Film

Thatcher joined MASS in 2013 to document the construction and use of MASS Design Group’s health infrastructure in Rwanda. The resulting videos accompanied Alan Rick’s TED talk on how buildings can heal communities. Since then he has worked with MASS as a media producer to explore how video can be used as a unique tool to assess and convey the impact of our built environments. Thatcher obtained a BFA from the University of Colorado film studies program.

In 2014, Thatcher Bean helped establish a film production studio within MASS Design Group. Over the last five years, this studio’s unique capacity has been leveraged to document, illustrate, and promote the effects of the built environment on society. The studio has produced dozens of short films and interviewed over 100 of our building’s users, builders, and clients. In 2017 he directed and edited MASS’s first feature length film, Made In Ilima, which premiered at the New York Architecture and Design Film Festival. He has been a guest speaker at SXSW Eco, The Impact Building Summit in Washington D.C., A Better World by Design Conference at Brown University, is a frequent presenter at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, and has served as a guest critic at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design and presenter at the Yale School of Architecture.

Cristoforo Magliozzi is a full-stack filmmaker and designer who joined MASS in 2021 as a Boston-based member of the multinational film team.

Over the ten years since receiving his BA from Harvard University, Cristoforo has worked as an interdisciplinary creator with the White House Office of Digital Strategy, Techstars’ incubator program, Piaggio Fast Forward, and metaLAB (at) Harvard — an experimental media-making research and teaching unit. He received his MFA in Film & Media Production from the University of Texas at Austin.

Cris has been a guest speaker at the Boston Public Library and Harvard’s i-Lab, collaborated on art installations for Boston’s Illuminus nighttime festival and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, and has directed films and animations shown at the UN, French National Library, Aspen Shortsfest, and the LA Indie Film Festival.

With past projects that have prompted travel to Italy, Ghana, and Mexico, Cris was eager to join MASS’s international family to co-create stories with impact — wherever they may be.

Elsemieke joined MASS in February 2020. She currently works on the development of stories related to the construction of the Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund while at the same time supporting the project’s impact tracking research.

She is interested in how communication tools like photography and film can be used to raise awareness around pressing global issues, such as those related to the environment and women. She believes visuals to be a very powerful communication tool that at the same time can connect and empower people throughout the process.

Elsemieke holds a Master of Science in Environmental, Economic and Social Sustainability with a focus on traditional ecological knowledge and visual anthropology and a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies specializing in Latin America and urban planning. She took part in the Short Documentary Film course by the Danish School of Media and Journalism, World Press Photo and NOOR Images for which she produced a short film on the physical and emotional damage left behind by Hurricane Maria in Dominica in 2017. Prior to joining MASS, Elsemieke worked in communications with the United Nations Environment Programme and as a production assistant for Redfitz, a Brooklyn-based cinematic documentary and narrative film production company.

Gabriel Nyirijuru joined MASS in September 2020 as a Filmmaker. He is currently documenting the progress of the Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund along with several other projects. Gabriel spent the last four years as a freelancer engaging with the Rwandan film industry as a videographer, editor, and photographer. Gabriel received his COC in Filmmaking from Kigali film and television school, and his Bachelor of Science in Quantity Surveying from the University of Rwanda, College of Science and Technology. He has worked for a number of companies and individuals including the S/H Industries, EDUCAP, and The Groundtruth Project. His experience has allowed him to gain technical skills behind the camera and develop cinematographic techniques to produce compelling stories.

As a Rwandan native, Gabriel has been an active participant in his country’s media outreach, working on documentaries, advertisements, wedding videos and promotional videos. Gabriel is well-versed in cultural content works and brings knowledge and expertise to our team. He hopes to continue harnessing the powerful narratives of his community and the continent at large.

Gabriel believes that film being the most advanced form of art so far created by man as it not only involves images but also includes sound and movement is the perfect medium of communication to all people from all sorts of backgrounds; from highly educated to illiterate, poor or less privileged but most importantly and notably to the youth that makes up more than 18% of the global population.

Joel Muhozi is an editor, Director of Photography and colorist with more than 10 years of experience in the film industry. He started his journey in Kigali, Rwanda and later ventured into China. His work focused on music videos, short films and TV commercials, and worked for clients such as Pizza Hut, Monster Energy Drink, Republic of Gamers and many more. Joel has experience with camera operation, sound mixing and choreography. He is inspired by life and the environment that surrounds him. His goal is to create visuals that leave an impact on its viewers.

Nailla joined Mass in March 2021 as an assistant producer. Previously, she worked with Dric Ent, a video production company based in Kigali, Rwanda. As a young female creative, Nailla is passionate about telling community-changing stories through visuals.

Tracy Keza joined the MASS Kigali Office in February 2020 as a filmmaker. For the past year, Tracy has been creating digital media for the Rwanda Institute of Conservation Agriculture. With an academic background in Environmental Science and minor in Photography, from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, Tracy hopes to use the power of visual storytelling and filmmaking as a tool for the fight for justice and equity.

Prior to joining MASS Design Group, Tracy worked at 72andSunny as a creative resident where she and nine other artists created a collaborative storytelling platform to address mass incarceration and the challenges formerly incarcerated people face upon re-entering society. As a documentary photographer and multimedia artist, Tracy Keza uses a cross between fine art and documentary photography to challenge existing stereotypes of the “other.”

In January 2016, Tracy was selected as the artist-in-residence for Studio Revolt, an award-winning collaborative media lab currently engaged in international collaborative work. Her photography-based project “Hijabs and Hoodies” was being incubated with Studio Revolt and was activated in the Washington DC area in the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center’s CROSSLINES: A culture lab on Intersectionality.