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Emma V.F.

@emmaviewfinder

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documentary filmmaker & DP
🪩 @queenofnyfilm streaming on @revrytv
🧊 @watercoolerdoc coming soon

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Photos by Pulitzer finalist @dee_bx | The questions I get most about making @watercoolerdoc are about access: How did I get the agents to trust me? Did they even know I was filming? The answer is that I didn't try to interact with them. I did my best to be quiet, unobtrusive and consistently present. By the time I started filming in November 2025, agents were used to being photographed because journalists like @dee_bx @carolguzy @qsakamaki @dean.l.moses @anamariaariza and many more had been tirelessly covering 26 Federal Plaza for many months. I am really grateful to them for their work and camaraderie — I learned so much from working alongside them. And I'm grateful for these great photos that show my Canon C500mii is a big camera with a big microphone! The agents knew I was filming, without a doubt, and rarely seemed to care...#icewatch #documentary #photojournalism #immigrationcourt #immigration by @emmaviewfinder

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9 days ago

WATER COOLER's world premiere in Dallas last night! Watching the ICE agents who I've been filming for months up there on a giant screen was surreal. My heart raced, still shaken by their words and actions. The way our government is treating immigrants is cruel and shameful.But sitting in the theater, I also felt incredibly grateful for my collaborators on this film. @kirlianauras's original score is beautifully gut-wrenching, and I'm honored to feature his music in this project. I loved working with KT Sparks, @wildshapesound and @technemcolor to elevate the visuals and soundscape of the film. And how great is this poster by @adamomaida?! Collaborating with these incredible artists brought me joy in an otherwise bleak filmmaking process. Thank you, team. And thank you @wearediffdallas for a great screening in a fabulously eclectic block of short films. Please check out @vecinos_unidos_dfw if you are in the Dallas area and want to get involved ❤️‍🔥WATER COOLERdirected, filmed & edited by @emmaviewfinder music by @kirlianauras motion graphics: KT Sparkscolor: @technemcolorsound edit and mix: @wildshapesound research assistant: @florarozarenaposter design: @adamomaida by @emmaviewfinder

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3 months ago

What do you call a world premiere when it's out of this world?!?!? I'm infinitely grateful 💫Premiere night part 1 of 2📷: @mettieostrowski by @emmaviewfinder

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3 years ago

Feeling grateful that WATER COOLER will premiere in Los Angeles next month at @hollyshorts! Feeling outraged that ICE killed a second person in less than a week yesterday. @watercoolerdoc is an observational portrait of American fascism and the banality of that evil. As ICE agents wait to make arrests in immigration court, their casual water cooler conversations clash with their severe actions. Thank you, @hollyshorts, for including the film! August screening details coming soon. ..#documentary #filmfestival #ice #icewatch #filmmaker by @emmaviewfinder

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11 days ago

So grateful for this incredible recognition of WATER COOLER in the desert. Thank you, @psfilmfest. Launching this new film account to celebrate, please follow!!And let's melt ICE 🏜️🧊💦 .#documentary #filmfestival #icewatch #shortfilm #palmsprings by @emmaviewfinder

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19 days ago

Thank you, @psfilmfest 🏜️ I'm really greatful for the wonderful time I had and amazing filmmakers I met in the desert, and I feel deeply honored that WATER COOLER received the Oscar-qualifying Best Documentary Short award. This recognition will help get the film seen more widely in a moment when we should all re-up our outrage over and resistance to ICE. In fact, the day after the awards ceremony, @nymag declared "ICE Won," and the headline broke my heart. It reminded me why I made this film about immigration court, and why I'm now making one about detention centers.While I was in California for the festival, I drove to Adelanto to scout the ICE detention center there, where four people have died since September. I am still thinking about the detained immigrants in prison uniforms. I hope my films can be one small part of the effort to demand justice for them.Thank you so much @bctheknight @darcykaywytko for having me in Palm Springs, and to the jury for this honor. by @emmaviewfinder

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25 days ago

Scrappy Pride!! I'll remember this one forever, because there's nothing quite like the feeling of bleeding profusely from your scraped knees in front of the Prettiest Girls in America while being tended to by extremely kind and concerned drag queens 💖🌈 Thank you @martigcummings for your care and friendship, @fkdrag for jumping in as my amazing nurse, and @jadavalenciaga for your moral support. Drag queens are the pillars of the queer community!!!Don't worry, my kneecaps (and camera!) are intact! Just feeling bummed that I missed the shot of Marti with @nycmayor before I fell, but so happy Marti got it instead 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🇺🇸 by @emmaviewfinder

