Brigid Maher is a tenured, associate professor of Film and Media Arts. She is the Director of the Community Voice Project and Senior Fellow at the Center for Media and Social Impact and Director of the Film and Media Arts Division at American University.

Her latest documentary, The Mama Sherpas, is currently screening across the country and follows nurse-midwives, the doctors they work with, and their patients, over the course of two years. The documentary provides an intimate glimpse into what midwives can bring to the birthing process in the hospital system. The film is executively produced by Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein ( The Business of Being Born ) and distributed by Bond/360.

Maher’s creative work concentrates on national and international women’s issues with a particular focus on the Middle East and more recently women’s health. Maher’s previous award winning documentary, Veiled Voices , followed three Muslim religious leaders in Egypt, Syria and Lebanon and screened on over 150 public televisions stations across the United States with multiple national satellite broadcasts. The film was also featured in numerous international film festivals, including Al Jazeera Documentary Film Festival and the Los Angeles Women’s International Film Festival and is distributed by Arab Film Distribution.

In 2005, she taught and worked in Lebanon as a Fulbright Senior Scholar where she filmed a festival award winning fiction short, AWOL, shot on location in in the Bekaa Valley and distributed by Third World Newsreel. Before that she wrote, directed and produced the feature film Adrift in the Heartland, shot in the West Bank and Chicago. Her films have screened at international film festivals throughout the United States.

Maher’s scholarly writing focuses on the interplay between traditional film and new media theories. Her additional award-winning film work has shown in festivals in the U.S. and abroad. Her writings have been published by Cilect, the International Digital Media Arts Conference Journal and featured in the D|N|A Anthology.

Maher’s contribution to the academy further includes her previous role as the co-executive editor of the online Journal for Digital Media Arts and Practice, and as current president of the International Digital Media Arts Association and Conference Vice President for the University Film and Video Association.

Brigid can be reached at bmaher [at] american [dot] edu