Nathaniel Hansen

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Nathaniel Hansen
Nathaniel-Hansen-Documentary-Filmmaker.jpg
Born1977 (age 47–48)
Portland, Oregon, US
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Documentary filmmaker, producer, director, editor
Known forThe Elders (2013); Spearhunter (2015); Expired? Food Waste in America (2016); Weed & Wine (2020); The Recall: Reframed (2023)

Nathaniel Hansen is an American documentary filmmaker based in Boston, Massachusetts. His work has screened at international festivals including South by Southwest and the Independent Film Festival Boston and has been covered in outlets such as The Boston Globe , The Atlantic , RogerEbert.com, Variety, and Jacobin. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

Contents

Education

Hansen was born in Portland, Oregon, attended Tigard High School, and graduated from BYU–Hawaii in 2001 with a bachelor's degree in cultural studies and humanities, and an associate degree in theatre. [7] He completed a master’s degree in Visual Media Art at Emerson College in 2004 and returned to earn a Master of Fine Arts in 2011. [8]

Career

Early work and The Elders

Hansen’s early short documentaries profiled “familiar strangers” in Boston and led to his first feature, The Elders (2013). After a successful Kickstarter campaign, [9] the project received support from Take Action Hollywood!, the nonprofit founded by Maria Menounos, which contributed both funds and in-kind equipment support. Menounos is credited as a producer in the film’s titles. [10] The film premiered at the Independent Film Festival Boston, where The Boston Globe profiled Hansen as “a documentarian ready to learn from his Elders.” [11]

The Elders was later reviewed in the peer-reviewed journal The Gerontologist, which noted its interview-driven approach to portraying later life, [12] and it has also been featured by Terra Nova Films in its “Movies About Aging” review series. [13]

Hansen collaborated as a producer alongside fellow Emerson College MFA colleague Elaine McMillion Sheldon on her project Hollow: An Interactive Documentary , which won a Peabody Award in 2013 [14] and was nominated for a News & Documentary Emmy the following year. [15]

In the health policy space, Hansen created a number of short documentary films for Health Catalyst, investigating innovative health care practices around the world, profiling leaders such as Devi Shetty, Michael Porter, Jeffrey Brenner, Donald Berwick, David Nash (physician), … Penny Wheeler, and Professor Hartwig Huland. [16] [17] [18] [19] [20]

Collaborations with Adam Roffman

In 2015 Hansen served as cinematographer and editor on Spearhunter, directed by Adam Roffman and Luke Poling. The film premiered at South by Southwest and was featured in The Atlantic and on RogerEbert.com. [21] [22] [23]

He later worked as cinematographer and editor on All the Presidents’ Heads (2016), which screened at the New Hampshire Film Festival. [24]

In 2017 Hansen collaborated again with Adam Roffman on The Collection, a short documentary about a massive archive of letterpress blocks once used to print film advertisements. The film premiered at South by Southwest [25] and screened at other festivals including the Independent Film Festival Boston. [26] The short was later featured by outlets such as Short of the Week, FirstShowing, and Atlas Obscura. [27] [28] [29] The film also drew the attention of Tim League, founder of Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, who purchased the entire collection and incorporated the blocks into the design of Alamo-affiliated bars in Boston, Manhattan, and Austin. [30]

Collaborations with Rebecca Richman Cohen

In 2016 Hansen collaborated with filmmaker Rebecca Richman Cohen and her company Racing Horse Productions, along with the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic, on Expired? Food Waste in America, a short documentary about food waste and date labels. The film profiled Montana’s restrictive milk sell-by law and was covered by Harvard Law Today, Food Tank, and Perishable News. [31] [32] [33]

He went on to co-produce and edit Cohen’s feature Weed & Wine (2020), which premiered at Hot Docs and screened at DOC NYC, the Napa Valley Film Festival, the Deauville American Film Festival, and the Mill Valley Film Festival’s DocLands section. The film was praised for its structure and editing in Variety and the San Francisco Chronicle. [34] [35] [36] [37]

Since 2015, Hansen has collaborated regularly with Cohen on multiple projects, including the short documentary The Recall: Reframed (2023), which received widespread media coverage and aired on MSNBC and Peacock. [38] [39] [40] [41]

In 2024 Hansen began work on A Second Movement, a portrait of Grammy-nominated violinist Christina Day Martinson. The project was the subject of a Live Music Friday segment on Boston Public Radio (WGBH), where Martinson and Hansen discussed the film. [42] Later that year, GBH Music hosted a recital described as a celebration of Martinson’s career and “the forthcoming documentary A Second Movement". [43] According to the film’s official site, the documentary also features violinists Vera Beths, Johnny Gandelsman, Colin Jacobsen, and conductor Jonathan Cohen. [44]

