Sarah Kunstler (born 1976) is an American documentary filmmaker and lawyer. Her political documentaries have won awards at

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

and the

Seattle International Film Festival The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) is a film festival held annually in Seattle, Washington, United States, since 1976. It usually takes place in late May and/or early June. It is one of the largest festivals in the world, and feature ...

. She is the daughter of famous lawyer and civil rights activist

William Kunstler William Moses Kunstler (July 7, 1919 – September 4, 1995) was an American attorney and civil rights activist, known for defending the Chicago Seven. Kunstler was an active member of the National Lawyers Guild, a board member of the American Ci ...

and civil rights lawyer Margaret Ratner Kunstler.

Career

Sarah Kunstler first began directing films in 2003 with her sister creating their debut short ''Tulia, Texas: Scenes from the Drug War.'' The film focuses on the unlawful arrest and imprisonment of more than 10% of the black population of the small town of Tulia, Texas that occurred in 1999. This began her career making political documentaries with her sister Emily Kunstler. In 2009, the sisters released their first documentary feature film '' William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe'' 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 ...

. The film is a documentary about their father

a civil rights lawyer, who was both widely admired and widely despised for his defense of people ranging from Martin Luther King, Jr. to John Gotti. At Sundance the film was nominated for the Documentary Grand Jury Prize and was Shortlisted for Best Documentary for the

83rd Academy Awards The 83rd Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2010 in the United States and took place on February 27, 2011, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, be ...

in 2011. In 2021 Kunstler co-directed '' Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America''. It premiered at the

Film Festival where it won the Audience Award in the Documentary Spotlight Category. The film focuses on anti-Black racism in America and a series of lectures given by criminal defense attorney Jeffery Robinson on the topic. In 2023, Kunstler co-directed ''How to Rig An Election: The Racist History of the 1876 Presidential Contest'' with her sister. It was narrated by Tom Hanks and distributed by the

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

in their opinion section after its premiere at South by Southwest.

Awards

In 2021, she won the Golden Space Needle for Best Documentary at the Seattle International Film Festival for '' Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America.'' Her film '' William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe'' won the Audience Award in the Documentary Spotlight Category at SXSW in 2009.

Filmography

*''How to Rig an Election: The Racist History of the 1876 Presidential Contest'' (2023), short *'' Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America'' (2021) *'' William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe'' (2009) *''Getting Through to the President'' (2004), short *''Tulia, Texas: Scenes from the Drug War'' (2003), short

References

External links

*
Off Center Media Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kunstler, Sarah Living people 1976 births American documentary film directors American women film directors American documentary film producers American women film producers