{{Short description|British filmmaker and curator (born 1956)}} {{Use British English|date=December 2025}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2025}} {{Infobox person | image = Trisha Ziff.jpg | caption = Ziff in 2016 | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1956|7|21|df=y}} | birth_place = Leeds, England | alma_mater = {{ublist| * Canterbury College of Art * Goldsmiths College, University of London }} | occupation = {{flatlist| * Curator * filmmaker }} | notable_works = {{ublist| * ''Chevolution'' (2008) * ''The Mexican Suitcase'' (2012) * ''The Man Who Saw Too Much'' (2015) }} | spouse = Pedro Meyer (div.) | children = 1 | mother = Ann Rachlin | relatives = Jan Ziff (sister) | awards = Guggenheim Fellowship (2000) }} '''Trisha Ziff''' (born 21 July 1956) is a British curator and documentary filmmaker. She is a 2000 Guggenheim Fellow and her work includes ''Chevolution'' (2008), ''The Mexican Suitcase'' (2012), and ''The Man Who Saw Too Much'' (2015).
==Biography== Ziff was born on 21 July 1956 in Leeds, England,<ref name="GF"/> daughter of Barratts Shoes director Neville Ziff and musician and author Ann Rachlin.<ref name="Telegraph 2022"/> She obtained her pre-diploma in fine arts from Canterbury College of Art in 1974 and her BA with honours from Goldsmiths College, University of London in 1977.<ref name="fsff"/>
Ziff worked in Mexico City, working as a curator.<ref name="GF"/> She edited and contributed to several books, including ''Still War: Photographs from the North of Ireland'' (1989), ''Between Worlds: Contemporary Mexican Photography'' (1990), ''Distant Relations: Chicano Irish and Mexican Art and Critical Writing'' (1995), and ''Hidden Truths: Bloody Sunday 1972'' (1999).<ref name="GF"/> In 2000,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Trisha Ziff-Meyer |url=https://www.gf.org/fellows/trisha-ziff-meyer |access-date=2025-12-13 |website=Guggenheim Fellowships |archive-date=19 December 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251219042737/https://www.gf.org/fellows/trisha-ziff-meyer |url-status=live }}</ref> she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for "a study of the historical narrative of the San Patricios in a contemporary context".<ref name="GF">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CuMkAQAAIAAJ |title=Reports of the President and the Treasurer |date=1999 |publisher=John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation |page=44 |archive-date=5 October 2025 |access-date=14 December 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251005225513/https://books.google.com/books?id=CuMkAQAAIAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2006, she served as curator of the Victoria and Albert Museum's exhibition on the Che Guevara photograph ''Guerrillero Heroico'', criticizing the V&A's decision to not honor her request to invite her long-time friend and president of Sinn Féin Gerry Adams.<ref name="Manley 2025"/><ref>{{Cite web |last=Campbell |first=Duncan |date=2006-06-02 |title=Sorry Gerry. You're just not the right sort for Che's V&A party |url=http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/jun/02/arts.northernireland |access-date=2025-12-13 |website=The Guardian}}</ref> Despite the success of the exhibit,<ref name="Manley 2025"/> Richard Gott of ''The Guardian'' criticized its companion book, which she edited, as a "superficial and sloppy piece of historical reporting that relies considerably for its best sections on the expertise of David Kunzle".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gott |first=Richard |date=2006-06-02 |title=Poster boy |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2006/jun/03/art.art |access-date=2025-12-13 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
Ziff made her documentary debut co-directing with Luis Lopez the 2008 film ''Chevolution'', centered on the aforementioned Guevara photograph.<ref name="Ehrenreich 2008"/><ref name="Manley 2025"/> She was director, writer, and producer for ''The Mexican Suitcase'' (2012), centered on thousands of film negatives created during the Spanish Civil War by David Seymour David Seymour, Robert Capa and Gerda Taro.<ref name="doc"/> Her next documentary ''The Man Who Saw Too Much'' (2015) was centered on Mexican photographer Enrique Metinides; ''Variety'' featured Ziff on their ''Mexico: Up Next!'' series, saying that "as a photographer's photographer, Ziff is intimate with the desire to risk all in taking a shot – or so she wishes".<ref name="Young 2015"/> She also won Best Documentary Feature at the 58th Ariel Awards for ''The Man Who Saw Too Much''.<ref>{{cite news|title=Lista de ganadores de los Premios Ariel|url=http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/articulo/espectaculos/cine/2016/05/28/lista-de-ganadores-de-los-premios-ariel-2016|access-date=October 31, 2016|work=El Universal|date=May 28, 2016|archive-date=1 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160601074931/http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/articulo/espectaculos/cine/2016/05/28/lista-de-ganadores-de-los-premios-ariel-2016|url-status=live}}</ref> She later directed a feature documentary named ''Witkin and Witkin'' (2017),<ref name="Witkin 2021"/> as well as a Netflix short documentary named ''A Tale of Two Kitchens'' (2019).<ref name="Decider 2019"/> She directed ''A Ballymurphy Man'' (2025), which is centered on Gerry Adams, with whom she became friends after they met in 1981.<ref name="Manley 2025"/>
