Jena Burchick's portfolio

Work samples

Mom & M Trailer

Documentary Feature. 60 Minutes. Mom & M is an intimate portrait of modern American parenthood. Meet Nikki, a transgender writer; Elise, a social media influencer; and Sansa, their adopted daughter who battles leukemia. Together they navigate what happens when your partner comes out as transgender while caring for an ill child and that remission is not the end to life’s challenges. The Richard family offers a deep-seated glimpse of love’s power in surviving extraordinary circumstances.
Dear Country

Docu-Narrative Short. 4 Minutes. This film is a short docu-narrative in response to the 2016 presidential election and my fears and hopes for American women during Trump’s time in office. Inspired by and incorporating January 2017's first Women's March on Washington, Dear Country follows the journey of four young women expressing tones of unity, female empowerment, women's rights and the hope for the future of young females. This film was created in support of the Women's March by an all female cast and production crew.
The Local Oyster Stout- Trailer

Documentary Short. 8 Minutes. An oyster farmer, a shucker, and a brewery collaborate on Maryland's first farm to table Oyster Stout beer, reviving a time-honored tradition of the industrial past and charting a future for sustainability in the Chesapeake Bay. Recipient of a Capital Emmy Award, The National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences – Category: Chesapeake Heritage, Short Form Content – June 26th, 2021
Ora Et Labora- Trailer

Documentary Short. 17 Minutes. What does it mean to follow one’s calling into an abbey and a brewery? Inspired by the growth of the American craft beer movement, a group of Catholic monks in Spencer, Massachusetts produces America’s first “Trappist-certified” beer, a historically European tradition that offers an opportunity for the community to preserve their unique way of life. “Ora et labora” is Latin for “work and prayer,” and is the motto of the Christian monastic life.

About Jena

Jena Burchick is a two-time regional Emmy award winning filmmaker, artist and professor from Baltimore, Maryland. She is a recipient of the 2025 University of Film & Video Association Excellence in Teaching Award, which celebrates and honors members who ignite a passion for learning among students through innovation and commitment to inclusive teaching.

Burchick has produced and directed short and feature-length films which explore the… more

View Jena's Resume

what it felt like

Film Title: what it felt like

Documentary Short, 20 minutes

Roles: Director, Producer, Writer, Editor, Cinematographer

Status: Dissemination, Ongoing

Synopsis: "what it felt like" chronicles an autobiographical year in four trimesters through the visceral experience of pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum. On June 18th, 2022, I took a test and found out that I was pregnant. Nearly one week later, the Supreme Court reversed the Roe decision ending the Constitutional right to abortion. What I didn’t know was that my pregnancy would become high risk and I would need to make a decision about my body in a completely tumultuous time. With emphasis on reproductive justice and the storing and processing of trauma in the body, the film urges viewers to engage in the critical discussion of how we process our own experiences; what we encounter in silence and what we seldom speak truth to. I sincerely hope that you will consider screening "what it felt like" so that the necessary conversations about the freedom to choose, bodily autonomy and the crucial importance of voicing one's birth story may continue.

The film guides viewers through a linear year-in-the-life, poetic verité paired with intimate and raw imagery which explores the convergence of digital smartphone applications (apps) and analog super 8mm celluloid film. The merging of these mediums reveals a deep-seated portrait of the often fragmented romanticization of memory and how we psychologically process our experiences. I am intentionally blurring the boundaries between the tangible and intangible within the human physicality of pregnancy and childbirth, the machine of hospitalized labor and the system and timely presence of reproductive justice.

