Beth Dembitzer was founder and curator of Social Cinema @ New America, the documentary screening series that brought together a diverse, thoughtful audience of leaders in government and public policy; media and journalism; human rights and grassroots activism; civic tech; education and the creative arts to preview the nonfiction films that best dramatize our country’s most timely social and political issues. Recognizing that documentary is increasingly a catalyst for social change, each screening was followed by a conversation with the filmmakers, prominent policy experts, journalists, stakeholders and the film’s subjects to explore the central issues with depth and complexity.
Dembitzer has produced and directed news and documentaries for ABC, CNN, PBS and international television, and award-winning advocacy, marketing and educational campaigns for a range of nonprofit and commercial organizations including the World Economic Forum, UNICEF (Botswana), the UN Population Fund (India), The African Leadership Academy (South Africa), the Children’s Aid Society, the Harlem Children’s Zone, Greenpeace, the Trust for Public Land, the Annenberg Foundation, the Metropolitan Life Foundation, Discover Card, New York Presbyterian, Columbia University Medical Center, Village Health Works (Burundi), the Armenian General Benevolent Union, Orchestra 2001 (Russia), and the Newport Jazz Festival.
She got her start producing at ABC News. She also headed all video communications for MetLife. She has taught film classes at Rikers Island jail; for the Green Team, a vocational program for the formerly incarcerated run by The Horticulture Society of New York; and for at-risk youth at the Children’s Aid Society’s Next Generation Center in the South Bronx. Dembitzer served as president of New York Women in Film and Television and is currently on its advisory board. She serves on the boards of the US-Africa Children’s Fellowship and Dancing in the Streets, and in the past on advisory boards for PEN’s Prison Writing Committee, Fresh Start, DocuClub, the Nalanda Institute for Contemplative Science and the Hague Appeal for Peace.