Emily Kunstler
Emily Kunstler (born June 24, 1978) is an American documentary filmmaker and activist. Her documentaries have won awards at South by Southwest and have been featured at Sundance. Kunstler is the daughter of lawyer William Kunstler, famous for his historic civil rights cases and Margaret Ratner Kunstler, a prominent New York human rights attorney.
Emily Kunstler
- Name
- Emily Kunstler
- Born
- 24 June 1978
- Education
- Tisch NYU
- Occupation
- * film director and producer
- Nationality
- United States
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Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Emily Kunstler • Born — 24 June 1978 • Citizenship — United States of America • Education — Tisch NYU • Occupation — * film director and producer • Years Active — 2003-present • Mother — Margaret Ratner Kunstler • Father — William Kunstler • Relatives — Sarah Kunstler
Career
Career
In 2000, Kunstler co-founded Off Center Media with her sister Sarah Kunstler with the goal of exposing injustice in the criminal justice system through media creation. In 2003, the sisters directed their short Tulia, Texas: Scenes from the Drug War. The film focused on the unlawful arrest and imprisonment of more than 10% of the black population of Tulia, Texas in 1999. The film won Best Short Documentary at the Woodstock Film Festival (2002) and her film Getting Through to the President won the Jury Prize at the Black Maria Film Festival and the Audience Choice Award at the Portland International Short Short Film Festival (2004). In 2009, Kunstler and her sister released a feature-length documentary about their father entitled William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe that screened at the Sundance Film Festival. The film was a co-production of the Independent Television Service and aired on the PBS series P.O.V.. The film was nominated for the Documentary Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and was among 15 films shortlisted for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for the 83rd Academy Awards in 2010. In 2021 Kunstler completed Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America with her sister co-directing. It premiered at South by Southwest Film Festival and won the Audience Award in the Documentary Spotlight Category. The film was acquired by Sony Pictures Classics and theatrically released January 14, 2022.
Personal life
Personal life
Kunstler grew up in New York City's West Village neighborhood.
Filmography
Filmography
• How to Rig an Election: The Racist History of the 1876 Presidential Contest (2023), short • Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America (2021) • William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe (2009) • Getting Through to the President (2004), short • Tulia, Texas: Scenes from the Drug War (2003), short
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Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Emily Kunstler, revision 1372447158 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Stevenson, Peter. Life with Father. The New Yorker. 86. 18. 21. June 2010.
- 2.Audience Awards Winners for the 2021 SXSW Film Festival. SXSW. 2021-03-23.
- 3.Top Rated New York, NY Civil Rights Attorney - Margaret Kunstler. Super Lawyers.
- 4.Stevenson, Peter. Life with Father. The New Yorker. 86. 18. 21. June 2010.
- 5.Off Center Media.
- 6.Indiewire. Emily & Sarah Kunstler: “This is a film about legacy”. IndieWire. 2009-11-11.
- 7.American Civil Liberties Union. Racist arrests in Tulia, Texas.
- 8.Indiewire. Woodstock Fest Provokes and Entertains Again In Year Four. IndieWire. September 29, 2003.
- 9.Off Center Awards. Off Center Media.
- 10.Emily & Sarah Kunstler, "William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe": Family, Legacy & Social Justice. IndieWire. 12 January 2009.
- 11.Sundance Institute. 2009 Sundance Film Festival announces films in competition. Festival celebrates 25 years of independent filmmaking and cinematic storytelling. 2008-12-03.
- 12.Jagernauth, Kevin. The Biggest Surprise Of The Oscar Documentary Shortlist Are The Snubs. IndieWire. 2010-11-18.
- 13.Knegt, Peter. Academy Announces Characteristically Controversial Documentary Feature Shortlist. IndieWire. 2010-11-18.
- 14.Byrd, Chris. Vital, challenging film tackles America's original sin. National Catholic Reporter. May 14, 2022.
- 15.Huver, Scott. In ‘Who We Are’, Jeffery Robinson Deconstructs America’s Enduring But Increasingly Challenged Myths About Race & Equality – Contenders Documentary. Deadline. 2021-11-21.
- 16.2021 SXSW Film Festival Lineup Announced: Features, Shorts, Episodics & More. SXSW. 2021-02-10.
- 17.Audience Awards Winners for the 2021 SXSW Film Festival. SXSW. 2021-03-23.
- 18.Sony. Sony Pictures Classics Acquires Worldwide Rights to 'Who We Are' 2021 SXSW Audience Award Winner.
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 15 September 2026.
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