Eliza Hittman
Hittman was born and raised in Flatbush, Brooklyn. She attended Edward R. Murrow High School in Brooklyn, where she was a theater buff. She graduated from Indiana University in 2001 with a BA in theater and drama, but later went on to study art and film, and in 2010 received her MFA from the School of Film/Video at California Institute of the Arts. Hittman's first feature film, It Felt Like Love, premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and opened at the IFC Center in New York in March 2014. Her second film Beach Rats, was selected for the 2015 Sundance Screenwriter’s Lab, had its world premiere at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. Her third film, Never Rarely Sometimes Always premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, where it won a Special Jury Award for Neo-Realism. The film was also selected to compete for the Golden Bear in the main competition section at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival and won Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize, the second most prestigious prize at the festival.
Forever's Gonna Start Tonight
(2011)
Sonya, a 17-year-old Russian immigrant, lives in a claustrophobic Brooklyn apartment with her dad and his ever-growing menagerie of cats. When the Landlady threatens to kick them out, Sonya is forced to make an unimaginable decision to protect her aging father and ... (more)
Sonya, a 17-year-old Russian immigrant, lives in a claustrophobic Brooklyn apartment with her dad and his ever-growing menagerie of cats. When the Landlady threatens to kick them out, Sonya is forced to make an unimaginable decision to protect her aging father and ... (more)
Second Cousins Once Removed
(2010)
On a road trip, distant cousins Naomi and Jo-Jo are left alone in a motel room. Without permission, the girls venture out into the night in search of soda, playing cards, and mischief. (more)
On a road trip, distant cousins Naomi and Jo-Jo are left alone in a motel room. Without permission, the girls venture out into the night in search of soda, playing cards, and mischief. (more)
It Felt Like Love
(2013)
14-year-old Lila spends a languid South Brooklyn summer playing third wheel to her promiscuous friend Chiara and Chiara’s boyfriend Patrick. Eager for her own sexual awakening, Lila gamely decides to pursue the older, thuggish Sammy, rumored to sleep with anyone. (more)
14-year-old Lila spends a languid South Brooklyn summer playing third wheel to her promiscuous friend Chiara and Chiara’s boyfriend Patrick. Eager for her own sexual awakening, Lila gamely decides to pursue the older, thuggish Sammy, rumored to sleep with anyone. (more)
Beach Rats
(2017)
On the outskirts of Brooklyn, Frankie, an aimless teenager, suffocates under the oppressive glare cast by his family and a toxic group of delinquent friends. Struggling with his own identity, Frankie begins to scour hookup sites for older men. (more)
On the outskirts of Brooklyn, Frankie, an aimless teenager, suffocates under the oppressive glare cast by his family and a toxic group of delinquent friends. Struggling with his own identity, Frankie begins to scour hookup sites for older men. (more)
Never Rarely Sometimes Always
(2020)
A pair of teenage girls in rural Pennsylvania travel to New York City to seek out medical help after an unintended pregnancy. (more)
A pair of teenage girls in rural Pennsylvania travel to New York City to seek out medical help after an unintended pregnancy. (more)
Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power (2022)
Investigates the politics of cinematic shot design, and how this meta-level of filmmaking intersects with the twin epidemics of sexual abuse/assault and employment discrimination against women, with over 80 movie clips from 1896 - 2020. (more)
Investigates the politics of cinematic shot design, and how this meta-level of filmmaking intersects with the twin epidemics of sexual abuse/assault and employment discrimination against women, with over 80 movie clips from 1896 - 2020. (more)