Awards & Recognition
Honorary Award for Efforts in Social Filmmaking, Activists Without Borders Film Festival, UK, 2025

Gallery Exhibitions

“Our Bodies, Our Stories” Exhibition, Reproductive Justice of Maryland, 2025
“Industrial Afterglow: SPARK Baltimore”, the Peale Museum,Maryland, 2025

Film Festival & Academic Conference Official Selections:

Hobnobben Film Festival, Indiana, 2025
Maryland Film Festival, Baltimore, Maryland, 2025
Morehouse College Human Rights Festival, Atlanta, Georgia, 2025
Revolutions Per Minute Film Festival, Harvard University, 2025
UFVA National Conference, USA. Peer Reviewed Screening, 2025
Vermont College of Fine Arts, Guest Lecture & Screening, 2025

Grants & Funding:

University System of Maryland Women’s Forum Grant
Towson University, COFAC Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award

"what it felt like"still frame
Poster for what it felt like

This is the poster design for the film as well as the art print, minis the text, presented at the Reproductive Justice of Maryland "Our Bodies, Our Stories" gallery and "Industrial Afterglow: SPARK" at the Peale Museum in Baltimore.

Mom & M

Film Title: Mom & M

Documentary Feature-Length Film. 60 Minutes.

Roles: Director/Producer/Editor/Director of Photography

Synopsis: Mom & M is a kindhearted yet raw, intimate portrait of modern American parenthood. Meet Nikki, a writer and PhD student; Elise, a social media influencer; and Sansa, their adopted daughter who battles leukemia. Together they navigate what happens when your partner comes out as transgender while caring for an ill child and that cancer remission is not the end to life’s challenges. The Richard family offers a deep-seated glimpse of love’s power in helping families survive extraordinary circumstances.

Mom & M is told in part through Nikki’s poetic narration, Elise’s social media, and their mutual smartphone home movies, which are shown against the backdrop of Baltimore’s inhabitants, row homes, and distinct four seasons. The capturing and inclusion of their home movies celebrate a unique collaborative filmmaking aesthetic as well as an important invitation to view how the Richard family sees the world. The filmmaker's emphasis is on sharing their story as opposed to extracting it. Watching the protagonists' lives through modern home movie making allows the audience to ask the question: How do we capture and store our collected memories in this day and age?

We spend a year following the Richard family as it traverses the rocky waters and developmental delays from Sansa’s cancer diagnosis. The child's fine motor skills are a challenge, her social skills are underdeveloped, and she is suspected to have ADHD. Confronting these hurdles , seemingly one after another, puts Nikki and Elise’s relationship on the back burner. The couple practices radical communication in discussing Nikki’s transition, rejection from family, financial difficulties, and more and reveal a transparent gentleness. Even when things feel at their lowest, Nikki and Elise invite us further into their lives and their living room with absolute vulnerability.

Mom & M depicts a theme very near to the hearts of many , a belief that family is bonded by more than blood. It is a choice.

Distribution:

2022-2024 Maryland Public Television continuous air dates on MPT & MPT2 and online digital streaming.

Awards & Recognition:

Emmy Nomination and Award Winner, National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, National Capital Chapter. Category: Cultural/Topical Documentary. 2023
Best Short Film, Virginia Queer Film Festival, VA, USA, 2023
Best LGBTQ Film, Wine, Women & Film Festival, LA, USA, 2022
Docs Without Borders, Award of Excellence, DE, USA, 2021
Semi-Finalist, Lake Travis Film Festival, TX, USA, 2021
Award of Merit for LGBTQ content, IndieFest Film Awards, CA, USA, 2021

Film Festival & Academic Conference Official Selections:

Virginia Queer Film Festival, VA, USA, 2023
Wine, Women & Film Festival, LA, USA, 2022
Vancouver Queer Film Festival, Vancouver, Canada, 2022
- Paid screening fee honorarium
Rainbow Visions Film Festival, Alberta, Canada, 2021
Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival, VT, USA, 2021
We Make Movies Film Festival, LA, USA, 2021
UFVA National Conference, Virtual, USA, 2021
Bentonville Film Festival, Documentary Competition, AK, USA, 2021
- Paid screening fee honorarium
OUTSOUTH Queer Film Festival, SC, USA, 2021
Docs Without Borders, DE, USA, 2021
Maryland Film Festival, MD, USA, 2021
- Paid screening fee honorarium
North Beach American Film Festival, MD, USA, 2021
Translations: Seattle Transgender Film Festival, Seattle, USA, 2021
Lake Travis Film Festival, TX, USA, 2021
Indy Film Fest, IN, USA, 2021
The IndieFest Film Awards, CA, USA, 2021

