Selected Work
Data & Democracy (in production)
Co-produced with Arthur Beckman
Funded with a grant from the Rogovy Foundation
Data plays an increasing vital role in our politics, enabling wide-scale voter manipulation as well as grassroots, democratic activism. This feature-length documentary uncovers the development of technologies and techniques across marketing and politics that have enabled the collection, analysis, and deployment of data and data-driven insights by political campaigns and governments to win elections and maintain power. Through a series of stories about key figures in history, including George Gallup, Hermann Hollerith, and Ithiel de Sola Pool, we tell the story of how marketing techniques and technologies produced and harnessed big data to reshape our democracy, in ways that have both empowered and undermined popular governance.
F*** You, Mr. Rothman
Festival screenings: DOCNYC, NYSFF, BJFF, Rooftop Films
Murderers, rapists, drug dealers – defense attorney Frank Rothman has represented society’s worst offenders. The only person he cannot defend is his father. This documentary short (rt: 14 minutes) profiles Frank’s unusual path to the law, his struggles to disentangle himself from his father’s influence, and his ultimate unwillingness to let go. Screened at festivals around NYC and Boston, and reviewed in various publications including Tablet Magazine.
Motherhood and the Academy
Commissioned by Cornell Institute for Women in Science
Gender inequality remains a problem at colleges and universities across America, particularly in the math-intensive sciences. The Cornell Institute for Women in Science works to expand the conversation about unequal representation by shifting the focus from implicit bias to structural forces. This documentary short (15 minutes) contrasts the experiences of Stanka Fitneva, Associate Professor at Queens University and young mother, and Elaine Wethington, Professor at Cornell University. Their experiences reveal persistent challenges for women STEM fields that exceed mere bias.
Revolutionary Westchester
3-part educational film series commissioned by RW250
Most Americans haven’t heard the names of Molly Dobbs Sneeden, John Hurlbut, and John Jack Peterson. These three figures, along with countless others, played pivot roles in the unfolding of events during the American Revolution. For more than ten years, RW250 has been committed to finding and telling stories about the unknown players in the Revolutionary Era, particularly those who were active in and around Westchester County, New York. This educational documentary series, narrated by child actors for a broad audience, tells three of those stories.
Nader Sadre is a documentary filmmaker working in politics, law, and public life. His films have been supported by grant foundations and screened at festivals in New York and beyond.
His current project, Data and Democracy, examines political marketing and voter data, and has twice received support from the Rogovy Foundation; it is produced under the fiscal sponsorship of the International Documentary Association. Prior work includes: F*** You, Mr. Rothman, which screened at DOC NYC, BJFF, and several other festivals, and received multiple reviews, including in Tablet; and commissioned projects, Motherhood and the Academy, and the multi-part edu-doc series, Revolutionary Westchester.
He holds a BA in Philosophy and a PhD in Political Theory from the CUNY Graduate Center.
