2025 Filmmaker in Residence
When an Albanian immigrant semi-accidentally purchases a Pennsylvania mall in 2023, he uproots his life and tries his hand at reviving it. Utilizing the aesthetics of 90s Hollywood mall movies and an incredible cache of archival, Malls of America creates a thought-provoking and humorous dialogue between the mall’s uncertain future and its storied past, beginning with its visionary creator Jewish socialist architect Victor Gruen.
Brian Becker is a New York-based filmmaker who directed and produced Time Bomb Y2K (co-directed with Marley McDonald) which premiered on HBO in December, 2023. The film’s lengthy festival run included True/False Film Festival, Hot Docs, Sheffield DocFest, IDFA, Camden International Film Festival, and DocNYC. Brian served as archival producer on Free Chol Soo Lee, MLK/FBI, Spaceship Earth, and The Fourth Estate, and as co-producer on the series Bobby Kennedy for President. Brian is a 2022 Doc NYC 40 Under 40 recipient, Impact Partners Producing Fellow, Points North Fellow, and a FOCAL Jane Mercer Researcher of the Year award nominee. Before turning to production, he worked as a mosquito ecologist.
Project description and bios courtesy of the Resident