Julia Bacha, Co-Director, Writer/Editor

Julia Bacha recently co-wrote and edited the critically acclaimed documentary Control Room (Magnolia Pictures, 2004), about Al Jazeera’s coverage of the latest war in Iraq, for which she was nominated to the 2005 Writer’s Guild of America Award. Control Room won the Grand Jury Prize at Full Frame Film Festival and was broadcast on BBC, Sundance Channel, HBO Latin America and many other networks around the world. Julia was the assistant editor for the Brazilian production Casamento de Romeu e Julieta by acclaimed director Bruno Barreto. She was also the editor of National Geographic’s Conjoined at the Head, and additional editor on the films Swimmers (Sundance 2005) and Room (Cannes Director’s Fortnight and Sundance 2005).

Originally from Brazil, Julia came to New York in 1998 to study Middle Eastern history and politics at Columbia University. She wrote her thesis on Mohammmad Mossadegh, the Iranian Prime Minister who was removed from power in the early 1950’s in a CIA-orchestrated coup. Alongside her academic studies, she pursued her interest in documentary photography by portraying life in Cuba, Kashmir, the Brazilian Amazon and the Blue Mountains in Jamaica. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Columbia University and was awarded the 2003 Phi Betta Kappa Prize.

Julia has spoken in numerous panels such as the New York Time's "War Documentaries" (Los Angeles, 2004), Aspen Film Festival's "The New Political Documentary" (Aspen, 2004), the United Nation's panel on Al Jazeera International (New York, 2005), Hot Docs Film Festival’s “Activism on Film” (Toronto, 2006), Sao Paulo Film Festival’s panel on “Understanding Between Cultures” (Sao Paulo, 2006), and the Dubai Film Festival’s “Operation Cultural Bridges” (Dubai, 2006). She is currently Just Vision's Producer and Media Director.

Filmography

Encounter Point (Co-Director, Writer/Editor, 2006)
Control Room (Writer/Editor, 2004)
Conjoined at the Head (Editor 2005)
Swimmers (Additional Editor 2005)
Room (Additional Editor, 2005)
Casamento de Romeu e Julieta (Assistant Editor, 2005)

Festivals and Broadcast

Official Selection Tribeca 2006 (Encounter Point)
Official Selection Hot Docs 2006 (Encounter Point)
Official Selection San Francisco International Film Festival 2006 (Encounter Point)
Director’s Cut Work-in-progress True/False Film Festival 2006 (Encounter Point)
Director’s Cut Work-in-progress Screening Search for Common Ground 2006 (Encounter Point)
Official Selection Sundance 2004 (Control Room)
Official Selection Berlin 2004 (Control Room)
Official Selection Full Frame 2004 (Control Room)
Official Selection Silver Docs 2004 (Control Room)
Writer’s Guild Award 2005 Nominee with director Jehane Noujaim (Control Room)
BBC Broadcast, 2004 (Control Room)
Sundance Channel, 2004 (Control Room)
Boston Society Film Critics “Best Documentary” 2004 (Control Room)
Nominated Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards Best Documentary Feature 2005 (Control Room)
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival Won 2004 CDS Filmmaker Award, Jury Award, 2nd place
Seeds of War (Control Room)
Independent Spirit Awards 2005 (Control Room)
Nominated for Truer Than Fiction Award 2005 (Control Room)
International Documentary Association 2004 Won IDA Award - Honorable Mention (Control Room)
Online Film Critics Society Awards 2005 Best Documentary (Control Room)
Seattle Film Critics Awards 2004 Best Documentary (Control Room)
Sydney Film Festival 2004 Won FIPRESCI Prize (Control Room)
Nominated Writers Guild of America, USA 2005 Documentary Screenplay Award (Control Room)
National Geographic Channel, 2005 (Conjoined at the Head)
Official Selection Sundance Film Festival 2005 (Swimmers)
Seattle Film Festival Grand Jury Prize for Best New American Film, 2005 (Swimmers)
Official Selection Sundance Film Festival 2005 (Room)
Official Selection Cannes Director’s Fortnight 2005 (Room)