Nancy Buirski

Nancy Florence Buirski, born as Nancy Florence Cohen on June 24, 1945 was an American filmmaker, producer, and photographer. She wrote, directed, and produced acclaimed documentary films such as A Crime on the Bayou (2020) and Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy (2022). Born in Manhattan, she spent her formative years in New Rochelle, NY, and graduated magna cum laude from Adelphi University. She initially worked as a photographer and picture editor for The New York Times' international department, contributing to the newspaper's first Pulitzer Prize for feature photo reporting in 1994. She is also known as the author of a compelling book titled Earth Angels: Migrant Children in America which powerfully depicted the lives of young migrant farmworkers.

In 1998, Buirski founded the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival and directed it for a decade. Her debut in documentary making was with The Loving Story in 2011, a nationally funded film that highlighted the case of Mildred and Richard Loving, an interracial couple. Her diverse portfolio includes the award-winning documentaries Afternoon of a Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq (2013), based on the life of ballerina Tanaquil Le Clercq, and By Sidney Lumet (2015), a portrait of American movie director Sidney Lumet. Additionally, her documentary The Rape of Recy Taylor (2017) won the Human Rights Nights prize at the 74th Venice International Film Festival. Apart from her documentary work, she produced collections of Full Frame shorts and feature-length documentaries. Unfortunately, on August 29, 2023, she passed away at the age of 78. Buirski's incredible work in the field of documentary filmmaking has left a remarkable and influential legacy.