Purchase College Professor Megan Rossman Wins Major Award for Film

Purchase College, SUNY, is proud to announce that Associate Professor of Communications Megan Rossman has been awarded Best Short Documentary at The Provincetown International Film Festival for her new film, We’ll Carry On Alright.

The prestigious festival highlights diverse films and, according to MovieMaker Magazine, “leans into the area’s history as both an arts mecca and a longtime getaway and sanctuary for the LGBTQ+ community.”

Now in its 27th year, The Provincetown International Film Festival is an Academy Award-qualifying festival which means that Rossman’s film, along with the other winners in the short film categories, will be automatically eligible to enter the Short Films competition for the concurrent season of the Oscars.

Megan Rossman said, “At a time when we are seeing the dismantling of rights for LGBTQIA+ people and people of color, I am grateful that Provincetown Film Festival has awarded this film which celebrates the power of queer solidarity. Through the power, value, and strength of our presence and artistic contributions we honor the rich and diverse experiences of our communities.”

About the film

We’ll Carry On Alright focuses on the friendship between Mabel Hampton, an African American, lesbian, and activist, and Joan Nestle, a white, lesbian and Jewish professor who is 40 years her junior. Ms. Hampton cared for Joan as a child, and roles reversed when Joan cared for Ms. Hampton at the end of her life.

Two Purchase alumni worked on the film as production and research assistants,

Jessica Jimenez and JoAnna Hensel.

About the director

Megan Rossman is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and Associate Professor and Chair of Communications at Purchase College. Her work explores the LGBTQIA+ experience and has aired on PBS and screened internationally at over 125 film festivals.

Her most recent film We’ll Carry on Alright premiered at Provincetown Film Festival in June 2025 and won the Oscar-qualifying award for Best Short Documentary. The film focuses on the friendship between Mabel Hampton, an African American, lesbian, and activist, and Joan Nestle, a white, lesbian and Jewish professor who is 40 years her junior.

Her feature-length debut, The Archivettes has screened as an official selection at over 75 film festivals. The Hollywood Reporter called the documentary a “warm tribute to second-wave feminism.” The Queer Review called it “a gift to the future.” It has won various awards, including the audience award at Reeling and the jury award at Centro Niemeyer International Festival de Cine.

Rossman has directed short films including Their Voice (2023), Naomi Replansky at 100 (2020 Audience Award Winner, Paris International Lesbian & Feminist Film Festival) and Love Letter Rescue Squad (2017 Audience Award Winner, NewFest and Best Student Documentary, Emerging Filmmakers Showcase at the Cannes Film Festival American Pavilion). She is a recipient of the Princess Grace Award.

Rossman also worked as a multimedia journalist at The Washington Post and as the director of video at Teach For America. In 2011, she won an Emmy for her video Unfinished Business: Earth Day, 40 Years Later. In 2009, Rossman collaborated on “A Mother’s Risk,” which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in international reporting.

About Purchase College, SUNY

Purchase College, part of the State University of New York (SUNY) network of 64 universities and colleges, was founded in 1967 by Governor Nelson Rockefeller. His aspiration for Purchase was to create a dynamic campus that combined conservatory training in the visual and performing arts with programs in the liberal arts and sciences, in order to inspire an appreciation for both intellectual and artistic talents in all students. Today, Purchase College, SUNY is a community of students, faculty, and friends where open-minded engagement with the creative process leads to a lifetime of intellectual growth and professional opportunity. For more information about the college, visit www.purchase.edu.