Alysa Nahmias

Alysa Nahmias is an American filmmaker and the founder of Ajna Films.[1][2]

Alysa Nahmias
Alysa Nahmias in 2017
BornTucson, Arizona, U.S.
Occupations
  • Director
  • producer
  • writer
Years active2011-present
StyleDocumentary film

Life

Nahmias is originally from Tucson, Arizona. She holds degrees from The Gallatin School of Individualized Study at New York University and Princeton University.[3] She is married to graphic designer Rob Carmichael of SEEN Studio

Career

In 2011, Nahmias directed and produced the feature documentary Unfinished Spaces, about the Cuban National Art Schools, with Benjamin Murray.[4] The film won an Independent Spirit Award in 2012 and is part of the Museum of Modern Art's permanent collection.[5][6][7][8][9]

Nahmias directed and produced the 2019 documentary The New Bauhaus[10] chronicling the art and design icon, László Moholy-Nagy.[11] The film features Moholy-Nagy's daughter, Hattula, and contemporary art curator Hans Ulrich Obrist reads Moholy-Nagy's words on screen.

Nahmias directed and produced the 2021 film Art & Krimes by Krimes, which centers on visual artist Jesse Krimes as he navigates his life and artistic career following incarceration.[12] Art & Krimes by Krimes also features the stories and artwork of artists Russell Craig, Gilberto Rivera, and Jared Owens. The film was purchased for distribution by MTV Documentary Films[8]

Her producing credits include Unrest, by director Jennifer Brea, which won the Special Jury Award for Best Editing at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival,[13] No Light and No Land Anywhere, by director Amber Sealey with creative advisor Miranda July; Shield and Spear, by director Petter Ringbom; What We Left Unfinished, by director Mariam Ghani; and Afternoon of a Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq by director Nancy Buirski with creative advisor Martin Scorsese.[14] In 2020 Alysa executive produced Weed & Wine, directed by Rebecca Richman Cohen which premiered at Hot Docs, Deauville, and DOC NYC film festivals in 2020.[15][16] Nahmias served as executive producer for I Didn’t See You There directed by Reid Davenport, which won the 2022 Sundance Film Festival U.S. Documentary Directing Award.[17]

Nahmias has been featured in Filmmaker Magazine as an independent film innovator.[18] She is a 2019 Sundance Institute Momentum Fellow and a 2020 Film Independent Fellow.[19][20] Nahmias co-authored a Sundance Creative Distribution Case Study on Unrest and has written about documentary grant writing for MovieMaker Magazine[21]

Nahmias is a co-founder of FWD-Doc, a non-profit organization which supports disabled filmmakers and entertainment industry workers. Other co-founders include Jim LeBrecht, Day Al-Mohamed and Lindsey Dryden.[6]

Filmography
Film Year Role Subject Matter
Unfinished Spaces 2011 Director The National Art Schools of Cuba and the Cuban Revolution
Afternoon of a Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq 2013 Producer Ballerina Tanaquil Le Clercq, wife of George Ballanchine
Shield and Spear 2014 Producer Art, music, and censorship in contemporary South Africa
No Light and No Land Anywhere 2016 Producer A foreigner seeks connections in a city of strangers
Unrest 2017 Producer Director Jennifer Brea turns the camera on herself to capture her struggles with chronic fatigue syndrome
What We Left Unfinished 2019 Executive Producer Mariam Ghani tells the story of five unfinished fiction feature films from the Communist era in Afghanistan (1978-1991), and the people who went to crazy lengths to make them, in a time when films were weapons, filmmakers became targets, and the dreams of constantly shifting political regimes merged with the stories told onscreen.[22]
The New Bauhaus 2019 Director and Producer The life, ideas and impact of Hungarian artist László Moholy-Nagy.
Weed & Wine 2020 Executive Producer Continents apart from one another, two farming families aim to reinvent themselves on their land.
Art & Krimes by Krimes 2021 Director and Producer Visual artist Jesse Krimes navigates his life and career following a six-year prison sentence.[12]
I Didn't See You There 2022 Executive Producer Filmed entirely from director Reid Davenport's perspective as a wheelchair-bound citizen of Oakland California, documenting the realities of navigating the world with a disability.
Wildcat 2022 Producer A young British soldier struggling with depression and PTSD fosters an orphaned baby ocelot with an American scientist.[5]

References
  1. Goldstein, Joelle (10 April 2018). "Female Filmmakers Discuss Need for Confidence in Securing Financing". The Hollywood Reporter. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  2. Blichert, Frederick. "Alexandria Bombach, Yance Ford among Sundance Momentum fellows". Realscreen. Brunico. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  3. Cogley, Bridget (11 December 2018). "Bauhaus educator László Moholy-Nagy was "not given his due"". Zeen. Disqus. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  4. Murray, Benjamin; Nahmias, Alysa (2012-04-12), Unfinished Spaces (Documentary), Vittorio Garatti, Roberto Gottardi, Ricardo Porro, Ajna Films, retrieved 2020-12-10
  5. "Meet the 2011 LA Film Festival Filmmakers | Alysa Nahmias' and Benjamin Murray's "Unfinished Spaces"". June 15, 2011.
  6. Fraunhar, Alison (2014). "Review: Unfinished Spaces by Alysa Nahmias and Benjamin Murray, directors/producers". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. The Society of Architectural Historians. 73 (4): 579–580. doi:10.1525/jsah.2014.73.4.579. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  7. Editorial Staff, IDA. "Meet the DocuWeeks Filmmakers: Alysa Nahmias and Benjamin Murray--'Unfinished Spaces'". IDA. IDA. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  8. Koehler, Robert (30 June 2011). "Unfinished Spaces". Variety. Variety. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  9. "Unfinished Spaces. 2011. Directed by Alysa Nahmias, Benjamin Murray". MOMA. MOMA.
  10. Nahmias, Alysa (2020-04-22), The New Bauhaus (Documentary), Oliver Botar, Barbara Crane, Olafur Eliasson, Andreas Hug, Opendox, retrieved 2020-12-10
  11. "The New Bauhaus". Cinema Chicago. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  12. Carey, Matthew (2022-08-09). "MTV Documentary Films Sets Release Date For 'Art & Krimes By Krimes,' Doc About Artist Who Made "Secret Masterpiece" Behind Bars". Deadline.
  13. Debruge, Peter (January 29, 2017). "Sundance Winners: 'I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore,' 'Dina' Top Festival Awards".
  14. "Alysa Nahmias". IMDb. Amazon.
  15. "WEED & WINE". DOC NYC. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  16. "Weed & Wine". Hot Docs. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  17. Galuppo, Mia (2022-01-29). "Sundance: 'I Didn't See You There' Director on Documenting Disability". The Hollywood Reporter.
  18. Astle, Randy (5 Jan 2015). "What Revised U.S.-Cuba Relations Could Mean for Film". Filmmaker Magazine (Jan 2015). Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  19. Andrews, Emily. "Sundance Institute Announces Inaugural Class of Momentum Fellows". Sundance Institute. Sundance Institute. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  20. Warren, Matt (21 January 2017). "Spotting Film Independent Fellows at Sundance: Your 2017 Field Guide". Film Independent. Film Independent. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  21. Fuselier, Jess. ""Unrest" Case Study". Sundance Institute. Sundance Institute.
  22. Ghani, Mariam (2019-02-09), What We Left Unfinished (Documentary), Noor Hashim Abir, Adela Adim, Latif Ahmadi, Asadollah Aram, Indexical Films, Ajna Films, retrieved 2020-12-10
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