Suzi Yoonessi

Last updated
Suzi Yoonessi
Born (1978-02-21) February 21, 1978 (age 45)
Buffalo, New York, U.S.
Occupation(s)Director
Producer
Screenwriter
Years active2001–present

Suzi Yoonessi (born February 21, 1978) is an American filmmaker. She wrote and directed the award-winning feature film Dear Lemon Lima , [1] and directed the Duplass Brothers film Unlovable [2] and Daphne and Velma [3] for Warner Brothers. Yoonessi's short films No Shoulder and Dear Lemon Lima are distributed by Shorts International [4] and Vanguard Cinema [5] and her documentary film Vern is distributed by National Film Network [6] and is in the permanent collection of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Contents

Biography

Suzi Yoonessi was born in Buffalo, New York, where she attended Nichols School. Yoonessi was a member of Buffalo's first all-female band Bertha Mason during the Riot Grrrl movement in the early 90s. Yoonessi studied photography and film at the San Francisco Art Institute. Upon graduation, she worked for Surface Magazine in the editorial department and moved to New York to pursue filmmaking after being awarded a Jerome Foundation grant for her documentary film Vern. Yoonessi received her MFA from Columbia University School of the Arts [7] where she was the recipient of the FMI Directing Fellowship. She currently resides in Los Angeles and is a director at Walt Disney Animation Studios. [8]

Directing

Suzi Yoonessi's first feature film Dear Lemon Lima premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival where it received critical acclaim and a jury prize for Outstanding Performance. The film went on to play in over 80 film festivals, picking up audience awards and a grand jury prize at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival. The film was released internationally, then domestically on VOD and in theaters in Los Angeles and New York by Phase 4 Films. [9] Yoonessi's sophomore film Unlovable received a special jury recognition at the SXSW Film Festival, and was released by Orion Classics. [10] Yoonessi directed The Spring of Sorrow [11] for the Independent Television Service series FutureStates and the hit series The Dead Girls Detective Agency for Snap Originals. [12] In October 2019, it was announced that Yoonessi is developing an original film with Walt Disney Animation Studios. [13]

Awards

Filmography

Director

Producer

Related Research Articles

South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas, United States. It began in 1987 and has continued to grow in both scope and size every year. In 2017, the conference lasted for 10 days with the interactive track lasting for five days, music for seven days, and film for nine days. There was no in-person event in 2020 and 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Austin, Texas; both years, there was a smaller online event instead.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Selton Mello</span> Brazilian actor and film director (born 1972)

Selton Figueiredo Mello is a Brazilian actor and director. Since his childhood, he acted on TV shows. Now he works on TV, movies and theater. Throughout his career, he developed a strong and solid experience in cinema, producing and directing movies and videoclips, and being publicly and critically acclaimed for it. The actor hosted Tarja Preta, a TV show about culture and independent movies, from 2004 until 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Byler</span> American film director

Eric Byler is an American film director, screenwriter and political activist.

<i>Archies Final Project</i> 2009 American film

Archie's Final Project is a 2009 American comedy-drama film produced and directed by David Lee Miller and written by Miller, Eric J. Adams, and Gabriel Sunday, who also served as second unit director, additional camera operator, and music editor along with starring in, co-editing, and co-producing the film. It won the best feature film prize for the 2009 Berlin International Film Festival's youth film section Generation 14plus. Music producers Jimmy Iovine and Polly Anthony and actor Harold Ramis served as executive producers, It received a limited theatrical release in the United States on September 23, 2011, and was released to home media on December 6, 2011.

Roger Blonder is an independent animator and educator born in 1967 in Los Angeles, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flavio Alves</span>

Flavio Pimenta Alves is a Brazilian writer, screenwriter, and film director resident in America since 1998. His movies consistently feature elderly characters as protagonists. He is best known for the film The Garden Left Behind starring Michael Madsen, Ed Asner and Carlie Guevara.

