Welcome the Pritzker Pucker Studio Lab 2025 Fellows
Each year the Pritzker Pucker Studio Lab for the Promotion of Mental Health via Cinematic Arts' (PPSL) adds a new cohort of fellows to their ranks. The 12 undergraduate and graduate students new to the program this fall have different backgrounds and areas of film expertise, but they all share the same goal: to “critically and creatively examine representations of mental illness/health on screen” as per the lab’s mission.
Made possible by a generous gift from the Pritzker Pucker Family Foundation, the lab and its fellowship encourages students to unlearn negative portrayals of mental health illnesses and disorders and channel their passion for filmmaking into a project that will make a difference for the audiences that consume their creations too.
“Students who apply to be PPSL fellows need to show a deep interest in engaging thoughtfully with these topics,” said Ines Sommer, associate professor of instruction in the Department of Radio/Television/Film and the current director of PPSL.
She adds: “Part of the application process involves submitting work samples and a written proposal outlining several project ideas. These materials allow us to learn about the students' critical thought process, creative approach, and ability to produce an ambitious project that addresses a mental health topic in a meaningful, respectful, and authentic way.”
Now that they are accepted, the cohort will receive extensive support and funding to produce their media arts projects during the Winter and Spring Quarters 2025.
A documentary filmmaker and film programmer herself, Sommer, along with an extensive and esteemed 15-person PPSL Advisory Board, not only guides the students through the process of creation, she provides the students and the Northwestern community with master classes, symposiums, filmmaker screenings and discussions, award-winning directors talks, and plays that advocate for and expand mental health awareness.
“It’s exciting to see how the students want to explore stories about OCD, depression, or community mental health in very creative and unique ways,” Sommer said. “They have proposed projects ranging from short fiction films to documentary, animation and even experimental works.”
The cohort is mixed experientially, too, with some farther along in their studies—an asset that will add weight to discussions and feedback.
The brand-new fellows are excited too.
“I’m looking forward to working with other filmmakers and students who are also passionate about this subject,” said third-year RTVF major Mary Belay. “I wrote a screenplay that I am hoping to execute, and I’m looking forward to this quarter because taking part in this fellowship will allow me to be very intentional about my process.”
The Pritzker Pucker Studio Lab for the Promotion of Mental Health via Cinematic Arts holds mental health symposiums, events, and film screenings throughout the Winter and Spring quarters of each academic year. To stay up to date on its offerings and attend the 2025 Fellows film premiere check out studiolab.northwestern.edu/events.
The PPSL 2025 Fellows are as follows:
Shawn Antoine II is a filmmaker from Harlem, NY, with a passion for telling stories that celebrate resilience and cultural legacy. A graduate of the University of Rhode Island and current MFA candidate in Documentary Media at Northwestern, Shawn’s work has been featured at festivals and venues like Lincoln Center, FOX Soul, and Google. His films, including SHOWTIME and KINGDOME, explore themes of community, heritage, and social impact. Shawn’s unique background and dedication to storytelling continue to shape his work in film.
Mary Belay is a third-year student at Northwestern majoring in Radio/Television/Film. As an emerging filmmaker and screenwriter, they are passionate about creating visually compelling media that captures Black perspectives and experiences. On campus, they serve on the executive board of Black Screens and contribute as a writer to Out Da Box, Northwestern’s multicultural sketch comedy and improv group. Through their work with the Pritzker Pucker Studio Lab, they hope to bring nuanced and authentic representations of Black mental health to the screen.
Alex Choi (he/they) is a second-year student who is majoring in Radio/Television/Film. Interested predominantly in the fields of sound design and composition, much of his focus lies in the intimacy and immediacy of audio as a mode of expression. Having worked often with sampling in his recorded music, he hopes to connect this idea to mental health, exploring the recontextualization of familiar media (whether it be a popular song or a personally important story) in the context of depression and PTSD. Alex hopes to shine a light on mental illness as a thing that one perpetually deals with, rather than something that can be completely resolved, and hopes to provide further understanding through his art.
PJ Fahrenkrug is a senior Radio/Television/Film major with a minor in Business Institutions. As a comedian, screenwriter, and filmmaker, PJ is passionate about creating art that promotes mental wellness within the LGBTQ+ community. Last year, they were awarded Northwestern’s Advanced Sitcom grant to executive produce their original queer comedy pilot, THE JOY SCOUT. In addition, they perform with several improv organizations on campus and are the Co-Director for the university’s premier sketch comedy group, Northwestern Sketch Television. They were also selected for the 2024-25 Advanced Directing sequence. Through the Pritzker Pucker Studio Lab, PJ is excited to learn how to contribute towards an accessible and engaging mental health media landscape specifically for LGBTQ+ youth.
