Filmmaker Sophie Sartain ’88 joins Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

News & Spotlights | July 17, 2020
Headshot of Sophie Sartain ’88
Sophie Sartain ’88

Sophie Sartain ’88, a filmmaker in Los Angeles, has been selected to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

The Academy extended invitations to 819 artists and executives this year “who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures,” according to the official announcement. The organization surpassed its 2016 goal to double the number of women and underrepresented ethnic and racial communities by 2020. The selected class comprises 75 Oscar nominees and five recipients of the academy’s Scientific and Technical Awards.

Sophie is the co-director and producer of Seeing Allred, a Netflix original documentary that premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. She also wrote, directed, produced, and filmed the documentary Mimi and Dona (2015), which was broadcast on PBS/Independent Lens. Her other credits include the documentaries Above and Beyond (2014) and Hava Nagila (2012) and the Emmy-nominated 2008 film Blessed is the Match–The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh.

Sophie has been a film envoy with the American Film Showcase, a diplomacy program run by the State Department, and is a steering committee member of New Day Films. She has served as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Humanities’ America’s Media Maker grants.

The alumna received her undergraduate degree in English from Carolina and a Master of Arts in film at the University of Texas at Austin.