Janicza Bravo () is an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter. Her films include '' Gregory Go Boom'', a winner of the short-film jury award at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

; ''

Lemon The lemon (''Citrus'' × ''limon'') is a species of small evergreen tree in the ''Citrus'' genus of the flowering plant family Rutaceae. A true lemon is a hybrid of the citron and the bitter orange. Its origins are uncertain, but some ...

'', co-written with

Brett Gelman Brett Gelman (born October 6, 1976) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Murray Bauman in Netflix's horror-supernatural series ''Stranger Things'' and as Martin in the BBC comedy '' Fleabag''. Gelman began his care ...

; and '' Zola'', co-written with playwright

Jeremy O. Harris Jeremy O. Harris (born June 2, 1989) is an American playwright, actor and screenwriter. Harris gained prominence for his 2018 ''Slave Play'', which received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Play. Harris is also known for his work in film ...

Early life and education

Bravo was born in New York City, the daughter of Ana María Ford and Rafael Ángel Landers. Her parents, who are tailors, are both from

Colón, Panama Colón () is a city and Port#Seaport, seaport in Panama, beside the Caribbean Sea, lying near the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal. It is the capital of Panama's Colón Province and has traditionally been known as Panama's se ...

. Her mother enlisted in the

U.S. military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. U.S. federal law names six armed forces: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and the Coast Guard. Since 1949, all of the armed forces, except th ...

when Bravo was an infant. From the time she was three months old to a teenager, she grew up between Colón and an Army base in

Panama City Panama City, also known as Panama, is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has a total population of 1,086,990, with over 2,100,000 in its metropolitan area. The city is located at the Pacific Ocean, Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, i ...

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

, until her family moved back to the United States. She spent time going back and forth between the United States and Panama throughout her childhood. When she was 12, her family moved to

Crown Heights, Brooklyn Crown Heights is a neighborhood in the central portion of the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. Crown Heights is bounded by Washington Avenue to the west, Atlantic Avenue (New York City), Atlantic Avenue to the north, ...

. Bravo attended the Playwrights Horizons Theater School of the

New York University Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic, and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, as the School of the Arts at New York University, Tisch ...

, where she majored in directing and design for theater, which included costume and set design. Several years after college, she moved to Los Angeles, worked as a stylist and produced small theater productions before she was approached by a cinematographer who offered assistance with filmmaking.

Career

After graduating from college Bravo worked as a stylist and wardrobe designer. Bravo got her start writing and directing a series of short films. Her first film, ''Eat'', starred

Katherine Waterston Katherine Boyer Waterston (born March 3, 1980) is an English-born American actress. She made her feature film debut in ''Michael Clayton (film), Michael Clayton'' (2007). She had supporting roles in films including ''Robot & Frank,'' ''Being Fl ...

and

and debuted at the 2011

SXSW Film Festival South by Southwest (SXSW) 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. It began in 1987 and has continued growing in both s ...

and was picked up by

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...

. The film told the story of a woman who is locked out of her apartment and meets an odd neighbor. Her second film, the 2013 dark comedy named '' Gregory Go Boom'', won the short-film jury award at the

and featured

Michael Cera Michael Austin Cera ( ; ; born June 7, 1988) is a Canadian actor. Over his career he has received nominations for a British Academy Film Award, three Critics' Choice Movie Awards, four Screen Actors Guild Awards, and a Tony Award. Cera beca ...

as a paraplegic who lives near the

Salton Sea The Salton Sea is a shallow, landlocked, highly salinity, saline endorheic lake in Riverside County, California, Riverside and Imperial County, California, Imperial counties in Southern California. It lies on the San Andreas Fault within the S ...

. The film was shot on location in Bombay Beach and Slab City,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Bravo worked with JASH to produce and release the film online. The film's title was inspired by the 1976

François Truffaut François Roland Truffaut ( , ; ; 6 February 1932 – 21 October 1984) was a French filmmaker, actor, and critic. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of the French New Wave. He came under the tutelage of film critic Andre Bazin as a ...

film, '' Small Change'', where the boy falls out the window yet survives. Her third short film, 2014's ''Pauline Alone'', features

Gaby Hoffmann Gabrielle Mary Antonia HoffmannStated on ''Finding Your Roots'', November 21, 2017 (born January 8, 1982) is an American actress. She made her film debut in ''Field of Dreams'' (1989) and found success as a child actress in ''Uncle Buck'' (1989 ...

as a

Craigslist Craigslist (stylized as craigslist) is a privately held American company operating a classified advertisements website with sections devoted to jobs, housing, for sale, items wanted, services, community service, gigs, résumés, and discussi ...