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a month ago

An ADOPTABLE Coconut grows in Connecticut! 🌴 Seeing my foster dog, Coconut, so content exploring the world outside of the city makes my heart burst. Thank you to everyone at @muddypawsrescuenyc who supported my hometown trip (slides 1-4). It was the perfect adventure to celebrate our fostering milestone: I picked Coconut up exactly a year ago (slide 5). Yes, I know, that’s unbelievable!! How is it possible that such a wonderful pup still hasn’t been adopted? I really don't know. I thought about baby Coco a lot on this trip (slide 6, can you even stand how tiny she was?!), and about how proud of her I am for growing into an amazing companion. Coconut is a 1.5-year old Great Pyrenees mix who makes friends with everyone she meets, but who also takes time to really trust new caregivers and feel comfortable in a new home (which makes total sense!). Earning her trust and building a real bond with her has been a true honor and joy, and I just know her forever family will feel the same way 💗In our year together, I’ve watched Coco eat a million sticks, meet her first boyfriend, and play with her mini-me (slides 10-12). We’ve learned that Prozac works wonders for her separation anxiety and that the bathtub is her safe space during scary sky boomies 🛁 I know what you’re wondering: Why haven’t I adopted her? Well, because I want the very best for my bestie, and she deserves more in a permanent home than what my lifestyle offers ✈️🎬 I’ve only been able to foster her this long because of the amazing network of @muddypawsrescuenyc fosters who take care of her when I'm traveling. Those of us in the very large Coco Loco Fan Club agree that Coconut deserves all of the best things — and ideally, a yard! 🐿️ Even though I’ll be terribly lonely without her, the goal is goodbye when fostering. I remind myself of this a lot, and I find comfort and strength in something @simonsits said on this topic: “You don’t have to own something to love it.” I love Coconut so, so much, and I will love her from afar when she gets adopted — hopefully soon!! Please help us spread the word about our wonderful, nutty girl with a heart of gold 🤍🥥🤍 by @emmaviewfinder

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a month ago

Palm Springs, let's go!! WATER COOLER is playing at @psfilmfest on Wednesday, June 24 at 11am in an incredible lineup of short films. There's no better way to beat the heat than watching a chilling documentary in a cool, dark theater, right?!WATER COOLER is an observational portrait of how the Trump administration has turned immigration courts into deportation traps. As ICE agents wait to arrest their "targets" outside courtrooms, their banal conversations clash with the severity of their actions.I'm so thrilled for it to be included in this terrific festival!..#documentary #icewatch #ice #filmmaker #palmsprings by @emmaviewfinder

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2 months ago

📣 Hi Californians! My short doc about ICE agents, WATER COOLER, is now streaming in California through June 7 as part of @sfindiefest DocFest. I would love for you to check it out! Tickets for the program called Liminal Strength are $10, which gets you access to my 12-minute film, three other short docs and a Q&A. Link in bio. Please share with friends in the state!! 🌴 by @emmaviewfinder

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2 months ago

Inside the hallways of immigration court at New York’s Federal Plaza, ICE agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement wait between hearings, watching for arrivals and making sudden arrests as cases conclude. In WATER COOLER, the ordinary rhythms of their conversations—coffee, brunch, small talk—unfold alongside acts of removal that vanish people from view in an instant, exposing the stark dissonance between bureaucracy and its consequences.Filmed between November 2025 and January 2026, the film becomes an observational portrait of a system where everyday language and routine coexist with quiet, procedural violence unfolding in plain sight.Director Emma V.F. is an Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker whose work includes QUEEN OF NEW YORK, which premiered at NewFest. Her producing credits include IN THE SAME BREATH for HBO, SILVER DOLLAR ROAD for Amazon Studios, TAKE YOUR PILLS: XANAX for Netflix, and ONCE UPON A TIME IN UGANDA, which won top honors at DOC NYC.🎟️ Saturday, June 13 at 7:45 PM 📍Regal Gallery Place#dcdoxfest26 by @emmaviewfinder

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2 months ago

BIGGER THAN LUIGI is almost complete, and we need your help to get over the finish line! This fun and thought-provoking short documentary about Luigi demonstrators is directed by @milenatck, DPed by me, and produced by us — completely independently. Please join us on Tuesday night 5/26 at Doublé in Bushwick to celebrate and raise finishing funds. We'll share a sneak peek and music by @tofu.jack. RSVP in bio! by @emmaviewfinder

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