Laura K. Kissel (born May 29, 1969) is an American educator and
documentary filmmaker based in Columbia, South Carolina. Kissel's work
explores contemporary social and political landscapes, the
representation of history and the use of orphan films. Her award
winning feature documentary Cotton Road (2014) is about the commodity
of cotton and the human labor required to transform it as it travels
from farms and factories to consumers.Kissel graduated from Manhattan
High School in Manhattan, Kansas. She received her bachelor of science
degree in cinema and photography from Ithaca College in 1991. She then
went on to receive a master of fine arts degree in radio-TV-film from
Northwestern University in 1999. Following graduation she relocated to
Columbia, South Carolina having accepted an assistant professor
position at the University of South Carolina.Kissel is drawn towards
the use of the long take in documentary film and video, which she sees
as a discovery process, enabled by the duration of the frame, to
uncover the nature of things in an exercise for clarity. Her choice to
use filmmaking as a way of engaging with the world and exploring
questions about culture, memory, and historical representation is
evident in themes throughout her work. Her films have been screened at
the Black Maria Film Festival, the Atlanta Film Festival and the
Library of Congress' Mary Pickford Theater.
documentary filmmaker based in Columbia, South Carolina. Kissel's work
explores contemporary social and political landscapes, the
representation of history and the use of orphan films. Her award
winning feature documentary Cotton Road (2014) is about the commodity
of cotton and the human labor required to transform it as it travels
from farms and factories to consumers.Kissel graduated from Manhattan
High School in Manhattan, Kansas. She received her bachelor of science
degree in cinema and photography from Ithaca College in 1991. She then
went on to receive a master of fine arts degree in radio-TV-film from
Northwestern University in 1999. Following graduation she relocated to
Columbia, South Carolina having accepted an assistant professor
position at the University of South Carolina.Kissel is drawn towards
the use of the long take in documentary film and video, which she sees
as a discovery process, enabled by the duration of the frame, to
uncover the nature of things in an exercise for clarity. Her choice to
use filmmaking as a way of engaging with the world and exploring
questions about culture, memory, and historical representation is
evident in themes throughout her work. Her films have been screened at
the Black Maria Film Festival, the Atlanta Film Festival and the
Library of Congress' Mary Pickford Theater.
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