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
2009Thor at the Bus StopActorFeature film
2010GilbertDirector, producer, cinematographer, editorShort documentary
2010RonDirector, producer, cinematographer, editorShort documentary
2010LilahDirector, producer, cinematographer, editorShort documentary
2010PatDirector, producer, cinematographer, editorShort documentary
2011JeffreyDirector, producer, cinematographer, editorShort documentary
2012The EldersDirector, producer, cinematographer, editorFeature documentary; premiered at Independent Film Festival Boston [45]
2013 Hollow ProducerInteractive documentary; won a Peabody Award [46] and nominated for a News & Documentary Emmy [47]
2013Beyond the MindProducer, editorFeature documentary
2014From the HeartDirector, producer, cinematographer, editorShort documentary
2015SpearhunterCinematographer, editorShort documentary; premiered at SXSW and covered by The Atlantic [48] and RogerEbert.com [49]
2015Measured Outcomes: A Future View of Value-Based HealthcareDirector, producer, cinematographer, editorShort documentary
2016Expired? Food Waste in AmericaProducer, cinematographer, editorShort documentary; screened at food policy events and festivals [50]
2016The Story of New UlmDirector, producer, cinematographer, editorShort documentary
2016All the Presidents’ HeadsCinematographer, editorShort documentary
2016UntouchableAdditional cameraFeature documentary
2017The CollectionCinematographer, editorShort documentary; premiered at SXSW, inspired Alamo Drafthouse founder Tim League to acquire the archive featured in the film [51]
2017A Coalition of the WillingDirector, producer, cinematographer, editorShort documentary
2018Mrs. Saltzman Goes to JailEditorShort documentary
2020Weed & WineCo-producer, EditorPremiered at Hot Docs; screened at DOC NYC, Napa Valley Film Festival, Deauville American Film Festival, and the Mill Valley Film Festival’s DocLands section. [52] [53] [54] [55]
2021The X-tet: A Concert DocumentaryProducer, director, editorFeature documentary
2022The Recall: ReframedProducer, cinematographer, additional editingShort documentary; released on MSNBC/Peacock [56]
2025A Second MovementDirector, producerFeature documentary (forthcoming); discussed on Boston Public Radio and GBH Music [57] [58]


