Opal Bennett
Jury
Opal is an Emmy-winning co-producer and shorts producer at POV. Her first season curating POV SHORTS won the 2020 IDA Award for Best Short Form Series and the series broadcast the 2021 NewsDoc Emmy Winner for Short Documentary THE LOVE BUGS. Previously Opal was Shorts Programmer and Director of Artist Development at DOC NYC and Senior Programmer at Athena Film Festival. Prior to that, Opal also worked with Nantucket Film Festival, Aspen Shortsfest, Tribeca Film Festival and Gotham (formerly IFP). She is a Programming Consultant for the March on Washington Film Festival. Opal has served on juries for SXSW, Hot Docs, Cleveland, Milwaukee and Seattle International Film Festivals and IndieMemphis Film Festival among others. She has also served on the shorts selection committees for Cinema Eye Honors and the IDA. Opal is a member of the AMPAS Documentary branch. She has participated on various festival juries and selection committees for film grants. A Columbia Law grad, Opal holds a Masters from the LSE and received her B.A. from NYU.