Shevaun Mizrahi is a multifaceted director and cinematographer who has garnered widespread acclaim for her experimental approach to storytelling, which often incorporates elements of cinema verité and magical realism to explore the complex and intricate relationships between time and memory.
Her feature film, Distant Constellation, premiered at the prestigious Locarno Festival in 2017 and went on to win the Jury Special Mention Award, a testament to her remarkable skill and dedication to her craft. What's more, she shot and directed the film as a one-woman crew over the course of six years, a feat that is all the more impressive given the scope and complexity of the project.
Critics have drawn comparisons between her visual language and that of renowned filmmakers such as Andrei Tarkovsky, Pedro Costa, Roy Andersson, and Jia Zhangke, a testament to her mastery of the medium. The film has also received widespread critical acclaim, earning a nomination for an Independent Spirit Award and inclusion in Film Comment's "Best Undistributed Films of 2017".
Before embarking on her feature film career, Shevaun spent many years working as an assistant to the esteemed cinematographer Ed Lachman, a valuable learning experience that helped her hone her skills and develop her unique approach to storytelling.
In 2015, she was recognized as one of the 25 New Faces of Independent Film by Filmmaker Magazine, a prestigious honor that acknowledges her talent and potential for future success. She was also a Marcie Bloom Fellow in Film, supported by Sony Pictures Classics, and has received numerous grants and awards for her work, including support from the IFP Documentary Lab, the IFP Project Forum, and the Turkish New Film Fund.
Shevaun's educational background is equally impressive, with a Bachelor's degree in Cognitive Neuroscience and English Literature from the University of Pennsylvania, where she also minored in Anthropology and Philosophy. She went on to earn her Master's degree in Film from the Graduate Film program at NYU, a testament to her dedication to her craft.
Before shifting her focus to film, Shevaun was a Presidential Scholar in the Arts for photography, and her work was exhibited at the Smithsonian of American Art, where it is now part of their permanent collection.
