ART & ACTIVISM is  a short documentary highlighting Houston art activist William Loyd and his transgender wife, Nikki Araguz-Loyd as they fight for their right to be married, while Will continues to create his art. Premiered at the Houston Cinema Arts Festival in 2016 (22 minutes)
 

NESTOR TOPCHY: HOUSTON’S PHOENIX is a short documentary highlighting the multi-talented Houston artist, Nestor Topchy, and his influence on the Houston art scene since the mid-80s. Premiered at the Houston Cinema Arts Festival in 2016 (21 minutes)
 

HOUSTON ART COLLECTORS is a short documentary, which follows Victoria Lightman as we interviewed Houston art collectors and artists. The film also highlights Mrs. Lightman's wonderful class called Looking at Art, which introduces many Houstonians to local Houston artists, galleries and art collectors. This documentary was made through the 14 Pews Film Academy. All the editors were college students, which Ms. Thibodeaux taught editing practices and tips which she learned while studying under Ralph Rosenblum (Woody Allen's editor) and Sam Pollard (Spike Lee's editor). The film highlights Houston artists: Dixie Friend Gay, Troy Woods, Patrick Turk Collage Art and Neva Mikulicz. Premiered at the Houston Cinema Arts Festival in 2015 (19 minutes)

ABOUT 14 PEWS FILM ACADEMY: 14 Pews Film Academy began in 2012. Our original goal was to keep the youth of Houston engaged in positive and creative activities that will be both beneficial to the students and our community.  In doing so we have focused on creating films on local artists, highlighting women, artists of color and under-represented practitioners.  Since 2015, our student films on local artists have premiered at the Houston Cinema Arts Festival to appreciative audiences.  Although, Houston has a thriving contemporary art scene, it’s rarely highlighted in films. 14 Pews Academy hopes to help change this, one short film at a time. 

ABOUT INSTRUCTOR: Cressandra Thibodeaux is an artist who had her mixed-media series OIL ON WATER, (abstract images of the BP Oil Spills) shown at Art Basel in Basel, Switzerland.  She is also a photographer, filmmaker and storyteller. She started actively exploring film while being a camera-woman at Houston Public Access in 1990. She then went on to receive her MFA from Columbia University’s Film Program. At Columbia University she was part of an educational team that taught documentary filmmking to middle school students in Harlem. Cressandra is passionate about helping other filmmakers develop their skills, while also promoting Texas contemporary artists. She balances her time as a teacher with her creative filmmaking work and running 14 Pews. Cressandra is also the founder of several small film festivals and the Executive Director of 14 Pews.