-obsessed woman. In 2014, she was named one of ''Filmmaker'' magazine's "25 New Faces of Independent Film". In 2015, Bravo shot a featurette on

Victoria Beckham Victoria Caroline, Lady Beckham (; born 17 April 1974) is an English fashion designer, singer, and television personality. She rose to prominence in the 1990s as a member of the pop group the Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Posh Spic ...

for '' Glamour''s 25th Anniversary Women of the Year Awards called "Victoria Beckham Is Living a Life Filled with Style and Grace". In 2016, Bravo released the short film, ''Hard World for Small Things'', a live-action virtual reality film that was a "day in the life" depiction of South Central. The project was grant funded by Eve Cohen and James Kaelan of Seed and Spark. The film was inspired by the death of a cousin, visiting from Panama, who in the summer of 1999 was asphyxiated by the police in the

Flatbush Flatbush is a neighborhood in the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood consists of several subsections in central Brooklyn and is generally bounded by Prospect Park (Brooklyn), Prospect Park to the nort ...

neighborhood of Brooklyn is a case of mistaken identity. It was shot using

GoPro GoPro, Inc. (marketed as GoPro and sometimes stylized as GoPRO) is an American technology company founded in 2002 by Nick Woodman. It manufactures action cameras and develops its own mobile apps and video editing software, video-editing software ...

cameras for the virtual reality company Wevr, and was shown at the Sundance Film Festival,

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

, and the AFI Festival Los Angeles. The title of the film was inspired by a line of dialog in the 1955 film noir film, '' The Night of the Hunter'', and marked a distinct departure in theme, as it focused on race and politics. Also in 2016, Bravo took the short, ''Woman in Deep'', to the 2016

. The film stars

Alison Pill Alison Pill (born November 27, 1985) is a Canadian actress. A former child actress, Pill began her career at age 12, appearing in numerous projects before transitioning to adult roles with a breakthrough role in the television series '' The Bo ...

and was grant-funded via The Nantucket Project. In 2016, Bravo directed her first feature, an independent film called ''

'', which she co-wrote with then-husband

. The film stars Gelman,

, and

Judy Greer Judith Therese Evans (born July 20, 1975), known professionally as Judy Greer, is an American actress. She is primarily known as a character actress who has appeared in Judy Greer filmography, a wide variety of films. She rose to prominence for ...

, and includes performances by

Nia Long Nia Talita Long ( ; born October 30, 1970) is an American actress. Best known for her work in Black cinema, Long rose to prominence after starring in the film '' Boyz n the Hood'' (1991), and for her portrayal of Beullah "Lisa" Wilkes on the N ...

Fred Melamed Fred Melamed (born May 13, 1956) is an American actor. After spending most of his early career primarily as a renowned voice over artist, and occasionally playing small roles in films, notably in seven films directed by Woody Allen, he establish ...

Shiri Appleby Shiri Appleby is an American actress and television director. She is best known for her leading roles as Liz Parker in the WB/ UPN science fiction drama series '' Roswell'' (1999–2002) and Rachel Goldberg in the Lifetime/Hulu drama series '' ...

Rhea Perlman Rhea Jo Perlman (born March 31, 1948) is an American actress and author. She is well-known for playing head waitress Carla Tortelli in the sitcom ''Cheers'' (1982–1993). Over the course of eleven seasons, Perlman was nominated for ten Emmy Awar ...

David Paymer David Emmanuel Paymer (born August 30, 1954) is an American actor and television director. He has been in films such as '' Mr. Saturday Night'', '' Quiz Show'', '' Searching for Bobby Fischer'', ''City Slickers'', '' Crazy People'', '' State an ...

Gillian Jacobs Gillian MacLaren Jacobs (; born October 19, 1982) is an American actress. She is known for playing Britta Perry in the NBC sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015), Mickey Dobbs in the Netflix romantic comedy series '' Love'' (2016–2018), and Mar ...

Megan Mullally Megan Mullally (born November 12, 1958) is an American actress. She is best known for playing Karen Walker in the NBC sitcom '' Will & Grace'' (1998–2006, 2017–2020), for which she received eight Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outst ...

, Martin Starr,

Jeff Garlin Jeffrey Garlin (born June 5, 1962) is an American stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian and actor. He is best known for playing List of Curb Your Enthusiasm characters#Jeff Greene, Jeff Greene on the HBO sitcom ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'', and Murray ...

, and

Marla Gibbs Marla Gibbs (born Margaret Theresa Bradley; June 14, 1931) is an American actress, singer, comedian, writer, and television producer whose career spans seven decades. She is known for her role as George Jefferson's maid, Florence Johnston, on th ...

. After a somewhat turbulent pre-production process, the film was picked up by Killer Films and Burn Later Productions and premiered at Sundance in 2017. In addition to creating her own work, Bravo directed season 1 episode 9, "Juneteenth", of the FX television show ''

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

'', which stars and was created by

Donald Glover Donald McKinley Glover Jr. (; born September 25, 1983), also known by his musical stage name Childish Gambino (), is an American actor, comedian, musician, and filmmaker. While he studied at New York University and after working in Derrick ...

, as well as season 3 episode 5, "Bertie's Birthday", of the Netflix television show ''

Love Love is a feeling of strong attraction and emotional attachment (psychology), attachment to a person, animal, or thing. It is expressed in many forms, encompassing a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most su ...

