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Reality Check Forum 2025 / Panel

Memory in the Making

Judith Snyderman, Moderator; Producer, Archival Producer

Susanne Mason, Archive Producer and Filmmaker, The Inquisitor

Debra McClutchy, Archival Producer, WTO/99

Michelle Ngo, Freelance Producer & Archival Producer, The Inquisitor

Caitlin Riggsbee, Archival Producer, Move Ya Body: The Birth of House

Johanna Schiller, Archival Producer, Maintenance Artist

This panel explores the creative power of archival materials in documentary storytelling, focusing on films that reimagine the past to illuminate the present. Featuring archival producers at the heart of these works, the conversation highlights the unique challenges and rewards of building films through primary source materials.

In The Inquisitor, directed by Angela Lynn Tucker, archival producers Susanne Mason and Michelle Ngo collaborated on sourcing rich archival imagery to illuminate the story of the trailblazing Congresswoman Barbara Jordan (D-TX). As the first southern African-American woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, she became famous for her powerful statement during Nixon’s impeachment hearing.

In Maintenance Artist, directed by Toby Perl Freilich, archival producer Johanna Schiller helps bring to life the legacy of Mierle Laderman Ukeles—a feminist performance artist who reframed the value of care work and public service—through an inventive blend of archival imagery, animation, and interviews.

In Move Ya Body: The Birth of House, directed by Elegance Bratton, archival producer Caitlin Riggsbee contributes to an exploration of the Black queer roots of house music. The film pulses with memory and movement, using archival materials to amplify a story of resilience, rhythm, and cultural inheritance.

In WTO/99, directed by Ian Bell, the story of the 1999 protests against the World Trade Organization in Seattle is told through a dynamic trove of rare and revealing footage. Archival producer Debra McClutchy helps uncover a layered portrait of a moment that reshaped global activism and public dissent.

The discussion is moderated by Judith Snyderman, a member of the Archival Producers Alliance and a veteran researcher and digital media producer whose work spans film, journalism, and public media. The panel will delve into the creative process behind these films, from sourcing and licensing to ethical storytelling and artistic vision, to how new technologies and threats to libraries and archives may impact archival filmmaking.

Presented in partnership with the Archival Producers Alliance, with generous support from The Better Angels Society

Susanne_Mason

Susanne Mason

Archive Producer and Filmmaker, The Inquisitor

Susanne Mason is a documentary filmmaker, archive producer, and researcher based in Texas. Her recent work as archive producer includes THE INQUISITOR about Barbara Jordan, Shaking It Up: The Life and Times of Liz Carpenter, and The Lady Bird Diaries. She produced and directed Writ Writer, a historical documentary about the Texas prisoners’ rights movement, winner of the American Bar Association’s 2009 Silver Gavel for documentary. Funded in part by ITVS, the NEA, and Humanities Texas, and broadcast on Independent Lens, Writ Writer is part of the New Day Films catalogue. She’s currently producing and directing a longitudinal documentary about journalist, policy analyst, poet, and community organizer Jorge Antonio Renaud, who spent 27 years incarcerated in Texas.

Debra_McClutchy_headshot_2022

Debra McClutchy

Archival Producer, WTO/99

Debra McClutchy is a Brooklyn-based independent filmmaker, archival producer/researcher, and film consultant with experience that spans development to production to distribution. Debra co-developed and co-directed the Academy Award nominated archival documentary short film The Martha Mitchell Effect. Her most recent archival producing credits include WTO/99, Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted (2025, Magnolia Pictures) Secret Mall Apartment (2025, Wheelhouse Creative). Debra joined the Archival Producers Alliance in 2023 and contributed to the writing of the Best Practices for Use of Generative AI in Documentaries, GenAI Best Practices Tool Kit, and Working With Archival Producers guide. Previously, she was a senior creative at independent film distribution company Oscilloscope Laboratories, a producer at The Criterion Collection, and an associate producer in documentary television. Debra serves on the Advisory Group for the film organization Missing Movies, and is a member of The Gotham, International Documentary Association, Film Fatales.

MichelleNgo_Headshot_DCDOX

Michelle Ngo

Freelance Producer & Archival Producer, The Inquisitor

Michelle Ngo is a multi-layered creative (director, producer, researcher, and writer) working in media productions for over 20 years. Her professional path started with writing feature stories for a bilingual magazine in Tokyo, Japan, which later brought her to New York City, where she entered the world of documentaries and other media forms. She is one of the archival producers for the documentary film, THE INQUISITOR, featured in this year’s DC/DOX. Some other notable feature documentaries Michelle has worked on include: Billy Joel: And So It Goes, The Lady Bird Diaries, Enter the Slipstream, Rising Against Asian Hate: One Day In March, The Janes, PBS: American Portrait, Design For All, Broken Entry, Monster in the Mind, Baja’s Secret Miracle, She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry, Lenny Cooke, Moms Mabley, The Betrayal-Nerakhoon, and End of America. Michelle is also a member of the Archival Producers Alliance (APA).

Caitlin-Riggsbee

Caitlin Riggsbee

Archival Producer, Move Ya Body: The Birth of House

Caitlin Riggsbee is a Philadelphia-based Archival Producer. With over a decade of experience in the documentary world, she has worked on exciting and critically acclaimed projects for distributors such as AppleTV+, HBO, and PBS, among others. Her credits include The Last of the Sea Women, The Vow, Part II, The Blinding of Isaac Woodard and, most recently, MOVE YA BODY: THE BIRTH OF HOUSE. Caitlin’s interests lie in telling stories that highlight interesting people, uplift overlooked perspectives, and bridge the gap between past and present.

Johanna-Schiller

Johanna Schiller

Archival Producer, Maintenance Artist

Johanna Schiller is an archival producer working on a broad range of television and film projects. For three seasons, she was the archival producer for the Emmy-winning series The New York Times Presents, working on films including Framing Britney Spears and Elon Musk’s Crash Course. Recent projects include the NAACP Image Award-winning short, How to Sue the Klan, and MAINTENANCE ARTIST, screening at this year’s DC/DOX.

Judith-Snyderman

Judith Snyderman

Producer, Archival Producer

Judith Snyderman is an independent producer specializing in archival research and clearance services for documentary filmmakers. Prior experience includes assignments as a senior digital producer for AARP.org and as a location producer for the U.S. Foreign Press Center’s Media Cooperative. She has also been a contract producer for the Voice of America and the Defense Department. Her print work has included home and style features for Washingtonian magazine. Judith holds an M.S. degree in broadcast television production from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications and is an alum of the RIAS Berlin Commission Journalist exchange program.