The American Film Institute (AFI) announced the participants for the 2026 edition of AFI Cinematography Intensive Workshop (CIW) presented by Panavision. The four-day intensive, spearheaded by AFI Conservatory Cinematography Discipline head Stephen Lighthill, ASC, will begin Wednesday, March 18, in Los Angeles and continue through Sunday, March 22.
The selected filmmakers for 2026 are Alice Boucherie, Alexandria Jones, Karson Kane, Amanda Kowalski, Julie Nhem, Emma Penrose, Shauna Presto, Melina Anastasia Psarros, Cat Rider, Tania Romero, Kimani Schumann and Carman Spoto.
“The Cinematography Intensive Workshop is designed to open doors for artists that have historically been excluded from careers in cinematography,“ said Lighthill. “Through lectures, hands-on exercises and screenings, the program explores the art and craft of cinematography while encouraging a new generation of storytellers to pursue the field.”
Designed for aspiring cinematographers, CIW is a tuition-free, four-day workshop that brings together emerging cinematographers committed to their journey toward a professional career as cinematographers, who have some on-set experience working in the field and are looking for additional training to help them advance in their education, craft and career. CIW classes will be taught by industry leaders and AFI Conservatory faculty and alumni, including Lighthill, Conci Althouse (The Perfect 10), Academy Award® winner Autumn Durald Arkapaw (Sinners), Hana Kitasei (Salvation), Valentina Martinico (Allen v. Farrow), sr. VP of optical engineering at Panavision Dan Sasaki, and Amy Vincent (Song Sung Blue).
2026 CIW participants
Alice Boucherie
Boucherie is a French cinematographer based in New York City. After graduating in cinematography from a Parisian film university, she began her career in New York and now works internationally across fashion, documentary, and narrative film. Her clients include Chanel, Hulu, Neon, and Universal. She contributed to the Emmy Award-winning campaign “It’s Time For NYC” and the feature documentary Brats. Her work has screened at Cannes, Tribeca, TIFF, Sundance, and SXSW, and she received the Best Cinematography Award at the Cortesina Festival in 2023. Boucherie is a recipient of the ASC Vision Mentorship and a member of UCO.
Alexandria Jones
Jones is a filmmaker based in Richmond, Virginia. She is a member of IATSE Local 487 as a grip, as well as the International Cinematographers Guild where she serves primarily as a camera assistant across film, TV, and commercials. In 2018, Jones graduated with a B.A. in Cinema and Minors in Art History and Creative Writing from Virginia Commonwealth University, where she has occasionally returned as an adjunct faculty member for the Cinema and Photography & Film Departments.
Karson Kane
Based in Los Angeles, Kane is a cinematographer who studied at DePaul University. In her junior year, she shot her first commercial for 7-Eleven and Lyrical Lemonade. After graduating in 2024, she moved to Los Angeles to continue learning from filmmakers she admires. This year, her work as a gaffer was featured at Sundance on the feature Night Nurse and the short Birdie. She is now prepping for her first feature as DP.
Amanda Kowalski
Kowalski is a cinematographer and director whose work explores rural issues and climate change. Films she has shot have won multiple Boston/New England Emmys and screened at festivals worldwide, including Raindance, Gasparilla, and Telluride Mountainfilm. In her directing work, her short Crest of the Hill was featured on NPR.org and aired on NY Public Media, where it won the Reel 13 competition. In 2024, Kowalski directed her first feature documentary, The Alliance, which premiered at the Rhode Island International Film Festival and earned Best Documentary at the Raw Science Film Festival.
Julie Nhem
Nhem is an Oregon–based cinematographer and IATSE Local 600 member who came to filmmaking through still photography and a deep curiosity about people and place. After stepping onto her first narrative set in 2017, she found her footing in the collaborative rhythm of production and built her career through hands-on experience across professional sets. She now serves as DP on narrative, documentary and commercial projects throughout the Pacific Northwest.
Emma Penrose
Penrose works professionally as a cinematographer, shooting narrative short films, music videos, commercials, fashion films and experimental cinema, as well as teaches community eco-processing & analog film classes at Mono No Aware, a cinema arts nonprofit located in Brooklyn. In 2022 she completed a residency at the Casa do Xisto in analog 16mm eco-processing in Barcelos, Portugal and returned in 2023 as an assistant teacher. Penrose is the recipient of the 2024 Brooklyn Arts Fund Grant and has screened her work at warehouses, shipping containers, Spectacle Theater, Anthology Film Archives, Curtas International Festival, Ann Arbor Film Festival, Soho International Film Festival, Sunscreen Film Festival and Wexner Center for the Arts.
Shauna Presto
Presto is a Los Angeles–based cinematographer whose path to film began in music. She earned a degree in Music Business from SUNY Fredonia before working in concert venues, music promotion, and visual design in Buffalo, NY. In 2017, she left her full-time job to pursue freelance photography and videography. Since relocating to Los Angeles in 2022, Presto has contributed to a number of projects as a DP, operator and AC, building a background primarily in narrative work.
Melina Psarros
Psarros is a Los Angeles-based Greek-American cinematographer from Rochester, New York. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Film from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, along with minors in Art History, and French. Psarros’s experimental visual style is influenced by her background in dance and the fine arts, while her technical knowledge is strengthened by her experience as a prep technician and camera assistant. Currently, Psarros works in narrative shorts, commercials, and music videos.
Cat Rider
Hailing from Cincinnati, Ohio, Rider is an artist, filmmaker and photographer. Drawing on her experience in the film industry, she has recently dedicated her artistry to independent work, ranging from dance films to documentaries.
Tania Romero
Born and raised in Nicaragua, Romero is a freelance cinematographer and camera operator based in Philadelphia and New York. Romero is an associate member of SOC and the Television Academy.
Kimani Schumann
Schumann is a cinematographer and filmmaker from Los Angeles. He studied Film at Cal State University, Fullerton, then worked at Panavision Hollywood, supporting cinematographers and camera teams across a range of productions. He later relocated to Berlin, where he was the in-house cinematographer at ColorsxStudios before moving into freelance. As a freelance cinematographer, Schumann shoots a variety of narrative, commercial, music video and documentary work. He is currently based between Berlin and Los Angeles.
Carman Spoto
Spoto is a filmmaker and film theorist from the Philadelphia area. She has spent more than a decade working in the camera department on feature films and major television shows in Los Angeles.
