Savanah Leaf (born 24 November 1993) is a British-American film director and video artist. '' Earth Mama'', her BAFTA-winning debut feature length film, was produced by A24 and Film4, and premiered at the

2023 Sundance Film Festival The 2023 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 19 to 29, 2023. The first lineup of competition films was announced on December 7, 2022. Films U.S. Dramatic Competition * ''The Accidental Getaway Driver'', directed by Sing J. Lee * ...

. Her directorial work includes the notable single-channel video ''run'' which first exhibited at Hauser & Wirth from June 24, 2023 until August 30, 2023. Other work also includes music videos for Gary Clark, Jr.'s single ''This Land'' (

Grammy Award for Best Music Video The Grammy Award for Best Music Video is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to performers, directors, and producers of quality short form music videos. Hon ...

nominee). Leaf is a former professional volleyball player and competed for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Early life and education

Leaf was born in London, and raised in Vauxhall early in life. Her family moved to the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

when she was age 8. She attended San Jose State University, then transferred to the University of Miami, where she graduated with a degree in psychology while playing NCAA division 1 volleyball. Leaf later received a Masters in Drama from

Central Saint Martins Central Saint Martins is a public tertiary art school in London, England. It is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. It offers full-time courses at foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and a variety of shor ...

, at

Drama Centre London Drama Centre London (often abbreviated as Drama Centre) was a British drama school in King's Cross, London, where it moved in 2011 after a major reshaping of the University of the Arts London. It was part of Central Saint Martins, a constitue ...

. Her mother, Alison Leaf, is an animator and set dresser, who has worked at

Pixar Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californ ...

and

Industrial Light and Magic Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) is an American motion picture visual effects company that was founded on May 26, 1975 by George Lucas. It is a division of the film production company Lucasfilm, which Lucas founded, and was created when he began pro ...

References

External links

Official Website
* 1993 births British music video directors British women film directors British women's volleyball players Living people Miami Hurricanes women's volleyball players Olympic volleyball players for Great Britain Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer BAFTA Award winners University of Miami alumni Volleyball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics {{UK-volleyball-bio-stub