We at Hamptons Doc Fest mourn the loss of our cherished friend and Advisory Board member, filmmaker Nancy Buirski.
A graduate of Adelphi University on Long Island, Nancy began her career as a photographer and as the Foreign Picture Editor at The New York Times. Her exacting work and sharp eye resulted in The New York Times winning its first ever Pulitzer Prize for feature photography in 1994.
Nancy channeled her creative, visual acumen and affinity for documentary storytelling when she founded Full Frame Documentary Festival in 1998. As the Creative Director of the Festival, she championed the works of innovative filmmakers and built the festival into one of the premiere documentary events in the US.
When she transitioned from festival director to film director, Nancy did so with a bang. Between 2011 when she directed her first feature documentary until her untimely death on Aug 29th - in 12 short years - she directed and produced 6 award winning feature documentaries including a trilogy exploring racial injustice, The Loving Story, The Rape of Recy Taylor and A Crime on the Bayou. Her most recent film Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy premiered in 2022 at the prestigious Telluride and Venice film festivals. She also produced and co-wrote the script of Loving, the Oscar nominated drama based on The Loving Story.
Nancy was a prolific filmmaker, a generous, warm and kind human being. Her producer and fellow Hamptons Doc Fest Advisory Board member, Susan Margolin, expressed our sense of loss so well: "She was totally unique, and so dear to me, and to us. So beautiful and creative; constantly in motion and yet also totally focused”.
Nancy will be tremendously missed by all of her friends and colleagues. She was a force, greatly loved and unforgettable in so many ways. Our thoughts are with her family…
Hamptons Doc Fest will honor Nancy’s legacy with a special program at this year’s festival, running Nov. 30 – Dec. 6.