JENNIFER HAS COLLABORATED WITH TEAMS GLOBALLY
In addition to her independent films, Jennifer has produced documentaries (one-offs and series) for networks such as PBS/NOVA, National Geographic, CNN, Discovery Science, and numerous short films, and she’s had the exciting opportunity to collaborate with talented teams across the U.S., Canada, Central and South America, and the Middle East. Career highlights include filming with a cinema club for the blind in Havana, Cuba, collaborating with exceptionally talented photojournalists in New York for MediaStorm, and getting to know incarcerated women and their families in Cleveland, Ohio.
INDEPENDENT FILMS
APART
Since the war on drugs began, the number of women in U.S. prisons has grown by over 800%. The majority are mothers. In a Midwestern state caught between harsh drug sentencing and rising incarceration for women, three mothers return home from prison and rebuild their lives after being separated from their children for years. Filmed over 3 ½ years, Apart traces their steps as they reconstruct lives derailed by drugs and prison.
Directed by Jennifer Redfearn
Produced by Tim Metzger and Jennifer Redfearn
Edited by Rabab Haj Yahya and Francisco Bello, A.C.E
Cinematography by Tim Metzger
Original music by Morgan Kibby
Executive producers Patty Quillin, Sally Jo Fifer and Lois Vossen
Press Hightlights and Reviews
“The film made me think deeply about not just minimum sentencing but also the War on Drugs and the way we treat drug users” – Celeste Headlee, WBUR Here & Now
“An intimate portrait of motherhood from behind prison walls” – Alison Steward, WNYC
“Meet Jennifer Redfearn Director of Apart” – Kara Headley, Women and Hollywood
“Breaking Down the Opening Scene from Apart” – Patricia Thomson, IDA’s Documentary Magazine
TOCANDO LA LUZ/TOUCH THE LIGHT
In Havana, Cuba, three indelible women navigate their lives with perseverance — an up-and-coming bolero singer seeks confidence on stage, a young woman in love yearns for motherhood, and a veteran of the Revolution grapples with the death of her husband. United by their blindness and fierce desire for independence, the women guide us through Cuba’s current economic and social landscape.
Directed by Jennifer Redfearn
Produced by Tim Metzger and Jennifer Redfearn
Edited by David Teague
Cinematography by Tim Metzger
Original music by T. Griffin
Executive producers Abby Disney, Sally Jo Fifer for ITVS
Press Hightlights and Reviews
“Redfearn’s shout out to Lucía is a small but important gesture, rooting the film in Cuba’s own cinematic tradition.“ – Andrew S. Vargas, Remezcla
“DOC NYC Women Directors/ Meet Jennifer Redfearn” – Freja Dam, Women and Hollywood
“Cuban Films Highlighted at New Orleans Film Festival” – By Lorena O’Neil, Hollywood Reporter
SUN COME UP
Sun Come Up, an Academy Award-nominated film, follows the Carteret Islanders, a tight-knit community living on a remote island chain in the South Pacific Ocean. Confronted with the looming threat of climate change, the islanders are forced to confront a heart-wrenching choice: abandon their ancestral land or face an uncertain future. The film follows a group of young islanders as they cross 50 miles of open ocean, searching for a new place to call home.
Directed by Jennifer Redfearn
Produced by Tim Metzger and Jennifer Redfearn
Edited by David Teague
Cinematography by Tim Metzger
Original music by Shizad Ismaily
Executive producers Abby Disney and Sheila Nevins for HBO
Press Hightlights and Reviews
“The debut doc captures a poignant historical transition as the Carteret Islanders search for a new home in the South Pacific, their tiny piece of paradise doomed to the rising oceans of climate change.” – Sheri Linden, LA Times
“The film opens up gnawing questions of belonging, identity, and planetary consequence.” – Ty Burr, The Boston Globe
“The strongest entry in the field is director Jennifer Redfearn’s quietly engrossing Sun Come Up.” – Tim Grierson, The Village Voice
LANDFILL HARMONIC (FIELD DIRECTOR, CONSULTING PRODUCER & ADD’l CAMERA)
The SXSW audience award winner, Landfill Harmonic, follows the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura, a Paraguayan musical youth group living next to one of South America’s largest landfills. These talented young musicians play music from instruments made entirely from discarded objects. As their remarkable story goes viral, they find themselves in the global spotlight, performing in arenas and sold-out concerts. When a devastating natural disaster strikes their community, the orchestra becomes a beacon of hope.
Director/Editor/Director of Photography Brad Allgood
Producer & Co-Director Juliana Penaranda-Loftus
Director Graham Townsley
Field Director/Consulting Producer/Add’l Camera Jennifer Redfearn
Executive Producer Alejandra Amarilla
Original music by Michael A. Levine
Press Hightlights and Reviews
“An inspiring tale — if it were fiction you’d dismiss it as unbelievable” – Ken Jaworowski, The New York Times
“An unlikely breakthrough story whose happy endings come with asterisks” – The Hollywood Reporter
“[A] testament to spirited determination” – Sheri Linden, LA Times