Nikki, Elise and Sansa pose for a feature story in Baltimore Magazine, captured in the film.
Nikki, Sansa and Elise

Nikki, Sansa and Elise read together which is Sansa's favorite activity.
Nikki & Elise Pose Together
Mom & M Poster

The Local Oyster Stout

Film Title: The Local Oyster Stout

Documentary Short Film

Roles: Co-Director/Producer/Gaffer

Synopsis: An oyster farmer, a shucker, and two brewers create Maryland's first farm to table Oyster Stout beer, reviving a time-honored tradition. The Local Oyster Stout hopes to bridge our passion for growing up around the water, supporting small businesses, and drinking good beer into a captivating story to share with friends, family, and those who thirst for connection (and beer!).

Broadcast Distribution:

Maryland Public Television, Public Broadcast Programming TV & Web, April 23, 2020; April 24, 2021; April 21, 2022; April 25, 2024

Awards & Recognition:

Emmy Nomination and Award Winner, National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, National Capital Chapter. Category: Chesapeake Heritage Short Form Content. Film: The Local Oyster Stout.
1st Place Award Winner, Wild Side Shorts, Fish and Wildlife Film Festival

Film Festival Official Selections:

Sierra Nevada Film Fest, USA, 2018
Food Film Fest, Prague, 2018
Les Bois Film Fest, USA, 2018
Fish and Wildlife Film Fest, USA, 2018
Fresh Coast Film Fest, USA, 2018
Life and Sciences Film Fest, Prague, 2018
Philadelphia Environmental Film Fest, USA, 2018
Water Docs Film Fest, Canada, 2018
Chesapeake Film Fest, USA, 2018

The Local Oyster Stout
Brewer Roy Fisher

Brewer Roy Fisher is interviewed on his involvement in brewing the oyster stout.
Brewer Greg McGrath

Brewer Greg McGrath is interviewed on his idea for collaborating with The Local Oyster.
Behind The Scenes

A BTS shot at the True Chesapeake Oyster farm, capturing their process of sustainable oyster farming.

Ora et Labora

Film Title: Ora et Labora

Documentary Short Film

Roles: Co-Director/Producer

Status: Dissemination

Synopsis: What does it mean to follow one’s calling into an abbey and a brewery? Inspired by the growth of the American craft beer movement, a group of Catholic monks in Spencer, Massachusetts produces America’s first “Trappist-certified” beer, a historically European tradition that offers an opportunity for the community to preserve their unique way of life.

“Ora et labora” is Latin for “work and prayer,” and is the motto of the Christian monastic life.

Broadcast Distribution:

Fresh Coast Film Festival Flashback. Compilation of shorts – WMNU-TV PBS, Michigan Public Television. March 10th, 2024.
Maryland Public Television, 2026.

Awards & Recognition:

Recipient of the juried Documentary Short Honorable Mention Award, and an honorarium. UFVA National Conference
Semi-Finalist Award, Flicker’s Rhode Island International Film Festival
Best of Competition: Sound Engineering and Design – 2024 Broadcast Educators Association Media Arts Festival – April 2024.

Film Festival & Academic Conference Official Selections:

Ocean City Film Festival, USA, 2025
American Academy of Religion, Western Region Conference. University of Nevada, Las Vegas. March 15-17th, 2024.
Kanab Film Festival, UT, USA, 2024
Charlotte Film Festival, USA, 2023
Flicker’s Rhode Island, Providence, RI, USA 2023
Fresh Coast Film Festival, USA 2023
UFVA National Conference, USA, 2023.Peer Reviewed S

Ora Et Labora Trailer

Single Channel Video. 17 mins. 2023.

Inspired by the growth of the American craft beer movement, a group of Catholic monks in Spencer, Massachusetts produces America’s first “Trappist-certified” beer, a historically European tradition that signals growth opportunities for financially insecure monastic communities looking to preserve their unique way of life.
Ora Et Labora Still Frame- Brother Jonah
Ora Et Labora Still Frame- Spencer Brewery

Our Time Kitchen, Documentary Film

Documentary. Currently in Production & Post-Production.

Our Time Kitchen is the journey of two Baltimore chefs, Cat Smith (she/her) and Kiah Gibian (she/they) as they race against the clock to build and open a shared commercial kitchen, called “Our Time Kitchen,” which will support BIPOC women, marginalized gendered folks, and immigrants as they create sustainable businesses of their own.

Chefs Cat and Kiah are a powerhouse team that came together out of years of resilience and experience surviving Baltimore’s food system. They believe that it is time for a new, sustainably focused, collective kitchen model and in a little over a year, they race the clock to realize their dream to open the kitchen. Every aspect of their endeavor is about collaboration and advocacy for positive change, not only in how we create meals, but how we feed our communities and their access to food and education.
This is a “by Baltimore, for Baltimore film” both behind and in front of the camera. I am born and raised in Baltimore and as a documentarian, am connected and inspired by the color and grit of our steadfast community. In the year and change that I have spent capturing chefs Cat and Kiah, every aspect of their endeavor has been about the richness of the Baltimore community. From intentionally collaborating with a community led, equitable design center and female architect, to hiring a neighborhood electrician named Larry who, as a child, used to play in the location’s backyard after church, to the full scale building mural titled “Braiding Seeds'' designed by local artist Jaz Erenberg which shines a light on the stories of enslaved people who braided seeds into their hair to enable descendants to survive in plantation society, this is a story about breaking barriers.

Cat and Kiah embody the pride of a new kind of hard-working Baltimore entrepreneur. Stories of strength, and also of BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ joy, are narratives we need more of and I feel it is imperative for audiences to see their leadership and successes. If you can see it, you can be it.

Chefs Cat & Kiah Cook Together

Chefs Kiah & Cat prepare a dinner for their community to explain the process of building Our Time Kitchen.
Chef Kiah

Chef Kiah teaches students in the Dignity Plates Training Program from the Franciscan Center of Baltimore. Chef Kiah lead the class in making corn chowder while reducing food waste in the kitchen. We learned so many things alongside the cohort of students, like how to char poblano peppers and how to “milk” corn! All while getting deeper knowledge of chef Kiah’s experience as a farmer, food truck owner and chef.
Chef Cat

Our Time Kitchen's Chef Cat Smith and her son take a look at the exterior of the building. At this point in filming, it was common for folks to use the back of their building as a dumping space for trash and as well as theft as the months went on. Both chefs would undergo different kinds of de-escalation training to feel safer in their building while maintaining a positive relationship with all members of their community.
Jaz Erenberg

Community centered public artist, Jaz Erenberg painting the Our Time Kitchen mural "Braiding Seeds."

Dear Country

Dear Country Docu-Narrative Short Film. 4 Minutes. Roles: Director/Producer/Camera Operator

This film is a short docu-narrative in response to the 2016 presidential election and my fears and hopes for American women during Trump’s time in office. Inspired by and incorporating January 2017's first Women's March on Washington, Dear Country follows the journey of four young women expressing tones of unity, female empowerment, women's rights and the hope for the future of young females. This film was created in support of the Women's March by an all female cast and production crew.
Awards & Recognition: - Vimeo Staff Pick for an International Audience - 2.8K views on Vimeo as of June 2021 - Best Storyteller for a Documentary Short Film, Colorado International Activism Film Festival 2011-2013 - 2018 Award Winner, Made In Baltimore Short Film Festival
Film Festival Official Selections:
- Our Stories Virtual Film Festival, Towson University, USA, 2020 - Annapolis Film Fest, USA, 2018 - Short to the Point, Bucharest, 2018 - Eve Film Fest, Canada, 2018 - Cardiff Mini Film Fest, UK, 2018 - Race to Justice, USA, 2018 - Global Peace Film Fest, 2018 - Made In Baltimore Short Film Fest, USA, 2018 - Born In Baltimore Film & Photography Fest, USA, 2018

Women's March on Washington DC, 2017
Marching in the 2017 Women's March

The final frame of the film, bringing each women's story together as they march in the 2017 Women's March in Washington DC.
Tatiana Ford
Amanda Ferrarese
Saalika Khan
Alice & Roan Isennock