Julia Bacha, Co-Director, Writer/Editor

Julia Bacha is a Brazilian documentary filmmaker focusing on the Middle East, and the Media Director at Just Vision.  Her award-winning films about Iraq and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict have been exhibited at the Sundance, Tribeca, Berlin, Jerusalem, and Dubai International Film Festivals, among others. She has received several international prizes and was nominated to the Writers Guild of America Award in 2005. Her documentaries have been broadcast on the BBC, HBO, Sundance, CBC, and Al Arabiya television channels.

    Most recently, Julia co-directed the award-winning feature documentary Encounter Point (Typecast Films, 2006), which follows the courageous efforts of Palestinian and Israeli civilians who are at the vanguard of a non-violent movement for justice and peace in the Middle East. Encounter Point won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the San Francisco International Film Festival and the Rencontres Film Festival, in Montreal. Other prizes included the Spirit of Freedom Award at the Bahamas Film Festival, Best Documentary at the International Documentary Festival of Barcelona, and the Grand Jury Prize at the São Paulo Jewish Film Festival.

Julia also wrote and edited the critically acclaimed documentary Control Room (Magnolia Pictures, 2004), about Al Jazeera’s coverage of the latest war in Iraq. Control Room won three major prizes at Full Frame Film Festival and became one of the highest grossing documentaries of all times. The US magazine TimeOut NY named Control Room the “Number 1 Movie of the Summer” in its 2004 cover story, and the New York Times ran several articles and op-eds on the timely documentary.

Julia has participated in numerous panels around the world including the New York Time's "War Documentaries" (Los Angeles, 2004), the United Nation's panel on Al Jazeera International (New York, 2005), the Dubai International Film Festival’s “Building Cultural Bridges” (Dubai, 2006), the First Alliance of Civilizations Forum’s “Innovative Uses of Mass Media to Promote Cross-Cultural Understanding” (Madrid, 2008), and Córdoba Intercultural Forum’s “Peace and Interculturality in the Middle East”’ (Spain, 2009).

Julia moved to New York from Rio de Janeiro in 1998 to study Middle Eastern history at Columbia University. She graduated Magna Cum Laude and was awarded the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa Prize.

Filmography

•    Encounter Point, Typecast Films (Co-Director/Writer/Editor, 2006)
•    Control Room, Magnolia Pictures (Writer/Editor, 2004)
•    Conjoined at the Head, National Geographic, (Editor, 2005)
•    Swimmers, Skouras Pictures (Additional Editor, 2005)
•    Room, Celluloid Films (Additional Editor, 2005)   
•    Casamento de Romeu e Julieta, Columbia Pictures (Assistant Editor, 2004)

Broadcasts

•    Canal Futura, Brazil, 2009 (Encounter Point)
•    STV Sweden, 2008 (Encounter Point)
•    BeTV Belgium, 2008 (Encounter Point)
•    Al Arabyia, Arab World, 2007 (Encounter Point)
•    CBC, Canada, 2007 (Encounter Point)
•    Canal +, Poland, 2007 (Encounter Point)
•    KBS, Korea, 2007 (Encounter Point)
•    BBC, UK, 2004 (Control Room)
•    Sundance Channel, USA, 2004 (Control Room)
•    National Geographic Channel, USA, 2005 (Conjoined at the Head)

Film Festivals (selected)

Encounter Point
•    Tribeca International Film Festival (New York), 2006
•    Hot Docs Film Festival (Toronto), 2006
•    San Francisco International Film Festival, 2006
•    Dubai International Film Festival, 2006
•    Jerusalem International Film Festival, 2006
•    São Paulo International Film Festival, 2006
•    Vancouver International Film Festival, 2006 
•    Rencontres Film Festival (Montreal), 2006
•    Al Jazeera Documentary Film Festival (Doha), 2007
•    UK Jewish Film Festival, 2007
•    International Festival of Muslim Cinema (Kazan, Russia), 2007
•    Docupolis Int. Film Festival (Barcelona, Spain), 2007
•    7 Islands International Film Festival (Mumbai, India), 2008
•    Petra Film Festival (Petra, Jordan), 2008

Control Room
•    Sundance Film Festival, 2004
•    Official Selection Berlin International Film Festival, 2004
•    Official Selection Full Frame Film Festival, 2004
•    Official Selection Silver Docs, 2004

Swimmers
•    Sundance Film Festival, 2005

Room
•    Sundance Film Festival, 2005
•    Cannes Film Festival, 2005

Awards

Encounter Point
•    Winner Audience Award Best Documentary at San Francisco International  Film Festival, 2006
•    Winner Audience Award Best Documentary at Rencontres International  Film Festival, 2006
•    Winner Spirit of Freedom Award, Bahamas International Film Festival, 2006
•    Winner Best Musical Score at Bend Film Festival, 2006
•    Winner Grand Jury Prize, Best Documentary at São Paulo Jewish Film Festivals, 2007
•    Winner Best First Documentary, Docupólis Film Festival (Barcelona), 2007

Control Room
•    Writer’s Guild of America Award Nominee, 2005
•    Winner International Documentary Association Award, 2004
•    Winner Grand Jury Prize, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, 2004
•    Winner Seeds of War Prize, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, 2004
•    Winner Best Documentary, Boston Society Film Critics, 2004
•    Winner Best Documentary, Online Film Critics Society Awards 2005
•    Winner Best Documentary, Seattle Film Critics Awards 2004
•    Winner FIPRESCI Prize, Sydney Film Festival, 2004
•    Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards, Nominated 2005
•    Independent Spirit Awards, Nominated 2005

Swimmers
•    Grand Jury Prize for Best New American Film, Seattle Film Festival, 2005
•    Humanitas Prize, Nominated 2005

Room
•    Independent Spirit Awards, Nominated to John Cassavetes Award, 2005

Casamento De Remeu E Julieta
•    Cinema Brazil Grand Prize, Nominated 2007
•    Prêmio Contigo Cinema, Brazil, Winner Jury Award, 2006
•    Elcine First Prize, Lima Latin American Film Festival , 2005