A Selection of Creative Work
Trees/Plant/People/Time Installation
Current
documentary audio, video, painting, sound design, environmental installation
Concept, Direction, Video
An immersive multimedia installation about people's tender relationship with nature through personal stories of planting trees. Installed at Climate Imaginarium on Governors Island, NYC. Click below for information about collaborators and how to get there.
The Unfixing Feature Documentary Film
Currently Screening Internationally
87 min. film
Producer, Director, Writer, Camera, Editor
A lyrical tapestry of life and landscape, THE UNFIXING reveals Nicole’s path from illness to healing and from climate despair to environmental awakening. Spanish broadcast on Cat3. Awards: "Best International Documentary" at Cerdanya Film Festival, "Best Cinematography" at Cerdanya Film Festival, "Audience Award for Best Feature" at Vermont Film and Folklore Festival, "Best Documentary" at Between The Blue and Green Film Festival, "Best Sustainability Film" at Sustain Film Festival. International Co-Production with Rose Kowalski, Horizontal Films, Spain. Distributor: Women Make Movies.
The Entanglement (working title) -- film and multimedia installation
In Development
Artist, Director, Editor
The project traces the unseen threads connecting people who are adapting, co-creating, and regenerating with nature.
The Unfixing Gallery Installation
6 min. video loop, canvas, ink, guache
Director/Artist: Nicole Betancourt
Sound Artist: Bray Poor
Producer: Nicole Betancourt and Rose Kowalski
Video includes a burnt forest, the artist buried in soil, and her child emerging from water. The film is a poetic exploration of Nicole’s journey from illness to healing, framed by the intensifying global climate crisis. The backdrop counts the years beyond this exhibit, grounding the viewer in the future beyond Betancourt’s lifetime. Presented at Art Beats Festival, Lancaster, UK; Treasure Gallery T.I.C., NYC; Nou Casino La Constància, Sant Feliu Guíxols, Spain.
The Unfixing Urban Garden Installation
Director/Artist: Nicole Betancourt
Sound Artist: Bray Poor
Video Engineer: Jeremy Allen
A site -specific installation and interactive experience exploring the human body as a microcosm of the Earth through the experiences of loss, illness, and healing. Sound by Bray Poor. Created in two community gardens in NYC -- Green Oasis Garden, Lower East Side and Electric Ladybug Garden in Harlem. Created with support of City Artist Corps Grants program, presented by The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA), Allied Productions, CharcoalBlue, and Five Ohm.
Paintings & Cyanotypes
I create images of my dreams, waking experiences, and as objects to film. See a few examples.
Sing The Water Song
Short Film
Director, Editor
A collaboration with indigenous elders, the short film "Sing The Water Song" engages women around the world as keepers of the water in spirit and action. The film has over two million views on a combination of platforms.
Partes de Agua
Video and Sound Installation
Video Artist
Video installation and performance piece created in collaboration with Guillermo Roel, Mark Beam, and Bray Poor and presented at Studio 11011 and at Los Danzantes in Oaxaca, Mexico.
90 Miles
Feature Documentary
Producer, Camera
Feature documentary directed by Juan Carlos Zaldívar about how one family is affected by the rift between the United States and Cuba that aired on POV/PBS, won Best Documentary at the New York Latino International Film Festival and at the Festival de Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano in Cuba.
Before You Go: A Daughter’s Diary
Feature Documentary
Producer, Director, Writer, Camera
55-minute documentary about Nicole’s relationship with her father who died of AIDS in 1993. The film won numerous awards including an Emmy for “Outstanding Individual Achievement in a Documentary”, a Golden Spire at the San Francisco International Film Festival, as well as two Cable Ace Award nominations. The film has aired on television throughout Europe and Asia and on HBO in the United States.