{{Short description|American lawyer and filmmaker (born 1976)}} {{Infobox person | name = Sarah Kunstler | image = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1976}} | birth_place = | death_date = | citizenship = United States of America | alma_mater = Columbia Law School | occupation = {{flatlist| Attorney, Film director and producer,}} | years_active = 2003-present | known_for = | spouse = Jesse Ferguson | mother = Margaret Ratner Kunstler | father = William Kunstler | relatives = Emily Kunstler | children = 1 | awards = }} '''Sarah Kunstler''' (born 1976) is an American documentary filmmaker and lawyer.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Rosenblum |first=Constance |date=15 Nov 2009 |title=Filmmakers' controversy: their dad |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A212062393/AONE?u=sfpl_main&sid=ebsco&xid=27c663f8 |work=New York Times |via=Gale OneFile}}</ref> Her political documentaries have won awards at South by Southwest and the Seattle International Film Festival.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite web |title=SIFF 2021 Award Winners |url=https://www.siff.net/blog/siff-2021-award-winners |access-date=2025-01-09 |website=www.siff.net |language=en}}</ref> She is the daughter of famous lawyer and civil rights activist William Kunstler and civil rights lawyer Margaret Ratner Kunstler.<ref name=":1">{{Cite magazine |last=Stevenson |first=Peter |date=June 2010 |title=Life with Father |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A230009889/AONE?u=sfpl_main&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=c60c9b60 |magazine=The New Yorker |volume=86 |issue=18 |page=21 |access-date=2025-01-09}}</ref>
== Career == Sarah Kunstler first began directing films in 2003 with her sister creating their debut short ''Tulia, Texas: Scenes from the Drug War.'' <ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Indiewire |date=2009-11-11 |title=Emily & Sarah Kunstler: "This is a film about legacy" |url=https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/emily-sarah-kunstler-this-is-a-film-about-legacy-246246/ |access-date=2025-01-09 |website=IndieWire |language=en-US}}</ref> The film focuses on the unlawful arrest and imprisonment of more than 10% of the black population of the small town of Tulia, Texas that occurred in 1999.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Racist arrests in Tulia, Texas |url=https://www.aclu.org/documents/racist-arrests-tulia-texas |access-date=2025-01-09 |website=American Civil Liberties Union |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> This began her career making political documentaries with her sister Emily Kunstler.<ref name=":2" />
In 2009, the sisters released their first documentary feature film ''William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe'' at the Sundance Film Festival. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Indiewire |date=November 11, 2009 |title=Emily & Sarah Kunstler, "William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe": Family, Legacy & Social Justice |url=https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/emily-sarah-kunstler-william-kunstler-disturbing-the-universe-family-legacy-social-justice-70932/ |access-date=2025-01-09 |website=IndieWire |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=12 January 2009 |title=Emily & Sarah Kunstler, "William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe": Family, Legacy & Social Justice |url=https://www.indiewire.com/2009/01/emily-sarah-kunstler-william-kunstler-disturbing-the-universe-family-legacy-social-justice-70932/ |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date= |website=IndieWire}}</ref> The film is a documentary about their father William Kunstler a civil rights lawyer, who was both widely admired and widely despised for his defense of people ranging from Martin Luther King, Jr. to John Gotti.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" /> At Sundance the film was nominated for the Documentary Grand Jury Prize and was Shortlisted for Best Documentary for the 83rd Academy Awards in 2011.<ref name="sundance">{{cite web |date=2008-12-03 |title=2009 Sundance Film Festival announces films in competition. Festival celebrates 25 years of independent filmmaking and cinematic storytelling. |url=http://festival.sundance.org/2009/press_industry/releases/2009_sundance_film_festival_announces_films_in_competition/ |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090311005140/http://festival.sundance.org/2009/press_industry/releases/2009_sundance_film_festival_announces_films_in_competition |archivedate=2009-03-11 |accessdate=2008-12-06 |publisher=Sundance Institute}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Knegt |first=Peter |date=2010-11-18 |title=Academy Announces Characteristically Controversial Documentary Feature Shortlist |url=https://www.indiewire.com/awards/industry/academy-announces-characteristically-controversial-documentary-feature-shortlist-244365/ |access-date=2025-01-09 |website=IndieWire |language=en-US}}</ref>
In 2021 Kunstler co-directed ''Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America''. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Byrd |first=Chris |date=May 14, 2022 |title=Vital, challenging film tackles America's original sin |url=https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/vital-challenging-film-tackles-americas-original-sin |access-date=2025-01-09 |website=National Catholic Reporter |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Huver |first=Scott |date=2021-11-21 |title=In 'Who We Are', Jeffery Robinson Deconstructs America's Enduring But Increasingly Challenged Myths About Race & Equality – Contenders Documentary |url=https://deadline.com/2021/11/who-we-are-jeffery-robinson-emily-kunstler-sarah-kunstler-interview-contenders-1234878532/ |access-date=2025-01-09 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}}</ref> It premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival where it won the Audience Award in the Documentary Spotlight Category.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |date=2021-03-23 |title=Audience Awards Winners for the 2021 SXSW Film Festival |url=https://www.sxsw.com/film/2021/audience-awards-winners-for-the-2021-sxsw-film-festival/ |access-date=2021-04-13 |website=SXSW}}</ref> The film focuses on anti-Black racism in America and a series of lectures given by criminal defense attorney Jeffery Robinson on the topic.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Davis |first=Clayton |date=2022-01-04 |title='Who We Are' Directors on the Legacy of Racism: 'It's a History That Requires White People to Reckon With It' |url=https://variety.com/video/who-we-are-directors-legacy-of-racism/ |access-date=2025-01-09 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref>
In 2023, Kunstler co-directed ''How to Rig An Election: The Racist History of the 1876 Presidential Contest'' with her sister.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Johnson |first=Ted |date=2023-03-13 |title=The Washington Post To Distribute Tom Hanks-Narrated Short 'How To Rig An Election' |url=https://deadline.com/2023/03/tom-hanks-washington-post-how-to-rig-an-election-1235298043/ |access-date=2025-01-09 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}}</ref> It was narrated by Tom Hanks and distributed by the Washington Post in their opinion section after its premiere at South by Southwest.<ref name=":3" />
==Awards== In 2021, she won the Golden Space Needle for Best Documentary at the Seattle International Film Festival for ''Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America.''<ref name=":5" />
Her film ''William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe'' won the Audience Award in the Documentary Spotlight Category at SXSW in 2009.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-03-23 |title=Audience Awards Winners for the 2021 SXSW Film Festival |url=https://www.sxsw.com/film/2021/audience-awards-winners-for-the-2021-sxsw-film-festival/ |access-date=2021-04-13 |website=SXSW}}</ref>
==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
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name|2527239|Sarah Kunstler}} * [http://www.off-center.com Off Center Media Page]
{{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Kunstler, Sarah}} Category:Living people Category:1976 births Category:American documentary film directors Category:American women film directors Category:American documentary film producers Category:American women film producers