Documentarian Nancy Buirski Dead at 78

Samantha Bergeson
·2 min read
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Documentarian Nancy Buirski has died at age 78, as IndieWire can confirm with Augusta Films.

Buirski founded the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, and her most recent film, “Desperate Souls, Dark City, and the Legend of the Midnight Cowboy” premiered at the Venice and Telluride Film Festivals in 2022.

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“It is with great sadness that Augusta Films announces the death of award-winning documentary filmmaker Nancy Buirski,” the official statement reads. “Nancy’s extensive and rich body of work delved into a wide range of social, cultural and historical issues with keen insight, humanity and above all, artistry. The film and creative community mourns this great loss and will remember her indefatigable energy, optimism, passion, and her devotion to her art, family, friends, and collaborators.”

Buirski began her career as a photographer and editor at The New York Times and Magnum. Her 1994 photography collection “Earth Angels: Migrant Children in America” was critically acclaimed before Buirski launched the Full Frame Film Documentary Festival in 1998. She served as director of the festival until 2008.

An avid supporter, producer, and curator of documentary films, Buirski stepped into the director’s seat for the first time in 2011 with the award-winning “The Loving Story,” a documentary about the landmark Supreme Court Case of Loving v. Virginia and the quiet, powerful love between the couple at the center of the case.

Her frequent collaborator and producer Susan Margolin said, “The field has lost a giant today. Nancy was a completely original thinker and a visionary.  With every film she pushed the limits of the art form with her kaleidoscopic, unique approach to storytelling.  She was an exceptionally generous supporter of other artists in the field, and will be mourned by so many. We are devastated by this loss.”

Buirski’s filmography additionally includes “Afternoon of a Faun” (2013), “By Sidney Lumet” (2015), “The Rape of Recy Taylor” (2017,) and “A Crime on the Bayou” (2021).

In addition to directing, Buirski produced Jeff Nichols’ “Loving” in 2015 starring Ruth Negga and Joel Edgerton. She was also a special advisor on Questlove’s Oscar-winning documentary “Summer of Soul.”

A member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences and the Television Academy, Buirski was was represented by Jessica Lacy at Range Media and Boaty Boatwright at CAA. She is survived by her sister Judith Cohen and her niece and nephew Erica and Ted Rosen.

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