Kief Davidson (born May 12, 1970) is an American

filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

who was nominated for an

Academy Award for Best Documentary Short This is a list of films by year that have received an Academy Award together with the other nominations for best documentary short film. Following the Academy's practice, the year listed for each film is the year of release: the awards are annou ...

at the 2013 Academy Awards for his work on '' Open Heart'' with Cori Shepherd Stern. Born and raised in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, Davidson began his career as an editor of comedy and music videos. He is the founder of the film and advertising company Urban Landscapes. Davidson lives and works in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. In particular, the 2005 released film ''

The Devil's Miner ''The Devil's Miner'' is a 2005 documentary film directed by independent film directors Kief Davidson and Richard Ladkani. The film follows a fourteen-year-old Bolivian boy named Basilio Vargas who along with his twelve-year-old brother Bernar ...

'' brought him awards at various film festivals, for example at the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by TriBeCa Productions, Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive progra ...

in 2005 as Best New Documentary Filmmaker - Special Jury Mention.

Filmography

* 1994: '' Blood Ties: The Life and Work of Sally Mann'' (Documentary short, editor) * 1998: '' Minor Details'' (Director and screenwriter) * 2000: ''

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boys Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand th ...

'' (TV series, actor, credited as Keef Davidson) * 2002: '' Exotic Islands'' (TV series, director, editor, writer and producer) * 2003: '' Boys Life 4: Four Play'' (

Anthology film An anthology film (also known as an omnibus film, package film, or portmanteau film) is a single film consisting of several shorter films, each complete in itself and distinguished from the other, though frequently tied together by a single theme ...

, editor) * 2003: '' Richard Pryor: I Ain't Dead Yet, #*%$#@!!'' (Documentary TV special, additional editor) * 2005: ''

'' (Documentary, director, editor, writer and producer) * 2005: '' Robert Klein: The Amorous Busboy of Decatur Avenue'' (TV movie, editor) * 2005: '' Happy Days: 30th Anniversary Reunion'' (TV documentary, additional editor) * 2006: ''

Independent Lens ''Independent Lens'' is a weekly television series airing on PBS featuring documentary films made by independent filmmakers. Past seasons of ''Independent Lens'' were hosted by Angela Bassett, Don Cheadle, Susan Sarandon, Edie Falco, Terrence H ...

'' (TV documentary series, director, editor, screenwriter and producer) * 2008: '' Kassim the Dream'' (Documentary film, director, editor, screenwriter and producer) * 2010: '' Swamp Men'' (TV series, editor) * 2011: '' Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope'' (Documentary, producer) * 2012: ''

Emergency An emergency is an urgent, unexpected, and usually dangerous situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment and requires immediate action. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening ...

'' (Documentary short film, director, producer) * 2012: '' Open Heart'' (Documentary, director, editor and producer) * 2014: ''

A Lego Brickumentary ''A Lego Brickumentary'' (also known as ''Beyond the Brick: A Lego Brickumentary'') is a 2014 Danish-American documentary film co-directed by Kief Davidson and Daniel Junge, focused on the Danish construction toy Lego. The film was released on Ju ...

'' (Documentary, director and screenwriter) * 2015: '' Saving Sight'' (Short film, director) * 2016: '' The Ivory Game: The Hunt for the Hunter Begins'' (Documentary, director) * 2017: ''

Bending the Arc ''Bending the Arc'' is a 2017 documentary film. It tells the story of Partners in Health and doctors and humanitarians, Jim Yong Kim, Ophelia Dahl, and Paul Farmer, who are devoted to innovative health care in impoverished nations. Directors Kie ...

'' (Documentary, director) * 2022: '' Meltdown: Three Mile Island'' (Documentary, director)

References

External links

* Living people American documentary filmmakers Film directors from New York (state) Filmmakers from Brooklyn 1970 births {{US-film-director-1970s-stub