Susan Rockefeller, PRINCIPAL PARTNER

Susan Rockefeller is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, artist, and conservationist. She is founder and CEO of Musings (http://www.musingsmag.com), a digital magazine that curates ideas and innovations for a better world. A longstanding philanthropist, Susan sits on the boards of Oceana, Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, We are Family Foundation, and Land and Garden Preserve. Susan is a principal partner of Louverture Films and a member of the Film Committee at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Her films have aired on HBO, PBS, Netflix and the Discovery Channel. Susan is a member of the Documentary branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. 

TONY TABATZNIK | Bertha Foundation, PRINCIPAL Partner

Tony Tabatznik is a world renowned philanthropist for social justice, with an abiding passion for documentary. He is the co-founder of the Bertha Foundation (berthafoundation.org), which dreams of a more just world and supports forms of activism that aim to bring about change. The Foundation champions those using media, law and enterprise as tools to achieve their vision, envisioning a society where stories come from many different voices, where law is used as a tool for justice and where business delivers positive social impact. 

Sawsan Asfari, Principal PArtner

Sawsan Asfari is a British Lebanese citizen based in London. A seasoned executive producer, Sawsan joined Louverture Films with a history of producing and co-producing acclaimed films via the UK production company Cocoon Films (formerly Cactus World Films) which she co-founded in 2007. Though originally focused solely on the Middle East region, Sawsan’s vision at Cocoon expanded its area of focus to deal with a multitude of subjects and countries, while retaining its original values of justice, tolerance and struggles for freedom. Among the films she has been involved with producing are Annemarie Jacir’s “Wajib”, which premiered at Toronto, “When I Saw You”, which premiered at Berlin, and “Salt of This Sea” which premiered at Cannes-Un Certain Regard; Hany Abu-Assad’s “The Idol” which premiered at Toronto; and the documentary “Aquarela” by Victor Kossakovsky, which premiered at Venice and was Oscar® shortlisted in 2019.  Sawsan is currently producing Farah Nabulsi’s debut feature film “The Teacher”.  Sawsan is also a co-founder of two foundations that deal with education and civil society: the Asfari Foundation and the Galilee Foundation. She is a board member of the USMEP, a Washington-based think tank, and a member of several philanthropic organisations.

JEFFREY LEWIS CLARK, PRINCIPAL PARTNER

Jeffrey Lewis Clark is a native son of California’s San Joaquin Valley, and fell in love with film in the popcorn-scented arthouses of Berkeley while a student there. An original founder and program director of the Nevada City Film Festival, Jeff also owns the Onyx Theatre, one of the premier arthouse cinemas in Northern California. In 2023 Jeffrey produced the feature music documentary “Louder Than You Think”, which premiered to acclaim at SXSW. He does not disagree with author Henry Miller's sentiment: “… art teaches nothing, except the significance of life.”

MELONY LEWIS, PRINCIPAL PARTNER

Melony Lewis is Co-Founder and General Partner of Canyon Echo Capital, a world-positive, multi asset class investment firm. In addition, she heads their family foundation, focusing on environmental protection, education, human rights and equality, mental health, and the arts.

Melony is actively engaged with numerous social service organizations within her local community and throughout the Roaring Fork Valley. Currently, she is Co-President of the Aspen Art Museum, a trustee of the Aspen Institute, Aspen Community Foundation and Aspen Country Day School. Her passion for documentary film as a medium for transformative change has also been realized through her work as an Executive Producer of myriad films. In this arena, she is a partner of Gamechanger Films and Impact Partners. As a partner of Bridge Builders Collaborative, she invests in creating mindfulness and wellness solutions through technology.

