Anna Spelman

I believe that the documentation and sharing of individuals and communities’ lives, practices, beliefs, and experiences is fundamentally important to understanding each other.

I am a filmmaker, cinematographer and editor who believes deeply in the power of stories to create social change, and who aims to always combat the patterns of exploitative practices in the documentary and journalism worlds. I am passionate about healthcare and human rights, particularly within the queer community. through collaboration with participants in my films, I hope to work towards a world where everyone’s rights are recognized, and healthcare is accessible to all.

My work has been nominated for multiple News and Documentary Emmys, named a Vimeo Staff Pick and has been recognized by the GLAAD Media Awards, the Webby Awards, the Edward R. Murrow Awards, Pictures of the Year International, and NPPA Best of Photojournalism among others. MEANT TO BE MADDIE is in its tenth year of production and is my first feature film as a director.

I received my Bachelor of Arts in women’s studies, Spanish, and art from Washington university in saint louis and was a Roy H. Park fellow in visual journalism at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where I received my MA in 2017. You can find my work in The New York Times, Univision Digital News, TIME Magazine, Al Jazeera Fault Lines, Business Insider, Vox, CBS, NBC, Blue Chalk Media, The Jerusalem Report, the Cambodia Daily, AsiaLIFE Cambodia, and the Southeast Asia Globe, and it has been exhibited at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Foto Istanbul and the Goethe Institute in Phnom Penh.

I am fluent in Spanish and English, with some knowledge of German and Turkish. I am currently available for assignments worldwide.