
Eliza Hittman
Directing
Biography
Hittman was born and raised in Flatbush, Brooklyn. She attended Edward R. Murrow High School in Brooklyn, where she was a theater buff. She graduated from Indiana University in 2001 with a BA in theater and drama, but later went on to study art and film, and in 2010 received her MFA from the School of Film/Video at California Institute of the Arts. Hittman's first feature film, It Felt Like Love, premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and opened at the IFC Center in New York in March 2014. Her second film Beach Rats, was selected for the 2015 Sundance Screenwriter’s Lab, had its world premiere at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. Her third film, Never Rarely Sometimes Always premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, where it won a Special Jury Award for Neo-Realism. The film was also selected to compete for the Golden Bear in the main competition section at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival and won Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize, the second most prestigious prize at the festival.
Known For

High school student Clay Jensen lands in the center of a series of heartbreaking mysteries set in motion by a friend's tragic suicide.
13 Reasons Why

Jump into the daily routines of a diverse group of New Yorkers and how they light things up. “The Guy” is a nameless pot deliveryman whose client base includes an eccentric group of characters with neuroses as diverse as the city.
High Maintenance

The Brobergs are completely unprepared for the sophisticated tactics a neighbor of theirs uses to exploit their vulnerabilities, separate them and turn their daughter against them.
A Friend of the Family

A trans cop with the New York City Police Department goes undercover to make a drug bust.
Bust

In 2008, during the last month of summer before high school begins, an impressionable 13-year-old Taiwanese American boy learns what his family can't teach him: how to skate, how to flirt, and how to love your mom.
Dìdi (弟弟)

On the outskirts of Brooklyn, Frankie, an aimless teenager, suffocates under the oppressive glare cast by his family and a toxic group of delinquent friends. Struggling with his own identity, Frankie begins to scour hookup sites for older men.
Beach Rats

Two childhood best friends are asked to share a kiss for the purposes of a student short film. Soon, a lingering doubt sets in, confronting both men with their preferences, threatening the brotherhood of their social circle, and, eventually, changing their lives.
Matthias & Maxime

A pair of teenage girls in rural Pennsylvania travel to New York City to seek out medical help after an unintended pregnancy.
Never Rarely Sometimes Always

Eight-year-old Cody is spending the summer in an unfamiliar setting with his mom Kathy. Though he can't relate to the neighbourhood kids, things take an unexpected turn when he develops an unusual friendship with the widowed old man from next door.
Driveways

Anger rages in Philip as he awaits the publication of his second novel. He feels pushed out of his adopted home city by the constant crowds and noise, a deteriorating relationship with his photographer girlfriend Ashley, and his own indifference to promoting the novel. When Philip's idol Ike Zimmerman offers his isolated summer home as a refuge, he finally gets the peace and quiet to focus on his favorite subject: himself.
Listen Up Philip

Investigates the politics of cinematic shot design, and how this meta-level of filmmaking intersects with the twin epidemics of sexual abuse/assault and employment discrimination against women, with over 80 movie clips from 1896 - 2020.
Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power

14-year-old Lila spends a languid South Brooklyn summer playing third wheel to her promiscuous friend Chiara and Chiara’s boyfriend Patrick. Eager for her own sexual awakening, Lila gamely decides to pursue the older, thuggish Sammy, rumored to sleep with anyone.
It Felt Like Love

An experiential portrait depicting Satanists in both the everyday and in the extraordinary as they fight to preserve their lifestyle: magic, mystery, and misanthropy.
Realm of Satan

On a road trip, distant cousins Naomi and Jo-Jo are left alone in a motel room. Without permission, the girls venture out into the night in search of soda, playing cards, and mischief.
Second Cousins Once Removed

Sonya, a 17-year-old Russian immigrant, lives in a claustrophobic Brooklyn apartment with her dad and his ever-growing menagerie of cats. When the Landlady threatens to kick them out, Sonya is forced to make an unimaginable decision to protect her aging father and herself.
Forever's Gonna Start Tonight

An experimental exploration and celebration of the Juggalo subculture in Buffalo, New York. Long and static takes of Juggalos engaged in their favorite activities, first and foremost of which - causing mayhem. Among these seemingly random acts of the everyday, preening, sexual gratification, backyard wrestling, explosions and destruction, a tentative narrative begins to emerge.
Buffalo Juggalos
Ana, a Georgian immigrant in Brooklyn, takes a job caring for Lori, an elderly woman in Manhattan, where she is forced to navigate end of life issues and complex family dynamics, while haunted by the separation from her own young daughter whom she has left behind in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Motherlove

Only about 50 people in a nation of 1.4 billion make a living working as a stunt driver in the Maut Ka Kuan (Well of Death). A profession and passion this niche deserves nothing but appreciation for carrying on a legacy that has kept millions of Indians entertained over decades. Raju, Sukhwir, Atul, Narendra, and Manovar are part of this niche cohort and have dedicated their lives to their craft, bringing smiles to people's faces. But the road to pursuing an occupation like this never comes easily. Through this short documentary, we explore the high-stakes world of the riders - where passion, risk, and sacrifice collide.
Karnama (Well of Death)

Feeling suffocated by their environment, Jo finds comfort in acting out fantasies with their confident, edgier friend Lucy.