Joslyn Barnes, PARTNER, CO-FOUNDER, PRESIDENT

Among the feature films Joslyn Barnes has been involved with producing since co-founding Louverture Films with Danny Glover and partners Susan Rockefeller, Sawsan Asfari, Tony Tabatznik, Jeffrey Clark, Melony Lewis and Adam Lewis: the César nominated BAMAKO by Abderrahmane Sissako; Elia Suleiman’s THE TIME THAT REMAINS; Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s 2010 Cannes Palme d’Or winner UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES, CEMETERY OF SPLENDOUR and Cannes Jury Prize winner MEMORIA; Deepak Rauniyar’s WHITE SUN; Lucrecia Martel’s multiple award winner ZAMA; Nadine Labaki’s 2018 Cannes Jury Prize winner CAPERNAUM, nominated for the César, BAFTA and Oscar® awards for Best Foreign Film; Hilal Baydarov’s IN BETWEEN DYING and CRANE LANTERN; PRAYERS FOR THE STOLEN by Tatiana Huezo, and EAMI by Paz Encina. Barnes recently completed the feature NICKEL BOYS for RaMell Ross, which she co-wrote, scheduled for launch in 2024. She is currently producing the feature HARVEST for Athina Rachel Tsangari, which she also co-wrote. Among the documentaries are: Tia Lessin and Carl Deal’s Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner and Emmy® and Oscar® nominated TROUBLE THE WATER; Göran Hugo Olsson’s BLACK POWER MIXTAPE 1967-1975, CONCERNING VIOLENCE and THAT SUMMER; Eugene Jarecki’s Sundance Grand Jury prize, Peabody and Grierson winner THE HOUSE I LIVE IN; Tala Hadid’s HOUSE IN THE FIELDS and the forthcoming POSEIDON’S SON; the Oscar® nominated and Emmy® winning STRONG ISLAND by Yance Ford; the Oscar® and Emmy® nominated HALE COUNTY THIS MORNING, THIS EVENING by RaMell Ross; ANGELS ARE MADE OF LIGHT by James Longley; AQUARELA and GUNDA by Victor Kossakovsky; Camilla Nielsson's Sundance Special Jury Award winner PRESIDENT; and the forthcoming TWO STRANGERS TRYING NOT TO KILL EACH OTHER by Jacob Perlmutter, and Lucrecia Martel’s CHOCOBAR. Among the series Barnes is Executive Producing are: the forthcoming SELF-PORTRAIT AS A COFFEE POT by William Kentridge and Debra Granik's CONBODY VS EVERYBODY. In 2017, Barnes was the recipient of both the Cinereach Producer Award and the Sundance Institute | Amazon Studios Producer Award. In 2010, 2018 and 2019 she was nominated for the Emmys®, and in 2018 won the Emmy® for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking. In 2018 and 2019 she earned Oscar® Nominations for best Documentary Feature. Barnes served as an Executive Committee Member of the Documentary branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for six years, and is a Co Founder and Executive Board member of DOC-A (Documentary Africa), an ecosystem-building initiative based in Nairobi and led by Mohamed Saïd Ouma of Comoros, that supports interconnected initiatives in content creation, mentored fellowships, labs, audience engagement and distribution assistance across the African continent.

FRANK LEHMANN, CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

Frank Lehmann started his career in 1990 at Dresdner Bank AG, where he held different positions for more than 15 years. Dresdner Bank was at that time the second largest private German Bank. Among others Frank was part of a team that created tax driven closed end funds, with structured investments into feature film productions and TV series.

In 2002 Frank moved to an animation film production and distribution group of companies owned by Dresdner Bank / Alliance Group as its CFO / COO tasked mainly with restructuring the group and the animation projects. This task included responsibilities for all reporting lines to the shareholder.

In 2006, Frank joined an established international film production company as its CFO, simultaneously functioning as CEO for several affiliates. He was responsible for the development of organizational structures and process management, human resources management as well as the structuring of its finance models for both project and company financing. He expanded that group and was the point person for all finance, structuring underlying co-production finance for feature films and documentaries. Among others the Academy Award nominated “The Last Station” by Michael Hoffman, “Black Death” by Christopher Smith, the Golden Globe winner “Carlos” TV Series, “Filth” by Jon S. Baird, “Rush” by Ron Howard, “Hector and the Search for Happiness” by Peter Chelsom and “Big Game” by Jalmari Helander have benefited from Frank’s finance skills. He also structured gap investments of other financial institutions active in the film finance business.

In 2008, Frank co-founded Alcina Media GmbH as its CEO and started in 2015 to completely focus on his consulting activities. He consults on the corporate and administrative level as well as on the project level - with a focus on international documentary and fiction films and series - assessing, structuring, financing and supervising film productions. As Executive Producer he realized feature film documentaries such as “Aquarela” and “Architecton” by Victor Kossakovsky, “Invisible Demons” by Rahul Jain and German Film Award winner “The Path” by Tobias Wiemann.    

Frank consults with Berlin’s development bank (IBB) for two of their programs. He works regularly with various European based banks and international financiers to maintain cash flow facilities for film productions.

SARISA Middleton, Administrator & operations EXECUTIVE

Sarisa Howard Middleton is the Louverture Films executive responsible for the company’s financial and administrative operations. She is a longtime US certified public accountant who has served in an advisory and fiduciary capacity on behalf of her clients. Sarisa was the Vice President of financial and business operations for Danny Glover’s former company Carrie Productions in California.

