Lisa F. Jackson is a renowned documentary filmmaker with a career spanning over three and a half decades, earning her numerous prestigious awards, including two Emmy Awards and a Sundance Jury Prize.
Born Lisa Elisabeth Finch Jackson in 1950 in San Francisco, California, she is the daughter of Nancy Abrams and Morton B. Jackson. Her childhood was marked by frequent moves, as both her father and step-father, Donald Carmichael, were involved with the CIA. As a result, she lived in Bangkok, Thailand, and Bogota, Colombia, before settling in Washington D.C. in 1963.
Jackson's passion for filmmaking led her to study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) under the guidance of Richard Leacock. She has since directed and/or edited numerous films for PBS, including "Voices and Visions: Emily Dickinson," "Jackson Pollock: Portrait," and "Through Madness" (1993 NY Emmy winner). Her other notable works include "The Creative Spirit," "Storytellers," "The Van Cliburn Piano Competition," and segments for "Sesame Street" and "Live from Lincoln Center."
Jackson's impressive awards list includes an Emmy Award for Outstanding Informational Special (1999),a New York City Emmy (1993),three CINE Golden Eagles, and Best Documentary Awards from the Rome Independent Film Festival and International Black DocuFest. She has also received Audience Choice Awards from the London HRWFF, One World Slovakia, Vancouver, Breckenridge, and Cinequest film festivals, as well as a Gracie Award from AWRT, four Houston International Film Festival Gold Awards, a Silver Chris Award from the Columbus International Film Festival, a Planned Parenthood "Maggie" Award for Outstanding Documentary, two Gold Clarion Awards from Women in Communications, the 2009 iWitness Award from Jewish World Watch, and a Movies That Matter Award from Amnesty International.
Throughout her career, Jackson has screened her work and lectured at prestigious institutions, including the Columbia University School of Journalism, Brandeis, Purdue, NYU, Yale, Notre Dame, and Harvard University. She was also a visiting professor of documentary film at the School for Visual Arts in Manhattan.