Awards

References

  1. ↑ Keough, Peter (April 28, 2013). "A documentarian ready to learn from his 'Elders.'". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  2. ↑ "Documentary Shorts 2 — Spearhunter". South by Southwest. March 2015. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  3. ↑ "Inside America's First Spear-Hunting Museum". The Atlantic. December 22, 2015. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  4. ↑ Souter, Collin (January 4, 2016). "Short Films in Focus: "Spearhunter"". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  5. ↑ "Hot Docs Announces 2020 Lineup". Variety. March 24, 2020. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  6. ↑ Press, Alex N. (March 26, 2023). "When a Fight Against Sexual Assault Bolstered Mass Incarceration". Jacobin. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  7. ↑ "About". Nathaniel Hansen. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  8. ↑ "Emerson-made films screening throughout IFFBoston". Emerson College. April 27, 2017. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  9. ↑ "The Elders – a coming of age documentary portrait series". The Elders. 2010. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  10. ↑ "The Elders (2012) - Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  11. ↑ Keough, Peter (April 28, 2013). "Emerson grad Nathaniel Hansen: Documentarian ready to learn from "Elders"". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  12. ↑ Scheidt, Rick J. (April 2015). "The Elders: Everyone Is a Story" . The Gerontologist. 55 (2). Oxford University Press on behalf of the Gerontological Society of America: 330–331. doi:10.1093/geront/gnv049. PMID   26035611.
  13. ↑ "The Elders: Everyone Is a Story". Terra Nova Films. February 21, 2020. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  14. ↑ "Hollow". The Peabody Awards. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  15. ↑ "Nominees Announced for the 35th Annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards". National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. July 15, 2014. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  16. ↑ "Health City featured in marketing documentary". Cayman Compass. October 29, 2014. Retrieved 2025-10-01.
  17. ↑ "New Heart of New Ulm video available online". AP News. September 2016. Retrieved 2025-10-01.
  18. ↑ "Value-Based Healthcare" (PDF). HealthManagement. 17 (1). 2017. Retrieved 2025-10-01.
  19. ↑ "Martini-Klinik: Prof. Dr. Hartwig Huland". Martini-Klinik. Retrieved 2025-10-01.
  20. ↑ "Measured Outcomes: A Future View of Value-Based Healthcare (credits)". YouTube. Retrieved 2025-10-01.
  21. ↑ "Documentary Shorts 2 — Spearhunter". South by Southwest. March 2015. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  22. ↑ "Inside America's First Spear-Hunting Museum". The Atlantic. December 22, 2015. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  23. ↑ Souter, Collin (January 4, 2016). "Short Films in Focus: "Spearhunter"". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  24. ↑ "All The Presidents' Heads". New Hampshire Film Festival. October 2016. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  25. ↑ "SXSW 2017 Schedule: The Collection". SXSW. March 2017. Retrieved 2025-10-01.
  26. ↑ Trahan, Erin (April 26, 2017). "The 3 Best Short Film Programs To Catch At IFFBoston This Year". WBUR (NPR). Retrieved 2025-10-01.
  27. ↑ Kander, Ivan (January 3, 2018). "The Collection". Short of the Week. Retrieved 2025-10-01.
  28. ↑ Billington, Alex (January 7, 2018). "Watch: 'The Collection' Short Doc About Movie Ads Letterpress Plates". FirstShowing. Retrieved 2025-10-01.
  29. ↑ Laskow, Sarah (January 8, 2018). "Rescuing the Letterpress Art Made for Movie Ads". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 2025-10-01.
  30. ↑ Estrada, John-Carlos (April 22, 2021). "#TBT: Alamo Drafthouse buys the 'mother lode of movie memorabilia' to share with the world". CBS Austin. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  31. ↑ "Food Law and Policy Clinic releases short film on food waste in America". Harvard Law Today. February 12, 2016. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  32. ↑ Edelson, Sarah (April 2016). "New Film Reveals the Ugly Truth Behind Expired Food". Food Tank. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  33. ↑ "Harvard Food Law And Policy Clinic Spotlights Milk Labeling In Short Film On Food Waste". Perishable News. February 12, 2016. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  34. ↑ "Hot Docs Announces 2020 Lineup". Variety. March 24, 2020. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  35. ↑ Hartlaub, Peter (November 16, 2020). "At Napa Film Festival, 'Weed & Wine' pairs two families' stories". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  36. ↑ "Weed & Wine". Festival de Deauville. Retrieved 2025-10-01.
  37. ↑ "Weed, Wine—and the Flavors of Family". EatDrinkFilms. October 9, 2020. Retrieved 2025-10-01.
  38. ↑ Press, Alex N. (March 26, 2023). "When a Fight Against Sexual Assault Bolstered Mass Incarceration". Jacobin. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  39. ↑ Althoff, Eric (March 26, 2023). "The paths to justice are manifold. Reimagining prison sentencing with "The Recall: Reframed"". ScreenComment. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  40. ↑ "THE RECALL: REFRAMED – a film examining the impacts of one judge's recall and the mass effect on incarceration". ValorUS. August 22, 2023. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  41. ↑ "The Recall: Reframed". Inquest. June 8, 2023. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  42. ↑ "Best Of BPR 5/30: Live Music With Christina Day Martinson". WGBH. May 30, 2025. Retrieved 2025-09-14.; "Violinist Christina Day Martinson on Boston Public Radio (video)". YouTube. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  43. ↑ "GBH Music Presents: Christina Day Martinson and Friends". WGBH. June 2025. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  44. ↑ "A Second Movement". A Second Movement. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  45. ↑ Keough, Peter (April 28, 2013). "A documentarian ready to learn from his 'Elders.'". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  46. ↑ "Hollow". The Peabody Awards. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  47. ↑ "Nominees Announced for the 35th Annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards". National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. July 15, 2014. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  48. ↑ Lombroso, Daniel (2015). "Inside America's First Spear-Hunting Museum". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  49. ↑ Souter, Collin (2016). "Short Films in Focus: "Spearhunter"". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  50. ↑ "2017 Award Winners". Earth Port Film Festival. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  51. ↑ Estrada, John-Carlos (April 22, 2021). "Alamo Drafthouse buys the 'mother lode of movie memorabilia'". CBS Austin. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  52. ↑ "Hot Docs Announces 2020 Lineup". Variety. March 24, 2020. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  53. ↑ Hartlaub, Peter (November 16, 2020). "At Napa Film Festival, 'Weed & Wine' pairs two families' stories". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  54. ↑ "Weed & Wine". Festival de Deauville. Retrieved 2025-10-01.
  55. ↑ "Weed, Wine—and the Flavors of Family". EatDrinkFilms. October 9, 2020. Retrieved 2025-10-01.
  56. ↑ "Recall Reframed". Recall Reframed. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  57. ↑ "Best Of BPR 5/30: Live Music With Christina Day Martinson". WGBH. May 30, 2025. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  58. ↑ "GBH Music Presents: Christina Day Martinson and Friends". WGBH. June 2025. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  59. ↑ "Hollow". The Peabody Awards. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  60. ↑ "Nominees Announced for the 35th Annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards". The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. July 15, 2014. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  61. ↑ "Spearhunter press coverage". Spearhunter. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  62. ↑ "2017 Award Winners" . Retrieved 2025-09-14.
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