April 14, 2023

Marquis Who's Who Recognizes Sophia Romma, PhD, for Excellence in Arts and Entertainment, International Law and Human Rights, and Higher Education

Dr. Romma is the producing artistic director at The Garden of the Avant-Garde Film and Theatrical Foundation

NEW YORK, NY, January 13, 2023 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Sophia Romma, PhD, has been included in Marquis Who's Who. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.

Leading a distinguished career in arts and entertainment, international law and human rights, and higher education, Dr. Romma is a successful playwright, screenwriter, theatre and film director, international human rights attorney, and university professor. Presently, she serves as the producing artistic director and the chief executive officer at The Garden of the Avant-Garde Film and Theatrical Foundation in New York. Through her organization, Dr. Romma offers filmmaking, screenwriting, directing, and playwriting programs and workshops that further develop the skills of young writers and artists, particularly women in film and television.

Apart from running her foundation, Dr. Romma has been active as the producing artistic director at The O'Neill Film and Theatrical Foundation Inc. since 2013 and the president of The International Centre for Women Playwrights since 2015. Additionally, Dr. Romma has had the opportunity to serve as an antisemitism/extremism and foreign policy fellow at Human Rights First since 2018, a nonprofit, international human rights organization that is based in both New York City and Washington, D.C. 

As an international law and human rights attorney, Dr. Romma has spent more than 20 years focusing her practice on such matters as minority, women's, and LGBTQ rights, antisemitism/extremism/holocaust denial, and counterterrorism. Furthermore, she is an experienced educator in the industry, having taught creative writing, screenwriting, and playwriting courses at the Frederick Douglass Creative Arts Center and the New York Film Academy. Dr. Romma is presently teaching as an adjunct professor at the New York School of Career and Applied Studies at Touro College. She also serves as the assistant director at the Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center on campus, as a special project designer for the Law Center's writing center, and as the assistant director and special legal writing advisor at the college's graduate writing center.

Previously, Dr. Romma co-chaired and served as the co-producer of the Oral History Series of the League of Professional Theatre Women (LPTW) at the Lincoln Center Library. Dr. Romma was also a critical theater reviewer at Theater Pizzazz, a literary manager and instructor of playwriting and screenwriting at the Negro Ensemble Company, and a writer for Essence of Life/Essence of Art.

Among a myriad of works, Dr. Romma produced an award-winning feature-length film titled "Used and Borrowed Time." The film won 48 domestic and international film festival awards and premiered on the red carpet at the Quad Cinema in New York in 2021. Her extensive portfolio has also included 16 stage plays and numerous Off-Off Broadway/Off-Broadway plays, several of which received Obie Award nominations. Also, Dr. Romma has directed plays by Colonel Leslie Lee, August Wilson, and Austin Phillips. Looking toward the future, she intends to make several more films and begin making documentaries due to her special interest in human rights and various societal issues.

Dr. Romma has served an instrumental role on various educational and professional boards and committees, including on the board of directors and the alumni day committee and as a former member of the alumni board association at her alma mater, New York University (NYU). She is also a board member of the Polaris North Theatre Cooperative.

Highly educated, Dr. Romma first studied at the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU through which she achieved a Bachelor of Fine Arts in film and television and a Master of Fine Arts in drama and theater arts. Dr. Romma subsequently attended the Maxim Gorky Literary Institute, having acquired a Doctor of Philosophy in philology with a minor in French, followed by Fordham University School of Law with a Master of Laws in international human rights law and racial justice.

Dr. Romma is a professional member of several professional organizations, including the American Bar Association, the LPTW as a member of the board, and the New York City Bar Association where she oversaw the Racial Justice and Right to Health Project. She is also a member of the New York State Bar Association where she has been active as the co-chair of its united nations committee and as a member of its European affairs committee. In addition to these memberships, Dr. Romma holds a seat on the New York City Bar's Council for International Affairs. She previously served on the Council's international human rights committee and directed the Racial Justice and Human Rights/Criminal Justice and Police Brutality Project alongside another professor. Moreover, Dr. Romma is a member of the New York University Alumni Association, having served as a member of the communications and telemarketing committee and the volunteer services committee, and is a past president of the organization's Alumni Club of Long Island. 

In addition to the multitude of awards she has received for her most recent film, Dr. Romma received several Vegas Movie Awards in 2020 and 2021. Dr. Romma credits her success to the ongoing support that she receives from those around her, including her mother and late sister for always supporting her endeavors throughout her career.

About Marquis Who's Who®
Since 1899, when A. N. Marquis printed the First Edition of Who's Who in America®, Marquis Who's Who® has chronicled the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field of endeavor, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment. Today, Who's Who in America® remains an essential biographical source for thousands of researchers, journalists, librarians and executive search firms around the world. Marquis® now publishes many Who's Who titles, including Who's Who in America®, Who's Who in the World®, Who's Who in American Law®, Who's Who in Medicine and Healthcare®, Who's Who in Science and Engineering®, and Who's Who in Asia®. Marquis® publications may be visited at the official Marquis Who's Who® website at www.marquiswhoswho.com.

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