Ravit Markus
Directing
Biography
Award-winning filmmaker Ravit Markus had documentary features in Slamdance two years in a row, winning the Audience Award in 2023 for "American Pot Story: Oaksterdam" and receiving wonderful reviews for Paralympic doc "Nina is an Athlete" in 2024, as part of the disability focused Unstoppable program. Winner of multiple international awards by now, "Oaksterdam" is a 10-year exploration of the power of the activist, no matter the cause, "a must-watch for every American" (Film Threat). Her previous documentaries include the critically acclaimed "Yiddish Theater: A Love Story" which she wrote and produced. It became a cultural phenomenon when it commercially played in theaters in Los Angeles, New York and Tel Aviv for months and months garnering raving reviews at the NY Times, LA Times, and the NY Magazine, to mention a few, resulting in a 90% score on Rotten Tomatoes. It also made critic Jennifer Merin's top 10 documentaries list of 2007 in About.com. Ravit co-produced Jewish Film Festivals' darling "Rock in the Red Zone"; and produced the Channel 4 UK documentary "Porn Shutdown", which aired worldwide including on the Sundance Channel, and received excellent reviews in The Guardian and the London Time Out. Ravit is a recipient of the NYWIFT Disability Awareness Completion Grant for "Nina" which was hailed for its authentic and universal look at womanhood and disability. She holds a dual BFA in Screenwriting and Directing from The Film and TV Department at Tel Aviv University.
Known For
In 2004, The San Fernando Valley porno industry came to a virtual standstill after it was revealed that popular performer Darren James became infected with HIV during a porno shoot in Brazil.
The Dark Side of Porn: Porn Shutdown
On the cusp of turning 40, wheelchair badminton champion Nina Gorodetsky, has her first and maybe last, chance to participate in the Paralympics. However, she is negotiating a ticking biological clock both as a mother and as an athlete. What would she be willing to sacrifice to realize her Olympic dream?
Nina is an Athlete
American Pot Story: Oaksterdam tells the unknown origin story of how a handful of underdogs risked everything to spark the current worldwide revolution in cannabis policy. Reflecting Oakland, California’s rich history of civil resistance, they opened the first ever cannabis college, Oaksterdam University, and got Prop 19 - a measure to legalize cannabis - on the ballot in California, thus bringing this taboo topic to the mainstream and opening a conversation on its social justice impact.