Inside the Edit with BIPOC Doc Editors: NATCHEZ
About this Live Online Event
Join Sundance Collab and BIPOC Doc Editors for a live, online presentation from Pablo Proenza, the editor and co-writer of one of the most celebrated documentaries of 2025.
Natchez premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, where it won three major awards:
- Best Documentary Feature
- Special Jury Mention for Cinematography in a Documentary Feature
- Special Jury Mention for Editing in a Documentary Feature
Proenza has worked as a documentary editor, writer, and director for more than 25 years. His previous editing credits include the Michael Moore documentaries Capitalism: A Love Story, Where to Invade Next, and Fahrenheit 11/9 as well as the recent festival favorites Uvalde Mom and Wrestle.
Directed by Suzannah Herbert, Natchez captures an unsettling clash between history and memory in a small Mississippi town. Equal parts amusing and disturbing, the film takes audiences through an antebellum tourist destination at a crossroads as it grapples with its deeply troubled history.
Natchez had a theatrical run in 2026 courtesy of Oscilloscope Laboratories and is now available to rent digitally. The film’s many accolades include:
- Top Five Documentaries, National Board of Review
- Best Documentary, Palm Springs International Film Festival
- Excellence in Documentary Filmmaking, Hamptons International Film Festival
- Best Editing Nominee, IDA Awards
In this session, Proenza will dissect key scenes and discuss his role as a co-writer on the project. The presentation will conclude with an audience Q&A, where attendees can learn more about how he collaborated with Herbert to craft this singular documentary feature.
This event is part of the “Inside the Edit with BIPOC Doc Editors” series, a program hosted by Sundance Collab in collaboration with BIPOC Doc Editors. Follow these links to watch our previous events in this series, which included the films Spermworld, Patrice: The Movie, Sabbath Queen, Cutting Through Rocks, and Come See Me in the Good Light.
If you would benefit from an accommodation to fully participate in this event, please either submit a request here, contact us at (435) 776-7790, or email us at accessibility@sundance.org to discuss your specific requests. Every effort will be made to accommodate advance requests; however, requests made within 5 days of the event may not be guaranteed.
A recording of this session will be posted to Sundance Collab's Event Recording Library within two business days of the live event. All registered attendees will receive an email with a link to view the recording at no cost for two business days after it is posted. After that, on-demand access to the recording can be purchased for $10.
Live Online EventPeople
Pablo Proenza
Pablo Proenza is an award-winning, critically-acclaimed filmmaker with over 30 years of experience editing, writing, directing, and producing for film, television, and streaming.
Most recently, Pablo edited and co-wrote Natchez, directed by Suzannah Herbert. The film premiered at Tribeca 2025, where it won Best Documentary and a Special Jury Mention for editing, and went on to win 18 awards total. This is their second collaboration after Wrestle, a NYT Critic's Pick nominated for 2 Emmys including Outstanding Editing: Documentary.
He also edited Uvalde Mom (SXSW 2025), directed by Anayansi Prado, and Buena Vista Social Club: Adios directed by Lucy Walker.
A longtime collaborator of Michael Moore, Pablo edited Fahrenheit 11/9, the Oscar-shortlisted Where to Invade Next, and Capitalism: A Love Story.
As a consultant, Pablo helped shape The Hummingbird Paints Fragrant Songs (TIFF 2026), To Hold A Mountain (Sundance 2026), and Steal This Story, Please! (Telluride 2025).
As a writer-director, his film Dark Mirror broke VOD records for IFC Films, while his directorial debut ViDi was hailed as "a masterpiece" by the Boston Phoenix. Pablo is also an award-winning trailer editor.
He is currently editing Pam Ribon's directorial debut, One Act, about the largest high school theatre competition in the world.
Pablo was born in the US to Cuban immigrant parents, he grew up internationally and currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children.
Soheil Rezayazdi
Moderator | Digital Course & Event Producer
Soheil Rezayazdi is a Digital Course & Event Producer at the Sundance Institute, where he produces multi-session courses, master classes, filmmaker Q&As, and other digital programs for Sundance Collab. Prior to Sundance, Soheil served as the Nonfiction Programs Manager at the Gotham Film & Media Institute. He oversaw the Gotham’s core documentary programs: the Documentary Feature Lab, the Spotlight on Documentaries project market, and the Documentary Development Initiative in partnership with HBO Documentary Films. Soheil has worked with emerging filmmakers since 2015, when he began a seven-year tenure at the Columbia University MFA Film Program. At Columbia he managed the Columbia University Film Festival (CUFF), the Dr. Saul and Dorothy Kit Film Noir Festival, and the Carla Kuhn Memorial Speaker Series.
Soheil is also a freelance writer on film and pop culture with articles in Indiewire, McSweeney’s, Vice, Filmmaker Magazine, Documentary Magazine, Paper, Paste, and elsewhere. He has also served as an external reviewer for artist programs operated by Creative Capital, Kartemquin Pictures, Chicken & Egg Pictures, and the International Documentary Association. A native of Iran, he holds an MA in journalism and a BA in film studies from the University of Iowa.