​ABIGAIL SEVERANCE

Abigail Severance's films explore nostalgia, history, autobiography and the queer heart. Her work has screened at Sundance, The Broad, Ann Arbor Film Festival, Studio Museum Harlem, MIX LGBT Festival, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts, among other venues. She has received a Fulbright, a Film Independent fellowship, and most recently a CalArts Research & Practice Grant for We the Devoted, a near-future narrative about borders and labor, made collectively with its ensemble cast. Abigail also occasionally collaborates as a cinematographer, including with Jenni Olson (The Joy of Life; The Royal Road), Julie Tolentino (Eye Witness; Evidence) and Gary Mairs (Retreat). She is in post on Acadia, a film about nationalist nostalgia and queer origin stories.

 

Raised in New England and Nova Scotia, Abigail lives in Los Angeles, where she is Dean of the CalArts School of Film/Video and Faculty in the MFA Film Directing Program. She holds a BA in cultural studies from Hampshire College and an MFA in film directing from the UCLA School of Theater, Film & Digital Media.