2017 Filmmaker In Residence

Josh Seftel

Joshua Seftel is the director of the feature film War Inc., starring John Cusack, Ben Kingsley, Joan Cusack, and Marisa Tomei, which had its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival and played in movie theaters worldwide.

At age 22, Josh received an Emmy nomination for his very first film: the award-winning Lost and Found, a documentary film about Romania’s orphaned and abandoned children. The PBS broadcast of Lost and Found helped thousands of Romanian orphans get adopted and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for their cause.

He followed this with many acclaimed independent films, including Taking on the Kennedys — one of TIME Magazine’s “ten best of the year” — Ennis’ Gift (HBO), The Home Team (SXSW 2014), The Many Sad Fates of Mr. Toledano (Tribeca 2015, NY Times), and It’s the Hard Knock Life (PBS), which the New York Times called “delightful.”

Josh also directed the Emmy Award-winning premiere season of Bravo’s groundbreaking Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and the Peabody Awards Finalist documentary series The Secret Life of Muslims. His stories have appeared on the Peabody Award-winning radio program and Showtime series This American Life, and his essays have appeared on NPR, Salon.com, and CBS Sunday Morning.

Master Class – Joshua Seftel: A Singular Voice in the Changing Film Landscape

Monday, July 31st. Tickets on sale now.

For more than two decades, filmmaker Joshua Seftel has transcended genre and format, from award-winning documentaries (Taking on the Kennedys) to groundbreaking television (Queer Eye for the Straight Guy) to feature film (War, Inc. starring John Cusack and Ben Kingsley) to radio (This American Life). Join Seftel, this year’s filmmaker-in-residence, for an exploration of an industry in constant flux and a career that embraces it. Seftel will discuss what it takes to retain a unique perspective and voice across platforms both tested and new. A showing of selections from Seftel’s work will be woven into a lively discussion.