<i>Amy</i> (1997 film) 1997 Australian film

Amy is a 1997 Australian film written by David Parker and directed by Nadia Tass, starring Alana De Roma in the title role, Rachel Griffiths, Ben Mendelsohn, and Nick Barker.

<i>Dear Lemon Lima</i> 2009 American film

Dear Lemon Lima is a 2009 family comedy feature film written and directed by Suzi Yoonessi. Based on her short film of the same name and developed with the support of Film Independent and its Filmmaker Labs, this film is about a 13-year-old half-Yup’ik girl navigating her way through first heartbreak and the perils of prep school in Fairbanks, Alaska. In learning the meanings of love, friendship, and community, Vanessa Lemor finds her voice by embracing her heritage and reclaiming the spirit of the World Eskimo Indian Olympics (WEIO) at a private school where her narcissistic sweetheart's family is legendary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claudia Llosa</span>

Claudia Llosa Bueno is a Peruvian film director, writer, producer, and author. She is recognized for her Academy-Award-nominated film The Milk of Sorrow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melody Gilbert</span> American independent documentary filmmaker

Melody Gilbert is an independent documentary filmmaker, and educator from Washington, D.C. now living in Natchitoches, Louisiana. She has directed, filmed, produced, and sometimes edited, seven independent feature-length documentaries since 2002. The Documentary Channel calls her "one of the most fearless filmmakers in contemporary documentary cinema." She is currently an assistant professor of journalism at Northwestern State University.

<i>Marwencol</i> (film) 2010 American documentary film about the work of artist and photographer Mark Hogancamp

Marwencol is a 2010 American documentary film that explores the life and work of artist and photographer Mark Hogancamp. It is the debut feature of director Jeff Malmberg. It was the inspiration for Welcome to Marwen, a 2018 drama directed by Robert Zemeckis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave Boyle</span> American film director

Dave Boyle is an American director, writer, editor, and actor. He has written and directed several movies that utilize primarily Asian or Asian-American casts, including the feature films Big Dreams Little Tokyo (2006), White on Rice (2009), Surrogate Valentine (2011), Daylight Savings (2012), and Man from Reno (2014), several of which have won awards at film festivals around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2012 Cannes Film Festival</span> Film festival

The 65th Cannes Film Festival was held from 16 to 27 May 2012. Italian film director Nanni Moretti was the President of the Jury for the main competition and British actor Tim Roth was the President of the Jury for the Un Certain Regard section. French actress Bérénice Bejo hosted the opening and closing ceremonies.

Javier Fuentes-León is a Peruvian film director based in Los Angeles and best known for his directorial long-feature debut Undertow that starred Cristian Mercado as Miguel, a fisherman who is torn between his love for his pregnant wife Mariela played by Tatiana Astengo and a painter artist Santiago played by Manolo Cardona.

David Lee Miller is an American film director, screenwriter, composer and producer. He is best known for writing, producing and directing the award-winning teen comedy-drama film Archie's Final Project, also known as My Suicide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adastra Films</span> French film production and distribution company

Adastra Films is a film production and distribution company based in Cannes, France. It was founded in March 2008 by Sébastien Aubert and David Guiraud.

Geoff Marslett is an American film director, writer, producer, animator and actor. His early career started with the animated short Monkey vs. Robot which was distributed internationally by "Spike and Mike's Classic Festival of Animation" on video. and "Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation" in theatres. More recently he directed several successful narrative feature films including MARS as well as producing and acting in the experimental documentary Yakona. He appears onscreen in Josephine Decker's Thou Wast Mild and Lovely which is being released theatrically in 2014. He currently resides in Austin, Texas and splits his time between filmmaking and teaching at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

<i>Unlovable</i> 2018 American film

Unlovable is a 2018 American comedy-drama musical film directed by Suzi Yoonessi, and written by and starring Charlene deGuzman. The film tells the story of Joy, a Filipino-American woman, her struggle with sex and love addiction, and her recovery through music and platonic friendship. The film also stars John Hawkes and Melissa Leo, and is co-written by Sarah Adina Smith and Mark Duplass. The film was produced by Duplass Brothers Productions and distributed by Orion Classics. The film premiered at SXSW and received special jury recognition for the LUNA Gamechanger Award.

