Director’s Bio
Alfred Santana is a professional film and video director, cinematographer, and independent filmmaker. Over the past 30 years he has photographed numerous award-winning documentaries, public affairs films and videos that have aired on both network and public television. Mr. Santana’s production company, Al Santana Productions, produces independent documentaries, narrative and experimental work for television and theatrical presentation. The company also produces industrial and corporate videos.
Currently, Al is co-producing a 60 minute documentary about retired Merchant Marines of color and their relationship to the National Maritime Union. A recipient of a New York State Council On The Arts independent filmmaker grant, he, in collaboration with historian, Denise Belen Santiago, they have been funded to produce this film titled “Salty Dog Blues”. He has also teamed up with playwright, Laura L. Fowler in developing a series of feature length dramatic scripts for theatrical presentation.
Al’s recent independent work “Flush”, is a 13 min. short narrative dealing with the concept of loss. The film takes place in a bathroom, where a mother is greaving the untimely loss of her sister. Her two children are there trying to console her.This film is co-produced and co-written by Al Santana and Laura L. Fowler.
“One People” (2007) is a narrative short featuring Kimmie Nicole and Jennica Carmona, two up and coming actors living and working in New York. Poet/playwright and activist, Amiri Baraka and veteran actor, Ruby Dee also appear in this film, which focuses on two sisters who discover a politicized Lorraine Hansberry and struggle to come to grips with the question of art vs politics. One People premiered at the 11th annual Harlem Stage On Screen. Subsequently, it screened at Creatively Speaking Film Festival at BAM Rose Cinemas, the Martha’s Vineyard African -American Film Festival and as part of a retrospective of Al’s work at BAM Cinematek’s “Brooklyn Close Up”.
Military Option, (2005) a co-production of Al Santana, Rico Speight and Third World Newsreel, is a documentary short that takes a critical look at military recruiting practices within communities of color. Military Option has screened at BAM Rose Cinemas, The Museum of Modern Art, and at various colleges and universities.
In response to the events of 9/11, Al Santana’s independent documentary short titled In the Spirit of Peace (2002) screened at the Brooklyn Arts Council, Museum of Modern Art, BAM Rose Cinemas and aired on WNET Channel 13’s Reel New York in 2002.
Al Santana’s award winning documentary film, Voices of The Gods (1985) takes a look at two ancient West African religions that are practiced in the United States today. It premiered at the 1985 Margaret Mead International Film Festival and went on to screen at festivals in France, Italy, Burkina Faso, Canada, and throughout the United States. Voices of The Gods is currently housed in the permanent collection of the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Research Center in Black Culture and numerous colleges, universities and museums, including the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of African Art.
From 1986 to 1993 Alfred Santana served on the board of directors of Production Partners for Black and Latino Images and Third World Newsreel, two New York City based media organizations. During those years he also developed and managed the first professional in-house video production facility at the New York City Transit Authority. There he managed video and photography personnel and the unit’s annual budget. He was responsible for producing and directing corporate communications and training videos, developing technical specifications, and contract oversight of equipment purchases and outside services.
Alfred Santana’s other film related work includes serving as Panelist for the CEBA awards, New Jersey Film Festival; Judge for the national EMMY awards and Artistic Consultant for the Fox Chase Cancer Center in the production of a video about smoking cessation within communities of color.
As staff cinematographer for New Jersey Public Television from 1977 to 1980, Al shot a variety of public affairs shows and documentaries, including a TV special on famed recording artist and song stylist Sarah Vaughan titled Listen To The Sun.
In the coarse of his career, Mr. Santana has traveled extensively throughout Africa, Asia, South America, and the Caribbean and is the recipient of production grants from the New York State Council On The Arts, The New York Foundation for The Arts, and the Jerome Foundation.
As adjunct faculty, Mr. Santana taught film and video production courses at the City College of New York for fourteen years. Currently he teaches digital film production courses at the Digital Film Academy in New York City.
Al Santana holds an MFA degree in digital cinema from National University, a BS degree in sociology and film from The City University of New York’s CUNY BA program.
Between 1981 and 1996 Mr. Santana was a member of IATSE Local 600 cinematographer’s union and currently holds membership in the Black Documentary Collective, DV Republic and The Independent Feature Project.