Declan Franey, a fourth-year undergraduate Radio/Television/Film major and Psychology minor, is fascinated by the ways in which surrealism and experimentation can represent the mind on screen. He strives to push the limits of technology of film to elicit unique emotions in an audience, often working in the horror genre. He has directed feature and short films, including winning Best Heartland College Student Short at his hometown Kansas City FilmFest International for his film TAKE ALL OF ME, and is an experienced cinematographer, gaffer, editor, and sound designer.
Sophia Jackson is a fourth-year undergraduate student studying Journalism and Political Science. Before transferring to Northwestern, she pursued a degree in Cello Performance. Sophia has directed two feature-length documentaries and interned at Chicago-based documentary production studio, Kindling Group. Sophia is interested in the ways that our existing vocabulary does not do justice to the things we feel, especially in regard to mental illness and representation. She gravitates towards abstraction as a form of expression and is excited to explore this cinematically.
Blake Knecht is a second-year MFA in Documentary Media student who gravitates toward analog and experimental processes. Her work notably engages with climate-centered issues and implements sustainable practices. In the Pritzker Pucker Studio Lab, Blake is planning to work with people and environments in exploration of ambiguous grief.
Max Milo is a junior in the Radio/TV/Film Department with a minor in Data Science and a certificate in Human Computer Interaction. On campus, he can be found attending free movie screenings, editing packages for the Arts & Entertainment desk of WNUR News Radio, and playing as much intramural soccer as he possibly can. A proponent of the value of aesthetics, he aims to connect with audiences by utilizing thought-provoking visuals. It is through this principle that he hopes to create empathetic scenes concerning depression, self-destruction, and nostalgia—and to communicate these ideas with a consistent consideration for what can still be held onto and enjoyed.
Paul O'Connor is a third-year student at Northwestern University, majoring in Radio, Television & Film and minoring in Environmental Policy and Culture. He enjoys telling stories about characters experiencing loss, alienation, or moments of great change with a voice that is both comedic and surreal/magical. He enjoys reading, photography, frolicking in nature, and passively experiencing the internet. Paul hopes to use his time with the Pritzker Pucker Studio Lab to learn about how to discuss mental health as both a filmmaker and a human.
Jennifer Ligaya Senecal is an AfroPinay sound, movement, and performance practitioner with an interdisciplinary background in visual art, vocal performance, dance, and theater. A full time PhD student of Performance Studies at Northwestern University, her original work includes solo and collaborative performance compositions and sound installations. A sponsored artist, grant recipient, commissioned multimedia artist, and member of Honey Pot Performance, her current creative practice explores Afro-Asian Diasporic womanist subjectivities through the expressive arts, indigenous healing and survivance practices, and the cultural genealogies of anticolonial spiritual-political resistance. In an attempt to express the affective impact of the sacred and political on notions of wellness, this visual project will respond to key questions generated through a series of self-directed exercises and prompts. Through the Pritzker Pucker Studio Lab, Ligaya hopes to locate the world that sits at the intersections of mental health, spirituality, and activism as a pathway to multiple modes of personal liberation.
Simone Spalding is a fourth-year Radio/Television/Film major at Northwestern University, minoring in French and Political Science. On campus, she is involved in AO Productions as a member of both the Concerts and Films committees. Her recent studies at Prague Film School as a narrative filmmaking student further solidified her interest in screenwriting and telling personal stories. As a Chilean American, her roots often inform her desire to combine tales of individual journeys with their wider socio-political settings and norms. With the Pritzker Pucker Studio Lab fellowship, she hopes to do just that by exploring the nuances of feminism at the international level.
Emilia Tamayo (ella/she) is a doctoral student in Screen Cultures at Northwestern University, pursuing the certificate in Latin American and Caribbean Studies. Her research considers the visual culture of place and displacement, particularly as it informs constructions of belonging, power, and social stratification in Latin America and the Caribbean. Her creative work seeks to amplify public access to these themes. Prior to Northwestern, Emilia worked in museum communications, higher education, and nonprofits in Colombia and the United States. She earned her B.A. in Latin American Studies and Government from Smith College, where she was a Fulbright Scholar and Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow.