Filmmakers

Amanda Dargan is a folklorist, educator, filmmaker, and longtime leader at City Lore, the New York Center for Urban Culture. For nearly three decades she directed City Lore’s education programs, developing projects that brought folk and traditional arts into New York City schools. Her research and writing have focused on children’s play, family folklore, folk arts in education, and grassroots poetry traditions. She holds an M.A. in folklore from Memorial University of Newfoundland and a Ph.D. in folklore and folklife from the University of Pennsylvania. Dargan is co-author of City Play and has curated exhibitions and produced documentary films, including In the Moment: Poetry Duels and Improvisations. In 2019, the American Folklore Society awarded her the Benjamin A. Botkin Prize for lifetime achievement in public folklore.