DOK Industry Podcast
Mapping the Future of In(ter)dependent Film
The research of film producers and cultural workers Abhishek Nilamber and Laura Kloeckner of United Screens has been cited in the Distribution Advocates podcast, and spotlighted at the International Documentary Association’s Getting Real conference. In this conversation, listeners can hear how Laura and Abhishek’s insights and experiences working with cinema practitioners from the Global South have led to them identifying the core challenges faced by filmmakers today. Out of this research and a series of gathering called Think Wells, a network of networks called Meshdia emerged with aim of designing specific protocols for an alternative cinema circulation infrastructure. Hear them share their philosophy regarding a new way forward, a path that prioritizes shared learnings, leans into our interconnectedness and interdependence, and proposes collaborations across the film ecosystem in order to maximise access to cinema. Facilitated by Firelight Media’s Documentary Lab Director, Lucy Mukerjee.
Language: English
Length: 46:04
Recorded on 30 Oct, 2025
Curator and Moderator: Lucy Mukerjee
Lucy Mukerjee is a queer, non-binary British-Indian community builder and cultural worker dedicated to elevating the careers of underestimated storytellers. Currently the Director of the Documentary Lab fellowship at Firelight Media, Lucy is responsible for connecting a dozen documentaries in progress with the resources they need to get to the finish line.
With 20+ years of experience producing films, programming festivals, and curating artist development programs, highlights include being Director of Programming at Outfest and NewFest LGBTQ+ Film Festivals and Senior Programmer at the Tribeca Festival, as well as Co-Curator of the immersive cinematic experience You Are Here at the Museum of the City of New York.
As a co-founder of the Programmers Of Colour Collective, Lucy is a vocal advocate for ethics, transparency and accountability across the film industry ecosystem and believes in the power of storytelling to expand perspectives and change cultural narratives.
Speaker
Laura Kloeckner is a curator and film producer based in Berlin. She is a producer and partner at SEERA Films, a production company based in Berlin and Cairo. Her recent credits include Ancestral Visions of the Future by Lemohang Mosese (Berlinale 2025). Previously, Laura worked with DOX BOX, an organization dedicated to supporting Arab/African documentary filmmakers, and built extensive expertise in the international documentary industry through her work with the Berlinale/EFM and DOK Leipzig. Since 2018, she has been a part of the Berlin-based art space SAVVY Contemporary – The Laboratory of Form-Ideas, where she co-curated exhibitions for Berlinale Forum Expanded. Laura serves as a Senior Consultant for the Documentary Association of Europe (DAE).
Abhishek Nilamber is a Berlin-based researcher and curator practicing at the intersection of knowledge democratization and audio-visual culture. His practice focuses on contemporary community knowledge circulation, particularly within the Global South.
He is a researcher with SAVVY Contemporary and the founder of several initiatives, including the Berlin-based South Asian community space _Subkontinent and Articultural Society, a cooperative for Indian cultural workers. His research culminates in projects like United Screens, which explores the South-to-South circulation of cinema and video art beyond traditional markets.
Further expanding his practice, Nilamber launched Chippi, a handwoven design label, in 2022.
His latest film Ajnabi has been selected for Rojava International Film Festival 2025.
DOK Industry Podcast 2025 is realised in partnership with POC2 Programmers of Colour Collective, What’s Up With Docs Podcast, and Talking Shorts, supported by film.macht.kritisch - The podcast about the *other* cinema.
DOK Industry is realised with the support of Creative Europe MEDIA Programme of the European Union, the Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung (MDM) and the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media upon a Decision of the German Bundestag.