Sarah Miller, known professionally as Sarah Rivka, is an American writer, musician, and filmmaker. She is best known for producing Hi, How Are You Daniel Johnston, My Suicide, and her work in the experimental music duo Sneer.

Too Tired to Hate is a 1995 Estonian action film directed by Hannes Lintrop and Renita Lintrop.

References

  1. ↑ "HostMonster". Dearlemonlimamovie.com. Retrieved 2017-09-27.
  2. ↑ "SXSW Pic 'Unlovable' Scores Orion Classics Deal for November Premiere". 5 September 2018.
  3. ↑ "Movies Like Scoob! To Watch if You Love the Animated Scooby-Doo Film". Collider . 22 May 2020.
  4. ↑ "Short Film Entertainment Company". Shorts International. Retrieved 2017-09-27.
  5. ↑ "Secret Shorts". Archived from the original on 2011-07-17. Retrieved 2011-02-22.
  6. ↑ "National Film Network -". Archived from the original on 2012-03-10. Retrieved 2012-04-28.
  7. ↑ "FILM_Alumni Win Top Prizes at 2018 South by Southwest Film Festival".
  8. ↑ "Walt Disney Animation Names Directors for Four New Film Projects (EXCLUSIVE)". October 2019.
  9. ↑ "Product Detail". Archived from the original on 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2011-02-22.
  10. ↑ "SXSW Winner 'Unlovable' Bought by Orion Classics". 5 September 2018.
  11. ↑ "FUTURESTATES | Spring of Sorrow | Episode | ITVS - YouTube". Futurestates.tv. 2011-06-14. Retrieved 2017-09-27.
  12. ↑ "Can Snapchat's Shows Keep Users from Disappearing?". The Hollywood Reporter . 10 October 2018.
  13. ↑ "Walt Disney Animation Names Directors for Four New Film Projects (EXCLUSIVE)". October 2019.
  14. ↑ "Daytime Emmy Awards (2018)". IMDb .
  15. ↑ "2018 SXSW Film Festival Announces Jury and Special Awards". 14 March 2018.
  16. ↑ "Sun Valley Film Festival handed out bevy of awards".
  17. ↑ "Take Two® | Suzi Yoonessi wins LA Film Festival's 'Make 'em LAFF' competition | 89.3 KPCC". Scpr.org. 2014-06-16. Retrieved 2017-09-27.
  18. ↑ "Camério Awards | Festival international de cinéma jeunesse de Rimouski". Archived from the original on 2012-03-02. Retrieved 2013-05-17.
  19. ↑ "Camério Awards | Festival international de cinéma jeunesse de Rimouski". Archived from the original on 2012-03-02. Retrieved 2013-05-17.
  20. ↑ "51. ZLÍN FILM FESTIVAL 2011 - Mezinárodní festival pro děti a mládež". Archived from the original on 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2011-02-22.
  21. ↑ "2009 Woodstock Film Festival announces audience award winners". Woodstockfilmfestival.com. 2009-10-04. Retrieved 2017-09-27.
  22. ↑ "Festival Guide". Archived from the original on 2011-08-12. Retrieved 2011-02-22.
  23. ↑ "Festival Guide". Archived from the original on 2011-08-12. Retrieved 2011-02-22.
  24. ↑ "San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival - indieWIRE". Archived from the original on 2011-03-18. Retrieved 2011-02-22.
  25. ↑ "Ifp/West los angeles independent film festival - homepage". www.lafilmfest.com. Archived from the original on 7 March 2001. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  26. ↑ "Events | Nat Geo - Events". Events.nationalgeographic.com. Archived from the original on 2013-01-10. Retrieved 2017-09-27.
  27. ↑ "Jerome Foundation". Archived from the original on 2011-07-26. Retrieved 2011-02-22.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.