Acclaimed filmmaker Jennifer Redfearn to receive 2023 Philomathia Prize

Redfearn, front row center, with 2022 graduates and instructors Cassandra Herrman and Mike Shen.

Jennifer Redfearn, an Oscar-nominated filmmaker and associate professor and director of the documentary program at Berkeley Journalism, has been selected to receive the Philomathia Prize for 2023.

The Philomathia Prize is presented annually to one early-career Berkeley faculty member from any discipline who demonstrates great distinction and promise in their academic field. Now in its second year, the prize comes with a monetary award of $200,000 for use at the awardee’s discretion over a three-year period. “I feel incredibly honored and humbled,” said Redfearn.

“This is an enormous motivation for me to continue this work and strive to make meaningful contributions to my field with our graduate students.”

“The selection committee was impressed by the impact of Professor Redfearn’s previous filmmaking and by her intensive collaboration with students on their films. Her proposed project has great potential to engage a broad cross-section of the campus community around the critical issue of climate change,” said Wilfred Chung, philanthropist and president of the Philomathia Foundation, which established the prize through a generous endowment gift.

Redfearn will receive the Philomathia Prize during the campus celebration of Philomathia Day on January 31, 2024.

Read the full announcement by Blake Edgar here.