MAYA E. RUDOLPH, VICE PRESIDENT NON-FICTION

Maya E. Rudolph is a producer and filmmaker committed to building community and expansive cinemas through artistic collaboration. Her projects as a nonfiction producer include the critically acclaimed features The Tuba Thieves (Alison O'Daniel, Sundance '23) and Shirkers (Sandi Tan, Sundance '18). Maya has produced archival-driven nonfiction series including the Emmy-nominated The Andy Warhol Diaries (Netflix, 2022) and The Devil Next Door (Netflix, 2019) and has been a post-production supervisor on over a dozen feature films and series. She is an associate producer of The Last Black Man in San Francisco (Joe Talbot, Sundance '19) and produced the short film Cablestreet (Meredith Lackey, Sundance '19). Maya began her career in Beijing where she first made short films and music videos in the Beijing music and independent film world, and later became the bilingual lead producer of the Chinese co-production of Sesame Street. She is today based in Los Angeles.

WILL FRANK, DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR

Will Frank is a producer and filmmaker committed to developing imaginative and daring cinema that fashions new understandings and ways of living. As Louverture Films' Development Coordinator, his attention is divided across the slate in support of a variety of projects, such as Debra Granik's docuseries CONBODY VS. EVERYBODY, and toward fostering new collaborations with filmmakers and artists. Will has worked in development and acquisitions roles at First Look Media, Symbolic Exchange, Oscilloscope Laboratories, and Cinereach. In 2021, he worked at the prolific marketing and PR arm of Cinetic Media. Based in New York, Will has directed and produced short films, music videos, and a web series.

SARAH D’HANENS, INDEPENDENT ASSOCIATE PRODUCER

Sarah D’hanens is a producer with an emerging speciality in animation and focus on LGBTQ+ stories. Among the award-winning films she has associate produced for Louverture Films are RaMell Ross’ 2019 Oscar® and Emmy® nominated feature documentary HALE COUNTY THIS MORNING, THIS EVENING; Ross’ short EASTER SNAP, Deepak Rauniyar’s WHITE SUN, and Hilal Baydarov’s IN BETWEEN DYING and CRANE LANTERN. Forthcoming are William Kentridge’s SELF-PORTRAIT AS A COFFEE POT and Oscar nominated director Ljubomir Stefanov’s HOUSE OF EARTH. Sarah is credited as a production associate on Yance Ford’s 2018 Oscar® nominated and Emmy® Award winning STRONG ISLAND; Göran Hugo Olsson’s THAT SUMMER; Victor Kossakovsky’s AQUARELA and Lucrecia Martel’s ZAMA. She produced the award-winning animated shorts ORLANDO, SPERMACETI, FIGHTING PABLO and WHY, and recently co-produced Isabel Herguera’s animation feature debut SULTANA’S DREAM and multimedia artist Georden West’s boundary-pushing, transdisciplinary, hybrid film PLAYLAND. Forthcoming are Maja Novakovic’s docufiction AT THE DOOR OF THE HOUSE WHO WILL COME KNOCKING and Sabine Theunissen's WHITE BOX JACKET. She is currently developing Sine & Imge Özbilge’s new multidisciplinary projects CATHEX and DURYAB, Robin Leveroos’ VR game PLANTLIFE, and the animated shorts BLOOD FROM A STONE (Jacky De Groen), TREE (Maï Calon), THE GOLDEN DONKEY and BURNED OUT (Anne Verbeure), and PATANIA (Joren Vandenbroucke). Sarah is part of the Berlinale Talents alumni- and Women in Games (WIGI) communities, and an active member of WIA (Women in Animation), the European Animation Awards Association (EAA) and the International Animated Film Society (ASIFA-Hollywood).

MEHAKA CHAHAT LUINTEL, PRODUCTION INTERN

MEHAKA is a Nepalese writer and producer from Kathmandu, Nepal. She holds a BSC in Film Making from Whistling Woods International in India and is currently an MFA candidate in Film Producing at Columbia University. Prior to Columbia, she worked as an assistant director, screenwriter and producer in the Indian and Nepalese film industries. She has also worked as a film curator for the student film festival CILECT. Born at the cusp of the Nepalese civil war, she firmly believes in the power of cinema to inspire social change. Her work primarily focuses on themes of identity, mental health, womanhood and queerness.