Leonard Cortana

Leonard Cortana

Research Assistant, X-Media Lab
Ph.D. Candidate, NYU Tisch School of the Arts
Leonard Cortana, Ph.D. canidate, NYU

Leonard Cortana (Guadeloupe/France) is a Ph.D Candidate at the Cinema Studies Department at NYU Tisch School of the Arts and a 2019-2020 Fellow at the Berkman Klein Center, Harvard Law School. Prior to his doctoral studies, he conducted several artistic and educational projects with non-profits and UN agencies that engage with youths in mulitple countries including Chile, Brazil, France and Bulgaria. He became a Trainer for European Commission Youth Program projects and the Children International Summer Village Organization (CISV) and designed methodologies in theatre and storytelling for social inclusion.

 

Cortana is also a filmmaker. His last documentary Marielle's Legacy Will not Die  follows activist movements spreading the intersectional legacy of Afro-Brazilian activist and politician Marielle Franco in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. His doctoral research focuses on the circulation of transnational film narratives about racial justice and activist movements, that re-open wounded historical memories between Chile, Brazil, France and the US with a special emphasis on youth-themed productions.

 

At the Harvard X-Media Lab, he will investigate the transnational, cross-media connections that have shaped the narrative of the Chilean film Machuca  (Andres Wood, 2004) and will contribute to the Educators’ Resources project for the film. He studied and worked for a year at the University of Chile and UNESCO Chile.

Team Role