Andrew Bujalski, a native of Boston born in 1977, is the offspring of Sheila Dubman, an artist-turned-businesswoman, and Edmund Bujalski, a businessman. His academic pursuits led him to Harvard's Department of Visual and Environmental Studies, where he studied film under the guidance of renowned filmmaker Chantal Akerman, who also served as his thesis advisor.
Bujalski's foray into filmmaking began with his debut feature, Funny Ha Ha, shot in 2002, followed by Mutual Appreciation in 2003. Although neither film received theatrical distribution until 2005 and 2006, respectively, he wrote the screenplays for both and appeared as an actor in major roles. In 2006, he collaborated with Joe Swanberg on the film Hannah Takes the Stairs, contributing to the screenplay and appearing as an actor.
Bujalski's subsequent independent films, Beeswax and Computer Chess, were shot in Austin, where he resides. Beeswax premiered in the summer of 2009, while Computer Chess, a period drama set at a 1980 computer programming tournament, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2013 and won the Alfred Sloan Feature Film Prize. Notably, Computer Chess is his first digitally edited feature and was shot almost exclusively with original Sony 1968 AVC-3260 B&W video cameras.
