Ariel Kleiman is an Australian director and filmmaker based in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. He is known for his first feature film, ''

Partisan Partisan(s) or The Partisan(s) may refer to: Military * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line ** Francs-tireurs et partisans, communist-led French anti-fascist resistance against Nazi Germany during WWII ** Ital ...

'' (2015) and the second season of the ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

'' television series '' Andor'' (2025).

Early life and education

Ariel Kleiman was born to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family in

Melbourne, Australia Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung/ or ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second most-populous city in Australia, after Sydney. The city's name generally refers to a metropolitan area also known ...

; his parents emigrated from

Odesa, Ukraine Odesa, also spelled Odessa, is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrat ...

, in the 1970s. He graduated from the

Victorian College of the Arts The Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) is the arts school at the University of Melbourne in Australia. It is part of the university's Faculty of Fine Arts and Music (FFAM). It is located near the Melbourne city centre on the Southbank campus ...

in 2010, where he studied film and television.

Works

Kleiman's second-year film school film, ''Young Love'', premiered at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

in 2010."Screen Australia Media Release"
, ''

Screen Australia Screen Australia is the Australian Federal Government's key funding body for the Australian screen production industry, created under the ''Screen Australia Act 2008''. From 1 July 2008 Screen Australia took over the functions of its predecess ...

'', 1 February 2010. That same year it was showcased in

McSweeney's McSweeney's Publishing is an American nonprofit publishing house founded by Dave Eggers in 1998 and headquartered in San Francisco. The executive director is Amanda Uhle. McSweeney's first publication was the literary journal'' Timothy McSw ...

's DVD quarterly, ''

Wholphin A wholphin ''(portmanteau of whale and dolphin)'' is an extremely rare cetacean hybrid born from a mating of a female common bottlenose dolphin (''Tursiops truncatus'') with a male false killer whale (''Pseudorca crassidens''). The name implies ...

''. In May 2010 Kleiman's graduation film, ''Deeper Than Yesterday,'' premiered at

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

's, Semaine de la Critique.Griffin, Eleanore
"How Deep is Your Love?"
, ''

Oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but no ...

'', 25 May 2010. In 2011, he shot his first commercial, called "Marked for Life", for the Dutch charity SIRE. In 2015, Kleiman released a full-length film, ''

'', a thriller about child assassins, which was meant to star American actor

Oscar Isaac Óscar Isaac Hernández Estrada (born March 9, 1979) is an American actor. Recognized for his versatility, he has been credited with breaking stereotypes about Hispanic and Latino Americans, Latino characters in Cinema of the United States, H ...

but instead starred French actor

Vincent Cassel Vincent Cassel (; ; born 23 November 1966) is a French actor. He has earned a César Awards, César Award and a Canadian Screen Awards, Canadian Screen Award as well as nominations for a European Film Awards, European Film Award and a Screen Ac ...

. Kleiman also directed the eighth episode of the

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

drama series '' Yellowjackets'', titled "

Flight of the Bumblebee "Flight of the Bumblebee" () is an orchestral interlude written by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844–1908) for his opera '' The Tale of Tsar Saltan'', composed in 1899–1900. This perpetuum mobile is intended to musically evoke the seemingl ...

". Cast member

Melanie Lynskey Melanie Jayne Lynskey ( ; born 16 May 1977) is a New Zealand actress. Known for her portrayals of complex women and her command of American accents, she works predominantly in independent films and television. She is the recipient of numerous ...

said "Flight of the Bumblebee" was her favorite episode to film because Kleiman allowed the cast to "play around" and improvise several scenes. In 2022, Kleiman was announced as a director for numerous episodes of the second season of the ''

'' television series '' Andor''. This season was released in 2025.

Awards and nominations

''Young Love'' was awarded an Honorable Mention in Short Film Making at the

2010 Sundance Film Festival The 26th annual Sundance Film Festival was held from January 21, 2010, until January 31, 2010, in Park City, Utah, Park City, Utah. Awards *Grand Jury Prize: Documentary - ''Restrepo (film), Restrepo'' *Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic - ''Winter's Bone ...

. In May 2010 ''Deeper Than Yesterday'' was awarded the Kodak Discovery Award For Best Short Film at Cannes. It went on to win best film prizes at over 20 film festivals, from

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, including 2011

, where it won the Jury Prize in International Filmmaking."Partisan director Ariel Kleiman’s brave new worlds"
''The Saturday Paper'', 6 June 2015. Also in 2010, Kleiman won the SOYA Qantas Spirit of Youth award and Inside Film Rising Talent award. In 2012 Kleiman's first

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

script won the Sundance Mahindra Global Filmmaking award and was selected for the Sundance Directors & Writers Labs. The film was expected to begin production in 2013.

Personal life

As of 2011, Kleiman was living in

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kleiman, Ariel Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Australian Jews Australian film directors