Beth Levison

Beth Levison
Beth Levison at the Academy Awards, 2023
Born	Pittsfield, Massachusetts, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Producer, director
Years active	1993–present
Spouse	Henry Sidel

Beth Levison is an Academy Award-nominated American independent documentary film producer and director based in New York City. ^{[1] [2]} Previously, she had a career in unscripted television.

Life and career

Levison was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts and went to Middlebury College. ^{[3] [4]}

Her most recently-completed producing effort, A Photographic Memory , won the 2025 Independent Spirits: Truer Than Fiction Award and was acquired for distribution by Kino Lorber. ^{[5] [6]} Previous to that, she produced The Martha Mitchell Effect , about Watergate whistleblower and Republican cabinet wife Martha Mitchell, which premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, launched on Netflix, and was nominated for a 2023 Academy Award (Best Documentary Short category). Storm Lake , which she directed alongside DP Jerry Risius and also produced, premiered at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, broadcast on PBS’s Independent Lens in 2022, and was nominated for a Peabody Award and a 2022 News and Documentary Emmy Award. ^[7] Her other producing credits include Women in Blue (Independent Lens, 2021), News and Documentary Emmy-nominated Made in Boise (Independent Lens, 2020), News and Documentary Emmy-nominated Personal Statement (PBS, 2018), and 32 Pills: My Sister’s Suicide (HBO, 2017).

Her executive producer credits include Land with No Rider, which premiered at the 2025 True/False Film Festival, the two-time British Independent Film Award winner Grand Theft Hamlet (2024) now streaming on MUBI, My Sweet Land (2024) and With Peter Bradley (Slamdance 2023). ^[8]

Levison is the founder of Hazel Pictures and the co-founder of the Documentary Producers Alliance. ^[2] She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, was producing faculty with the School of Visual Arts’ Social Documentary Film Program from 2014-2020, and currently teaches as guest faculty at Sarah Lawrence College. ^{[9] [2]}

Selected filmography

Year	Title	Contribution	Note
2025	Land with No Rider	Executive producer	Documentary
2024	Corridors of Power: Should America Police the World?	Line producer	Documentary Series
2024	After the Deluge	Executive producer	Short film
2024	My Sweet Land	Executive producer	Documentary
2024	Grand Theft Hamlet	Executive producer	Documentary
2024	A Photographic Memory	Producer	Documentary
2023	With Peter Bradley	Consulting producer	Documentary
2022	The Martha Mitchell Effect	Producer	Documentary
2021	Storm Lake	Director and producer	Documentary
2021	Women in Blue	Producer	Documentary
2021	Charm Circle	Consulting producer	Documentary
2019	Made in Boise	Producer	Documentary
2019	The Boxers of Brule	Consulting producer	Documentary
2019	Cooked: Survival by Zip Code	Consulting producer	Documentary
2018	In the Land of Pomegranates	Consulting producer	Documentary
2018	Personal Statement	Co-producer	Documentary
2017	32 Pills: My Sister's Suicide	Producer	Documentary
2015	The Trials of Spring	Producer	Documentary
2012	Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present	Consulting producer	Documentary
2011	Lemon	Director and producer	Documentary

Awards and nominations

Year	Result	Award	Category	Work	Ref.
2023	Nominated	Academy Awards	Best Documentary Short Film	The Martha Mitchell Effect
2021	Won	AFI Docs Festival	Audience Award	Storm Lake	[10]
	Won	Provincetown International Film Festival	NYWIFT Award		[11]
	Won	Woodstock Film Festival	Best Documentary Feature		[12]
2012	Won	Oaxaca FilmFest	Best Documentary Feature	Lemon
	Nominated	Miami Film Festival	Best Documentary Feature		[13]
2011	Won	Zurich Film Festival	International Documentary Film		[14]
	Nominated	Doc NYC	Special Jury Prize		[15]
	Won	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Children's Program	A Child's Garden of Poetry	[16]
2006	Nominated			Classical Baby
2005	Won

References

1. "Storm Lake: Screening and Q&A with Director Beth Levison". wamc.org. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
2. "Beth Levison". sarahlawrence.edu. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
3. "BIFF THINKS GLOBALLY, PRESENTS LOCALLY". ruralintelligence.com. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
4. "BIFF THINKS GLOBALLY, PRESENTS LOCALLY". ruralintelligence.com. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
5. "Spirit Awards Winners List: 'Anora' Wins Big, Taking Home Best Feature, Lead Performance and Director". variety.com. Retrieved 2025-03-06.
6. "Oscar-Contending Documentary 'The Martha Mitchell Effect' Redeems A Watergate Figure Victimized In A Gaslighting Campaign". deadline.com. Retrieved 2025-03-06.
7. "Peabody Nominations Include 'Summer Of Soul', 'Reservation Dogs', 'Colin In Black & White', 'Dopesick', 'Hacks'". Deadline Hollywood . 13 April 2022. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
8. "How the UK first-time directors of 'Grand Theft Hamlet' made a film within a game". screendaily.com. Retrieved 2025-03-06.
9. "GLOBAL MEMBERSHIP AT A GLANCE". app.oscars.org. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
10. "AFI DOCS Announces 2021 Award Winners". afi.com. 2 February 2022. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
11. "PROVINCETOWN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2021 WINNERS". provincetownfilm.org. 28 June 2021. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
12. "22ND ANNUAL WOODSTOCK FILM FESTIVAL". woodstockfilmfestival.org. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
13. "Official Lineup of 29th Annual Miami International Film Festival of Miami Dade College to Include Star-Studded Premieres, Parties and Major Industry Events". miamifilmfestival.com. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
14. "COMPETITION WINNERS HAVE BEEN ANNOUNCED". zff.com. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
15. "AND THE WINNER IS…". docnyc.net. 9 November 2011. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
16. "Beth Levison". emmys.com. Retrieved 2022-07-21.

External links

• Beth Levison at IMDb