Person Biography:
Debra Granik is an American film and documentary director and screenwriter, born on February 6, 1963, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She is known for her work on independent films, particularly her feature films Down to the Bone, Winter's Bone, and Leave No Trace. Granik's films often focus on themes of poverty, addiction, and self-reliance, and she is known for her nuanced portrayal of characters from marginalized communities.
Early Life:
Granik grew up in the suburbs of Washington D.C. in a Jewish family. Her father, William R. Granik, was an attorney who litigated fair housing cases, and her mother, Marian Gay, was a homemaker. Granik's grandfather, Ted Granik, was a broadcast pioneer who founded and moderated the public affairs program The American Forum of the Air.
Education:
Granik received her B.A. in political science from Brandeis University in 1985. While at Brandeis, she took classes at the Studio for Interrelated Media at the Massachusetts College of Art and volunteered with the Boston grassroots filmmaking organization Women's Video Collective. She later received an MFA from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts in 2001.
Career:
Granik's first short film, Snake Feed, was directed in 1997 as her senior thesis. The film was accepted into the Sundance Institute's Lab Program for screenwriting and directing and was later developed into her feature film debut, Down to the Bone, in 2004. The film starred Vera Farmiga and told the story of an upstate New York mother struggling with addiction.
Granik's second feature film, Winter's Bone, was released in 2010 and starred Jennifer Lawrence. The film was an adaptation of Daniel Woodrell's novel and told the story of a teenager living in the Ozark Mountains who is forced to hunt down her missing father to save her family from eviction. Winter's Bone won several awards, including the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and the Golden Space Needle Audience Award for Best Director and Best Actress.
Granik's third feature film, Leave No Trace, was released in 2018 and starred Ben Foster and newcomer Thomasin McKenzie. The film told the story of a father and daughter who illegally live on government land and are forced to adapt to more traditional living in mainstream society. Leave No Trace premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and played at the Cannes Film Festival.
Other Projects:
Granik has several other projects in development, including a documentary about life after being released from jail and the subject of recidivism in East Baltimore, as well as a film based on Barbara Ehrenreich's book, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, which focuses on poverty and the working poor in America.
