Dr. J P Sniadecki

Biography

J.P. Sniadecki works between China as a filmmaker and anthropologist, engaging with diverse settings such as demolition sites in Chengdu, junkyards in New York City, and borderlands in the Sonoran Desert. He collaborates with people and places to explore the capacity of film to transfigure the discarded and challenge the status quo. His films are part of the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, with notable exhibitions at the Whitney Biennale, Shanghai Biennale, and Guggenheim. His works have been featured in international film festivals including Berlin, BFI London, and AFI. He has received critical acclaim, with several awards, including the Joris Ivens Award at Cinema du Reel and recognition from the Locarno Film Festival. His recent feature, 'Shape Things to Come' (2020), premiered at CPH:DOX and was released by Grasshopper Films. J.P. serves on the editorial board of the Chinese Independent Cinema Observer journal and co-founded a traveling screening series, 'Cinema Edge,' focused on independent Chinese film. He is a 2017 Guggenheim Fellowship recipient and earned his PhD from Harvard University. Currently, he is a Professor in the Radio/TV/Film Department at Northwestern University, directing the MFA Documentary Media program and contributing to the Buffett Institute's Climate Crisis + Media Arts Working Group.

Courses