground by Mohammad Arifuzzaman
- The Arranger by Wilson Thelimo Louis
- Pulse of a Dream by Mubarak Muwonge Nsamba
- Rhythms of Respect by Katsyris Rivera Kientz, Additional Editor
Zayde Buti works as an artist, teacher and video editor in the Boston area. His artwork is a meeting ground for music, comedy and performance art (http://www.zaydebuti.com). In addition to his role with CSFilm, Zayde gives private, in-home guitar lessons and teaches digital media workshops at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, where he graduated with a BFA from the Studio for Interrelated Media (SIM) in 2010.