David Riker is an American screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his award-winning film '' The City (La Ciudad),'' a neo-realist film about the plight of Latin American immigrants living in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. Riker is also the writer and director of ''The Girl'' (2012), and the co-writer of the films ''

Sleep Dealer ''Sleep Dealer'' is a 2008 futuristic science fiction film directed by Alex Rivera. ''Sleep Dealer'' depicts a dystopian future to explore ways in which technology both oppresses and connects migrants. A fortified wall has ended unauthorized Mex ...

'' (2008) and ''

Dirty Wars Dirty wars are offensives conducted by regimes against their dissidents, marked by the use of torture and forced disappearance of civilians. Dirty War may also refer to: Specific historical events * Dirty War (Argentina, 1974–1983), period ...

'' (2013). Born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

, Riker moved to

Brussels, Belgium Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, at the age of five, where he attended a French-speaking school. In 1973 his family moved to London, where he studied at The American School.Zeitgeist Films
biography of David Riker. Riker is a graduate of

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, ...

's Graduate Film School where, in 1992, he made his first fictional film, ''The City'' (which became "The Puppeteer" story in the feature ''The City (La Ciudad)'' (1998)). The short received critical acclaim and, among other accolades, won the Gold Medal for Dramatic Film at the

Student Academy Awards The Student Academy Awards are presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in an annual competition for college and university filmmakers. Description The awards were originally named the Student Film Awards and were first ...

and the Student Film Award from the

Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Directors Guild in 1936, the group merg ...

Filmography

* ''The Many Faces of Paper'' (1988) (short-documentary) * '' The City'' (1998) aka ''The City (La Ciudad)'' * ''

'' (2008) * ''The Girl'' (2012) * ''

'' (2013)

Awards

Wins *

: DGA Student Film Award, for: ''La Ciudad'', New York University; Gold Medal, Dramatic, for ''La Ciudad'' New York University; 1995. *

San Sebastián International Film Festival The San Sebastián International Film Festival ( SSIFF; es, Festival Internacional de San Sebastián, eu, Donostia Zinemaldia) is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spanish city of Donostia-San Sebastián in September, in ...

: OCIC Award, David Riker. *

Havana Film Festival The Havana Film Festival is a Cuban festival that focuses on the promotion of Latin American filmmakers. It is also known in Spanish as ''Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano de La Habana,'' and in English as International Festiv ...

: Coral, Best Work of a Non-Latin American Director on a Latin America Subject; 1998. *

Gotham Awards The Gotham Awards () are American film awards, presented annually to the makers of independent films at a ceremony in New York City, the city first nicknamed "Gotham" by native son Washington Irving, in an issue of ''Salmagundi'', published on ...

Open Palm Award The Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award is one of the annual Gotham Independent Film Awards and honors feature film directorial debuts. Named after Bingham Ray since 2013, the breakthrough director award was first given in 1991 as the Open Palm ...

; 1999. * Human Rights Watch International Film Festival: Nestor Almendros Award; Tied with ''Regret to Inform''; 1999. * XSW Film Festival: SXSW Competition Award, Narrative Feature; 1999. * San Antonio CineFestival: Premio Mesquite Award, Best Feature Film; 1999. *

Santa Barbara International Film Festival The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) is an eleven-day film festival held in Santa Barbara, California since 1986. The festival boasts screenings of over 200 feature films and shorts from different countries and regions. SBIFF al ...

: Independent Voice Award; 1999. * Taos Talking Picture Festival: Taos Land Grant Award; 1999. *

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...

: Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award, shared with Alex Rivera, for ''Sleep Dealer''; 2008. *

: Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize, shared with Alex Rivera, for ''Sleep Dealer''; 2008. *

: NHK Award, for ''The Girl''; 2010. Nominated *

Independent Spirit Awards The Independent Spirit Awards (abbreviated Spirit Awards and originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards), founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glass ...

: Independent Spirit Award, Best First Feature - Under $500,000, David Riker (director/producer) and Paul S. Mezey (producer); 2000. *

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was ...

: Best Narrative Feature, David Riker, for "The Girl"; 2012

Footnotes

External links

* .
David Riker
at

Public Broadcasting Service The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educa ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Riker, David 1963 births American film directors American film producers American male screenwriters Living people Alfred P. Sloan Prize winners