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SHAWN BATEY

Headshot of Shawn Batey

Shawn Batey.  Photo: Sean Waltrous

Shawn Batey is an activist and multimedia filmmaker whose work explores Black culture, history, and environment. She is an award-winning filmmaker with over 25 years experience as a Producer and Director of documentary films. Her documentary films are distributed by Third World Newsreel and Kweli TV.

 

Her feature length documentary, Changing Face of Harlem, shot over a decade, 2000 - 2010, examines the revitalization of Harlem through the lens of residents and small business owners. Her work has been shown nationwide at film festivals, Maysles Documentary Center, MOMA, on college campuses and more. 

Biography

Her curatorial and installation work is represented through a BLM Exhibit, Capture the Movement, comprised of 60 images by 60 Black photographers. The exhibit’s multifaceted website  www.capturethemovement.org  exemplifies her interest in storytelling by incorporating audio descriptions from each photographer.

A man and a woman wearing masks in front of photographs hung outside

Photo: Ron Foster

Shawn Batey standing in front of many photographs hung on the wall

Photo: Anthony Artis

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Shawn created Capture the Movement with the purpose of spotlighting & amplifying the work of Black Photographers covering the BLM Movement.. After attending numerous marches, protests, vigils, sit-ins, die-ins, organized & led by young citizens and many women, this gave Shawn encouragement to make a photo exhibit happen.  The first exhibition took place in October 2020 amidst the pandemic in an outdoor public space, the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Plaza. The exhibit has been shown at The Bronx River Arts Center, Art Front Galleries in Newark, and Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. 

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Shawn was awarded a grant by The New York State Council for the Arts and a LMMC Manhattan Arts Grant for her current work, We Keep Us Safe.  We Keep Us Safe are five documentary short films featuring five activists in the NYC Black Lives Matter Movement. Each story highlights an activist, combining a mix of protest footage from photographs, videos, and interviews on the streets.

Shawn Batey speaking into mike. Another woman sits next to her listening

Photo: Anthony Artis

2022 New York State Council for The Arts Grants Recipient 


2024 Manhattan Arts Grant Recipient - LMCC (Lower Manhattan Cultural Council)

Shawn Batey was a featured person in When We See Us, presented by Souls In Focus, in partnership with the DOT ART @nyc_dotart.
Shawn Batey standing in front of When We See us billboard

Photo: Deb Fong

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