By the 1980s, Ziff founded the Camerawork collective in the Bogside in Derry.<ref name="Manley 2025"/> She also co-founded the film company 212Berlin.<ref name="fsff">{{Cite web |last=Santiago |first=Waleska |date=2025-10-08 |title=Trisha Ziff Uses Film and Photography to Call for Peace |url=https://freespeechfilmfestival.org/trisha-ziff-uses-film-and-photography-to-call-for-peace/ |access-date=2025-12-13 |website=Free Speech Film Festival}}</ref>
Ziff was married to Spanish photographer Pedro Meyer until their divorce.<ref name="doc"/> They have one child, a son.<ref name="doc"/> Her sister Jan Ziff was a journalist and children's author.<ref name="Telegraph 2022">{{Cite news |date=2022-03-22 |title=Jan Ziff, World Service journalist and award-winning co-author of the Heckerty series of children's picture books – obituary |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2022/03/22/jan-ziff-world-service-journalist-award-winning-co-author-heckerty/ |access-date=2025-12-13 |work=The Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235 |archive-date=19 February 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250219161626/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2022/03/22/jan-ziff-world-service-journalist-award-winning-co-author-heckerty/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Filmography== *''Chevolution'' (2008)<ref name="Ehrenreich 2008">{{cite news |last=Ehrenreich |first=Ben |date=2008-06-01 |title=Viva La... Logo? |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/193472868/ |work=The Los Angeles Times |page=P3 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=25 December 2025 |access-date=14 December 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251225182017/https://www.newspapers.com/image/193472868/ |url-status=live }}</ref> *''The Mexican Suitcase'' (2012)<ref name="doc">{{Cite web |title=Meet the DocuWeeks Filmmakers: Trisha Ziff--'The Mexican Suitcase' |url=https://www.documentary.org/online-feature/meet-docuweeks-filmmakers-trisha-ziff-mexican-suitcase |access-date=2025-12-13 |website=International Documentary Association |archive-date=23 October 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251023051550/https://www.documentary.org/online-feature/meet-docuweeks-filmmakers-trisha-ziff-mexican-suitcase |url-status=live }}</ref> *''The Man Who Saw Too Much'' (2015)<ref name="Young 2015">{{Cite news |last=Young |first=James |date=2015-10-26 |title=Mexico: Up Next – Trisha Ziff |url=https://variety.com/2015/film/festivals/mexico-up-next-trisha-ziff-1201626438/ |access-date=2025-12-14 |work=Variety |archive-date=29 December 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251229192538/https://variety.com/2015/film/festivals/mexico-up-next-trisha-ziff-1201626438/ |url-status=live }}</ref> *''Witkin and Witkin'' (2017)<ref name="Witkin 2021">{{cite web|access-date=2023-03-28|title="Witkin and Witkin" -The wit of it all [MOVIE REVIEW]|url=https://easyreadernews.com/witkin-and-witkin-the-wit-of-it-all-movie/|date=29 September 2021|website=Easy Reader News|archive-date=6 November 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251106213243/https://easyreadernews.com/witkin-and-witkin-the-wit-of-it-all-movie/|url-status=live}}</ref> *''A Tale of Two Kitchens'' (2019)<ref name="Decider 2019">{{cite web|url=https://decider.com/2019/05/22/a-tale-of-two-kitchens-stream-it-or-skip-it/|title=Stream It Or Skip It: 'A Tale Of Two Kitchens', A Netflix Documentary Short About Sister Restaurants in Mexico City And San Francisco|date=July 9, 2019|website=Decider|access-date=16 December 2025|archive-date=19 May 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250519020909/https://decider.com/2019/05/22/a-tale-of-two-kitchens-stream-it-or-skip-it/|url-status=live}}</ref> *''A Ballymurphy Man'' (2025)<ref name="Manley 2025">{{Cite web |last=Manley |first=John |date=2025-07-10 |title=New Gerry Adams documentary reveals republican figurehead's 'humanity' |url=https://www.irishnews.com/news/northern-ireland/new-gerry-adams-documentary-reveals-republican-figureheads-humanity-KFYRONVAH5AABKQVDPAI26TU4I/ |access-date=2025-12-13 |website=The Irish News |archive-date=20 July 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250720002653/https://www.irishnews.com/news/northern-ireland/new-gerry-adams-documentary-reveals-republican-figureheads-humanity-KFYRONVAH5AABKQVDPAI26TU4I/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ziff, Trisha}} Category:1956 births Category:Living people Category:English documentary filmmakers Category:British women documentary filmmakers Category:British documentary film directors Category:English women film directors Category:English film producers Category:British women film producers Category:English women curators Category:British art curators Category:Artists from Leeds Category:Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London Category:English expatriates in Mexico Category:Film directors from Mexico City Category:British film production company founders