'', which was created by and stars Paul Rust. Bravo's latest film, '' Zola'', was directed and co-written by Bravo, along with playwright

. The film is based on a 148-tweet thread by Detroit waitress Aziah "Zola" Wells about a trip she took to Florida with a sex worker named Jessica. ''Zola'' had its world premiere at the 2020

, where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Award. In 2022, Bravo was one of nine directors commissioned to design a series of rooms at the

Metropolitan Museum Of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

for the exhibition ''In America: An Anthology of Fashion.''

Personal life

Bravo speaks Spanish fluently and is Latina. She is also Jewish. In December 2015, Bravo married her long-time boyfriend, actor

. Gelman and Bravo met in New York City while working on a New York Lotto commercial. In 2016, they resided in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. They divorced in 2018.

Awards

* 2014:

, Short Film Grand Jury Prize (nominated) – '' Gregory Go Boom'' * 2014:

, Short Film Jury Award: US Fiction – '' Gregory Go Boom''

Filmography

* 2011: ''Eat'' (Short) – writer, director, editor * 2013: '' Gregory Go Boom'' (Short) – producer, writer, director, editor * 2014: ''Pauline Alone'' (Short) – producer, writer, director, editor * 2015: ''Woman of the Year'' (Short) – director * 2015: ''Hot Package'' (TV series) – writer, 5 episodes * 2016: ''Hard World for Small Things'' (Short) – producer, writer, director * 2016: ''Woman in Deep'' (Short) – producer, writer, director * 2016: ''Man Rots From the Head'' (Short) – producer, writer, director * 2016: ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'' presents: ''Couple's First Dinner Party, Serves Six'' (Short) – director, writer * 2016: ''

'' (TV series) – director, 1 episode: "Juneteenth" * 2017: ''

'' – producer, writer, director * 2017: ''Hell In The Afternoon'' (Short) – producer, writer, director * 2018: ''

Forever Forever or 4ever may refer to: Film and television Films * ''Forever'' (1921 film), an American silent film by George Fitzmaurice * ''Forever'' (1978 film), an American made-for-television romantic drama, based on the novel by Judy Blume * '' ...

'' (TV series) – director * 2018: ''

Camping Camping is a form of outdoor recreation or outdoor education involving overnight stays with a basic temporary shelter such as a tent. Camping can also include a recreational vehicle, sheltered cabins, a permanent tent, a shelter such as a Bivy bag ...

'' (TV series) — actor * 2020: '' Zola'' – writer, director * 2020: ''

Mrs. America Mrs. America may refer to; * ''Mrs. America'' (miniseries), a 2020 US television mini-series * Mrs. America (contest), a US national beauty pageant See also * '' Mr. and Mrs. America'', a 1945 film * Mr. America (disambiguation) * Miss America ...

'' (TV series) - Director * 2021: ''

In Treatment ''In Treatment'' is an American drama television series for HBO, produced and developed by Rodrigo García (director), Rodrigo Garcia, based on the Israeli series ''BeTipul'' (), created by Hagai Levi, Ori Sivan and Nir Bergman. The series fol ...

'' (TV series) - Director * 2021: ''

Them Them or THEM, a third-person singular or plural accusative personal pronoun, may refer to: Books * ''Them'' (novel), 3rd volume (1969) in American Joyce Carol Oates' ''Wonderland Quartet'' * '' Them: Adventures with Extremists'', 2003 non-fict ...

'' (TV series) - Director * 2022: '' Kindred'' (TV series) - Director * 2022: ''

Sharp Stick ''Sharp Stick'' is a 2022 American sex comedy film written, directed, and produced by Lena Dunham. It stars Kristine Froseth, Jon Bernthal, Luka Sabbat, Scott Speedman, Dunham, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Taylour Paige, and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Th ...

'' — actor * 2022:

Miu Miu Miu Miu is an Italian high fashion women's clothing and accessory brand and a fully owned subsidiary of Prada. It is headed by Miuccia Prada and headquartered in Milan, Italy. Silvia Onofri is its CEO. History Miu Miu was established in 1992 ...

Women's Tales ''Women's Tales'' is an ongoing short film anthology series created by fashion brand Miu Miu. Aside from the stipulation that the films use Miu Miu clothing the all female directors are given free rein to create their films. Miu Miu has commission ...

:'' ''House Comes With a Bird'' (Short) – director, writer * 2023: '' Poker Face'' (TV Series) - Director * 2024: '' The Listeners'' (TV Series) - Director * 2025: '' The Bear'' (TV Series) - Director

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bravo, Janicza 1981 births Living people American expatriates in Panama American people of Panamanian descent American women film directors Tisch School of the Arts alumni Film directors from New York City Hispanic and Latino American writers Hispanic and Latino American film directors African-American film directors African-American Jews African-American screenwriters African-American photographers Sundance Film Festival award winners 21st-century American screenwriters 21st-century American women writers 21st-century African-American women writers 21st-century African-American writers 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women People from Crown Heights, Brooklyn